Christmas has changed over the years for our household as we have gained and lost family members, but the festivities usually go something like this.
I work in retail so tend o be working on Christmas Eve, we close early though. My friend and manager Stephen has been part of our family for nearly three decades and has been coming to us at Christmas for nearly two of them (he has had no family to spend the day with since his mum passed away 18 years ago). We are both picked up by my dad after we close up the shop and head to the house for a meal. After that Stephen is taken to his hotel and the rest of us get organised for the next morning before getting into our nice new pyjamas. In previous years Stephen would stay with my nana and watch her open her presents on Christmas morning before coming to us, nana followed on a little later in time for Christmas dinner. Sadly she isn’t with us any more.
Christmas mornings still start early but with the bustle of preparations and breakfast before it’s time for presents. In the past, the wrapping paper would have been flying prior to breakfast but we are all adults now so it’s less frantic at present opening time. My niece still hands out the presents, something she has done since learning to read. She’s now 20, so this a long-standing tradition. Before this, of course, people have to be brought to the house, so we wait for the arrival of my sister and Stephen.
After the presents and a quick tidy up, it’s dinner time. My mum works hard at Christmas and we get a brilliant dinner, with a range of veggies to keep everyone happy.
At some point during the day, some of us will pop next door, or they will pop round to us.
The evening is usually accompanied by a buffet of leftovers and mince pies.
The TV hardly goes on all day.
Boxing Day is usually spent with a running buffet on the table and sometimes the neighbours pop round, sometimes my dad goes to get my mum’s cousin and her husband. It’s mostly quite low-key now. This year Stephen is staying for Boxing Day too. He usually spends the day at home sitting on the sofa eating pigs in blankets and watching a film, but he isn’t in his house currently after a fire so he’ll be sat on our sofa instead.
