mayfever
Friend of all the World
Hey everyone,
the Season has started and with all the Christmas karma on the boards, I thought it would be fun to have a thread comparing traditions. I'll even go first 🙂
I moved away for uni and haven't lived at home for 5 years and I was in a relationship for the past 4, so this is the first Christmas in years that I'm gonna spend entirely with my family (no sympathy thank you^^). Usually, my brother (who doesn't live at home anymore either) and I arrive a couple of days before Christmas Eve and because my parents both work full-time and haven't had time to do it earlier, we spend the run-up to the holidays in one long frantic preparation session and clean, cook, bake and decorate like maniacs. On the morning of Christmas Eve, I meet my oldest friend (who I see about 3 times a year because she still lives in my hometown) and we stroll through the city centre (I use this term ironically) and browse for some last minute gifts for second-tier relatives. We then go for "just the one" mulled wine at the local christmas fair, which usually evolves into a three hour session of solid drinking and we go home wearing either Santa hats or blinking antler yokes or some other dorky Xmas paraphernalia and enthusiastically singing carols.
At home, I will find the rest of my family engaged in a full-blown shouting match because a) a piece of the nativity set is missing, b) my mum forgot to include a vegetarian option in her dinner plans or c) someone suggested to exclude my dad's unpopular racist sister from the round of Christmas visits the next day (tick as appropriate). The real reason is of course that we aren't used to spending so much time together in such a confined space and everyone's expectations for a perfect family holiday are of course totally unrealistic, but suggesting that would equal a death wish, so I try to escape to my room as quietly as possible. Half an hour later, someone will timidly knock on my door and suggest a game of Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit, the fight forgotten until the next time someone persists that "Whedonesque" is a word. *coughs*
When it's getting dark, we all go to Mass, listen to the tone-deaf children's choir butcher all seven stanzas of Silent Night, go home, listen to my dad reading the Christmas story from the bible while we have tea and biscuits and pretend not to strain our ears for the sound of the little bell that indicates that our mum has finished preparing everything in the living room. And then it's PRESENTS' TIME!
On Christmas Day, we go see our assorted relatives, hand out and claim more presents and eat so much food that we could feed an entire third world country for at least a week. When we get back, we watch Little Lord Fauntleroy, play fussball and bicker because my dad suddenly can't remember the rule that he himself invented, namely that the losing team has to crawl under the fussball table on all fours. Depending on the amount of nog that has been imbibed, the recriminations and accusations can be quite upsetting and sometimes end in physical violence (like that one time my brother accidentally hit my sister in the face when a ball that he'd thrown on the table for emphasis bounced back rather violently and she had to go to the hospital and get four stitches in her eyebrow. My mum says she'll never forget the look the doctor gave my dad when they brought her in; apparently a lot of violence happens over the holidays).
Boxing Day is pretty much the same, only with a lot less enthusiasm and Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings instead of Little Lord Fauntleroy. Also, instead of playing games later, my siblings and I get dressed up and join the rest of our peers at the local club where we indulge in the lovely tradition of "lapidating Stephanus", which basically consists of getting good and hammered with people you only ever see on this occasion and the next day is usually spent in bed.
As I said, I haven't been part of the entire thing for the past years because I was also visiting my ex boyfriend's parents and I'm not sure I'm prepared for the undiluted experience, but I'm actually kinda looking forward to it. Now I can't wait to read your stories 🙂
the Season has started and with all the Christmas karma on the boards, I thought it would be fun to have a thread comparing traditions. I'll even go first 🙂
I moved away for uni and haven't lived at home for 5 years and I was in a relationship for the past 4, so this is the first Christmas in years that I'm gonna spend entirely with my family (no sympathy thank you^^). Usually, my brother (who doesn't live at home anymore either) and I arrive a couple of days before Christmas Eve and because my parents both work full-time and haven't had time to do it earlier, we spend the run-up to the holidays in one long frantic preparation session and clean, cook, bake and decorate like maniacs. On the morning of Christmas Eve, I meet my oldest friend (who I see about 3 times a year because she still lives in my hometown) and we stroll through the city centre (I use this term ironically) and browse for some last minute gifts for second-tier relatives. We then go for "just the one" mulled wine at the local christmas fair, which usually evolves into a three hour session of solid drinking and we go home wearing either Santa hats or blinking antler yokes or some other dorky Xmas paraphernalia and enthusiastically singing carols.
At home, I will find the rest of my family engaged in a full-blown shouting match because a) a piece of the nativity set is missing, b) my mum forgot to include a vegetarian option in her dinner plans or c) someone suggested to exclude my dad's unpopular racist sister from the round of Christmas visits the next day (tick as appropriate). The real reason is of course that we aren't used to spending so much time together in such a confined space and everyone's expectations for a perfect family holiday are of course totally unrealistic, but suggesting that would equal a death wish, so I try to escape to my room as quietly as possible. Half an hour later, someone will timidly knock on my door and suggest a game of Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit, the fight forgotten until the next time someone persists that "Whedonesque" is a word. *coughs*
When it's getting dark, we all go to Mass, listen to the tone-deaf children's choir butcher all seven stanzas of Silent Night, go home, listen to my dad reading the Christmas story from the bible while we have tea and biscuits and pretend not to strain our ears for the sound of the little bell that indicates that our mum has finished preparing everything in the living room. And then it's PRESENTS' TIME!
On Christmas Day, we go see our assorted relatives, hand out and claim more presents and eat so much food that we could feed an entire third world country for at least a week. When we get back, we watch Little Lord Fauntleroy, play fussball and bicker because my dad suddenly can't remember the rule that he himself invented, namely that the losing team has to crawl under the fussball table on all fours. Depending on the amount of nog that has been imbibed, the recriminations and accusations can be quite upsetting and sometimes end in physical violence (like that one time my brother accidentally hit my sister in the face when a ball that he'd thrown on the table for emphasis bounced back rather violently and she had to go to the hospital and get four stitches in her eyebrow. My mum says she'll never forget the look the doctor gave my dad when they brought her in; apparently a lot of violence happens over the holidays).
Boxing Day is pretty much the same, only with a lot less enthusiasm and Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings instead of Little Lord Fauntleroy. Also, instead of playing games later, my siblings and I get dressed up and join the rest of our peers at the local club where we indulge in the lovely tradition of "lapidating Stephanus", which basically consists of getting good and hammered with people you only ever see on this occasion and the next day is usually spent in bed.
As I said, I haven't been part of the entire thing for the past years because I was also visiting my ex boyfriend's parents and I'm not sure I'm prepared for the undiluted experience, but I'm actually kinda looking forward to it. Now I can't wait to read your stories 🙂
