Happy Christmas! May your hearts be full!

Christmas can be a very special time spent with family members and loved ones yet it can also be a lonely time for some people. Therefore if you are someone who has ‘someone’ at Christmas, then that’s a time for gratitude. I’m lucky that I have very fond memories of Christmases with my family and hopefully have created memories for my family now.

Memories of Christmas Past:

Christmas growing up was about family, food and the fire for me as a child. It was a time when everyone came to us, and we used our front room, the best room, kept for special occasions.  In many working class households there was a living room and a front room which frankly wasn’t heated and was cold most of the year. In fact it was barely used.

At Christmas that changed and a fire was lit and the room became stifling hot. The space meant we could set a big table and all gather around wearing Christmas hats, with small glasses of sherry and big smiles.

My grandparents would come around along with various aunts, and mum and dad would argue in the kitchen while my sister and I played with our toys. I have little memories of presents we received, as we were a low income family so my parents set a very strict budget. I got a Tiny Tears doll once, a pram and a cot for my dolly. With the latter my sister and I had a fight, she pushed me into it and my cot broke on Christmas Day. Dad fixed it with bright blue tape which lived on that thing for years.

I remember twinkling fairy lights, two small Christmas trees, Dad cooking jacket potatoes in foil in the ashes of the fire, singing carols, waiting impatiently for my granny to be ready, watching each other opening presents, playing games, pulling crackers…

We also were incredibly lucky that Santa himself always visited us on the evening of Christmas Day with an extra present. Dressed in a big red suit which was slightly worse for wear and a frankly minging beard, we so believed we were the most special children. Father Christmas knew about us and made a special visit to see us on Christmas Day!!! He’d tap on the window and be ushered in by us…

He would ask us so many questions and draw attention to our achievements and if we’d been naughty lately.  We could never work out how he knew so much? It was utterly magical.

Present day Christmas

Christmas is still about family and food, although now living in the luxury of a centrally heated house, the fire isn’t a thing anymore.

My husband Steve has similar happy memories so we both have wanted the same for our children. We make a big deal of Christmas and Steve has a mission to ensure our house can be seen from space so it’s covered in lights inside and out. We all love it.

Each year we take a trip to Whitehall Garden Centre in Lacock, who have a Christmas extravaganza, in the sense that they have rooms and rooms of decorations, including some little Christmas grottos. It has become our family tradition to go there each year, and sometimes, even twice. We always buy some useless tat we don’t really need. Steve says ‘no not another bauble’ and I say ‘no no more lights!’. And we both buy each.

Another tradition in our household is, we organise a Christmas Murder Mystery with family and friends – though sometimes we bump that to the New Year party. Everyone takes the time to dress up for their characters, and it’s a complete riot of laughter when we see each other.  The search for the murder gets interrupted by food and drinks breaks – which add an extra fun element. It’s silly, it’s bonkers and it’s utterly brilliant.

This Christmas is going to be even more wonderful as it will be our first as grandparents to a gorgeous little boy, and it will be our children’s first as aunties and uncle!  So, Christmas this year will be even more magical than it already is in my eyes.

I wish you and your family a very Happy Christmas!