I Want to Believe

Tuesday, November 30, 2010


I want to believe the hype. I want to believe that I can make this the most memorable Christmas ever if only I buy the right things. My Christmas memories blend in to one long stream of continuous Christmas days and really, I haven’t had a most memorable one yet. What I do remember is the time spent preparing and celebrating with friends. I want to believe, because that would be easier.

My favourite memories are not ones of particular decorations or even presents. I know that there was a pink and black leotard and electronic keyboard somewhere in the eighties but I couldn’t tell you when.

My Gran took the time to polish the silver ware every Christmas and made it out like a treat to be able to help her. It is one of my fondest Christmas memories. Polishing wasn’t to my liking and I never had the heart to tell Gran. What I really enjoyed was the time spent telling the tales of each piece. Together we would get out the Pears Encyclopaedia and look up the hall marks and tell the tales about the relatives they belonged to. Domestic history has appealed to me ever since. It was the time taken with love that stuck in my memory rather than how brightly the silver shone.

Cooking with my mother was also an annual ritual. The highlight was always the afternoon tea where we would eat the left over pastry that had been magically transformed into a jam tart. Of course we couldn’t eat the cooling mince pies as they were for Christmas Day. The hustle and stress of keeping the oven stuffed with baking for an entire morning only served to make the time together afterwards better.

I need to take time while I am plotting Christmas menus, and present shopping in the hopes that these will make it a better than ever Christmas. When I justify buying that third Christmas tree to myself, I need to take time to remember that this is not what makes memories. I will endeavour to take the time to pack the kids off to Grandma’s for some festive baking, especially for the jam tarts. If I forget, and get carried away with the hype, please remind me.

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8 comments

  1. We do not celebrate Christmas in our house. I have to say it is a huge relief to be saved from what the commercial world has turned it in to. Making Christmas personal and meaningful is what makes it special, and it sounds like that is what gives you the most pleasure. I hope you and your family continue to make it a special day without the hype and commercialism.

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  2. I hate that it's become all about money. As a kid I loved Christmas, but then my parents separated one Christmas Day when I was a teen (I know, what a day to pick, huh?), and for years, they were just a day of sadness and having to travel two hours between each parent. When I got married though, I wanted to make a fresh start, especially because I had a new family and a new hubby. For me, it's about the real reason we celebrate Christmas, and sharing good times with family. Thankfully, my parents get along better now so they can come to my place and it's all okay!

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  3. I think Christmas is one of those times where "It's about the journey, not the destination" applies for me. It's about getting swept up in this happy mood of the season and spending time with family and friends. I'm not interested in making it a one day holiday that takes me 2 months to pay for.

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  4. I think Christmas is one of those times where "It's about the journey, not the destination" applies for me. It's about getting swept up in this happy mood of the season and spending time with family and friends. I'm not interested in making it a one day holiday that takes me 2 months to pay for.

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  5. My best memory of Christmas was when we lost our job, had to put everything in storage and began over in a new town with NOTHING. It was Christmas, my aunt gave us an old fake tree, and all we had for ornaments was the red, green and white paper ribbons that curl with a scissor. I curled about 7 inches and hung all the roll in all colors on that old tree. I went outside and got some red berries to put in a jar and the Pastor's wife brought us homemade Chili. best ever we had no money but everything we needed.I think there is confusion, pick why you even celebrate it and go with it, perhaps dont mix religion with santa , one or the other or about family only !!!

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  6. My festive holiday memories are of the various Christmas restaurants we always ended up at because somebody ended up ruining the turkey/gammon/chicken etc and/or almost setting the house on fire. Some were amazing, others were the last places you would think of for christmas but at least we were together.

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  7. I really wanted to leave a meaningful comment as I liked your post very much.
    But for me, Christmas is all about memories and I just pray to God not to lose my memory because I would be lost without it...

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  8. I know this post is a few weeks old now, but I just had to comment about the Pears Encyclopedia! I hadn't thought about it for years until I read it here - just thinking that it was one of the few general reference books we had at home when I was a child - now my children will have the world at their fingertips via the internet. I will be looking for the Pears tomorrow at my mother's. Hope you are still cruising beneath the Christmas hype.

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