The commercialisation of Christmas bothers me more with each passing year. Maybe it is because I am getting older. Maybe it is because Christmas is being forced upon us earlier and earlier in the year. Maybe it is because of phrases like ‘the religious side of Christmas’ (hello! it is a religious celebration, only existing because of Christianity. The commercial side is the add-on).
Whatever the root cause, I have been aching for an old-fashioned Christmas for years now. A Christmas with a nativity play and carols, with hearty homemade food, a tree dressed in decorations with a history. A Christmas of reading and walks and board games, of card games and candlelight and Christmas music in the background.
That is my wish for this Christmas. We will be at home in our own house, The Bavarian, our three sons and I. We’re having friends over for drinks tomorrow, we’re spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day by ourselves. We’ll have sincere gifts, nice homey meals and good wine.
We won’t have new PJs, a Christmas Eve box or a mountain of presents. But we will have candlelight and snuggles on the sofa. We’ll have ‘It’s A Wonderful Life” and games of Scrabble and Uno. Basically, we’ll relax. What a perfectly old-fashioned thing to do at Christmas.