Christmas Past, Present & Future

Merry Christmas.

I say this internally in my Dickens old English accent. This time of year there is no getting away from Charles Dickens classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ in one way, shape or form.

My favourite version is A Muppets Christmas Carol. I mean who doesn’t love Rizzo the Rat narrating, it’s hilarious.

Anyway, back to the story, Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve night by 3 ghosts, of Christmas past, present and future. There are there to show him the error of his ways and what Christmas will be in the future if he doesn’t change.

This got me thinking about all our three ghosts…here goes:

Christmas Past

When we are kids Christmas is magical, it’s full of fun, joy and excitement for what Santa is going to bring us. We wish for snow and toys galore. Opening advent calendars each day brings us ever closer to the 25th. The anticipation of what’s behind that door and santas arrival is unbearable.

You wrote your list to Santa at some point in October or November and tried to think of the toys you most wanted and really hoped would magically be delivered by Santa to your house (even though you didn’t have a chimney).

Going to bed on Christmas Eve was difficult. Getting to sleep was very challenging, knowing Santa was just hours away from delivering to your house was hard to imagine. However, going to sleep was the quickest way to see if he had been and to find out what goodies you got.

Having new toys to play with as well as enough chocolate to open a shop, made it an enchanting time of year as a child. Sharing your tale of what you got with your friends made you relive the moment again, the excitement still there days or even weeks later.

Being a child at Christmas is a beautiful time. The build up to the day, making decorations and helping to put the tree up, watching Christmas films and singing carols. Then opening all the gifts come Christmas morning and not knowing what toy to play with first. Ahhh those were the days!

Christmas Present

Fast forward to today and wow, it’s all change. We spend so much time stressing over the festivities that we often forget to have fun and enjoy ourselves.

What did you have to do to get to today? Decorate the house and put up your tree. Write Christmas cards, buy lots of presents, wrap them all, worry about the gifts you can’t find or those that haven’t been delivered. Buy lots of food, forget things, go back to the shop to buy the missing items and end up putting way to much in your trolley that you know you really don’t need. If you’ve ordered a turkey/ham/steak pie you’ll have had to make time to pick it up.

Maybe you’ve had to go and pick up relatives or visit many of them, dropping off gifts as you go ensuring not to miss any out. You’ve travelled up hill and down dale and into cities and back out just to get to all those you need to.

If you have children you’ve likely had to buy gifts for their friends and buy Christmas party outfits, pay money for something at school or as part of a club, perhaps you’ve taken them to see Santa or the pantomime. Maybe you’ve had to make costumes for nativity or a play and gone to Carol concerts. Perhaps there is a local winter festival or wonderland that is beautiful but blooming expensive and busy but you felt like you had to fit it in. You’ve had a great time but are tired.

Christmas Day you cook and make sure everyone is fed and has enough food which seems like a huge task but you get it done and enjoy the lovely gifts you get and the faces of your children as they rip open their presents.

When do you get to relax? Present day Christmas is great but after all you do preparing and planning, cooking and wrapping, we need to ensure we actually get a rest and relax. The dishes can wait, so grab a cuppa, or a drink of your choice, kick your feet up and breathe out. Your work here is done!

Christmas yet to come

Well, who knows what this will be like. Surely it has to be less of the present day, and more about the people you spend it with, enjoying time to relax and not worrying about how much food is bought or rushing around trying to fit in as many visits as possible.

Christmas time is a wonderful time to catch up with family and friends, buy gifts for those we love and care about rather than buying for everyone we know.

What would your ideal Christmas be? We get pressured into doing so many things when we don’t often want to. So why not think about it and plan for next year.

Make plans for your Christmas yet to come and make next years Christmas ‘present’ a time to remember.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and festive season. Don’t forgot to look after you throughout.

Love Emma xx