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30 December 2015

Christmas in Hindsight


Christmas is over, and it was a goodie. Better than I'd hoped, better than last year, better than any Christmas for years, in fact.
If you read my earlier post, you'll know my theory: "less is more" and "giving is magic". Both theories held up this year.
We focused on kindness and left room for spontaneous hosting and blessing others.
Like candy cane bombing our local four square Carpark...




We had fun making gingerbread houses with friends...



The kids did the lions share of the construction AND the decorating now that they're older; later we dropped off a spare house on somebody's doorstep as part of our Christmas kindness.

The boys in Christmas attire, with Favourites in hand, ready to head off and sing carols on Christmas Eve
Christmas kindness had a huge impact on making our Christmas the most meaningful ever, for us AND the kids, especially singing carols to the oldies down at the Rest Home on the morning of Christmas Eve.

Who would have guessed that doing something a bit scary like that would turn out to be so special? (I was dragging my heels a bit at first, when hubby came home and announced that he'd signed us up. I was very very nervous - we are not exactly professionals).

But the oldies didn't care; they loved it. They loved having the kids going round with a bowl of Cadbury Favourites, unwrapping the sweets for them (their poor arthritic hands couldn't manage the wrappers) and wishing them all a Merry Christmas.

They didn't care that we were nervous or unprofessional. Many of them sang along with us, others had tears in their eyes. And afterwards the nurses told us that was probably the only "outside contact" many of them would have this Christmas. Wow. Talk about humbling. Such a simple thing. I am really glad hubby dragged us into it - it was awesome.

To take the place of our old tradition of Santa's Christmas Eve visits, Dash and I had organised for a basket of onesies to "turn up" on our doorstep, along with a list of instructions for us to follow for the rest of the night: 
  • put on the onesies, hang the stockings...
Our crazy tribe in our Christmas Onesies

  • Go get fish n chips in our onesies (and take some dinner to a homeless person while we're at it)

  • watch the Nativity Movie in our onesies while sipping Whittaker's hot chocolate and eating our gingerbread house...
Hot Chocolate and Gingerbread on Christmas Eve
  • Pile into the car (in our onesies) and go to Carols by Candlelight at the local Methodist church (which finished at midnight). 
Midnight Carols by Candlelight on Christmas EveAs Scrag said to us on our way home, "This has been the best Christmas because this year I understand what Christmas is really about." 
What's that son? 

"Kindness, and Jesus being born, and celebrating work your family... Oh and I do still like getting presents though...?! "

Bless! 

In our Onesies, heading on for fish n chips on Christmas Eve

All of us felt it. It was the best Christmas ever. The most meaningful, the one where it was about giving, not getting (though there was plenty of getting too).



I have to say that my plan actually worked, to focus on Kindness for Christmas.
This really was the best - and most meaningful - Christmas in years. Maybe ever.

Our whole family were involved in giving and kindness and thinking of others.
By the time we awoke on Christmas morning to our pile of pressies under the tree, we could enjoy opening them, with no sense of residual guilt at feeling it was all a bit over the top.
We wholeheartedly enjoyed opening our gifts to each other, knowing that we'd had a hand in making Christmas special for a bunch of other people as well.



Our new Christmas kindness traditions will hopefully stand us in good stead as the kids keep getting older.


relaxing after christmas

So there we have it. Christmas is done and dusted for another year. The tree is down, the ornaments packed away, the presents all given, the goodies all eaten.
Another year is breathing down our necks, with all its new challenges and adventures.
Meanwhile I'm just enjoying this in-between-time, the days between Christmas and New Year.
There's nothing on anyone's to-do list. there's nowhere we have to be, nothing we have to do.
We can just be.

And heave a big sigh of relief that this Christmas was a good one.
Ahhhhhhh.


HOW I SURVIVE (AND ENJOY) CHRISTMAS

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