So Christmas is almost upon us.....

and we are sooo busy.  But not so busy that I didn't pause for thought today to think about the reason for the season. 

Growing up as the child of a (poor) exiled immigrant to Wales, this time of year was always very tense.  My father was always thinking of the family and country that he could not talk to or visit and there was very little money for the things that the children wanted, only what they needed.  So we got school sweaters, clothes that we needed and oranges and nuts in our stockings.  And I don't remember being unhappy with those gifts.  I do remember that we made a list of all the gifts and who had given them, so that we could write thank you letters after Christmas - much simpler and more polite times. 

It seems to me that it was a time for family gatherings, telling of (sometimes tall) stories and the fireplace.  We were a dysfunctional family, but we somehow made it work or told a story about it!  There was the epic Christmas when my mother dressed me up in a sort of fairy costume (bearing in mind that I was very short and very chubby) and made me a crown with candles all around it which were then lit just before I carried the turkey to the table.  And I didn't lose my hair....some sort of Scandinavian tradition!

And there was the Christmas that my mother (after a few sherries) dropped the gravy all over the kitchen floor as she was attempting to put it in the gravy boat - now that stuff will turn the kitchen floor into an ice rink!!

Tradition had us putting up the decorations on the morning of Christmas Eve.  My father topped one of the pine trees in the back kitchen garden and we hung the decorations and got everything ready so that we could go to midnight service at church.  Then all the decorations were taken down and put away on January 6th - twelth night.

I do think that whatever our faith we have probably allowed consumer pressure to hijack Christmas or the Holidays.  And it's probably what makes the economic world keep turning and without this holiday and all the other occasions that have been taken over by shopping we may be in a worse recession than we are, but I hate buying stuff just because - I love all my family and friends and can wish them a Merry Christmas without a card or lavish gift.  If they need something, if I can, I can help whatever the time of year.

So - make some eggnog, cook a wonderful meal, eat too much and have fun, but don't hurt yourself financially just because the kids keep on at you, or you want to give the biggest gift.  That's not what it is about.

I'll get off the soapbox now - and enjoy the holiday season.