Pre Christmas moan !!!
Nice Christmas message tomorrow
As the last few days before Christmas fill our supermarkets with crazed shoppers desperate to buy enough food to last the Christmas Day closure for the next 5 years and the stores remove Christmas stock before it's even happened I had a moment to think yesterday about the pressure we/they put us under.
I use my local Morrisons as a local shop due to its proximity. This last weeks it's just got hellish, queuing for 15-20 minutes at the tills to pay for a loaf of bread!!!! What !!! Are we in some collapsing communist eastern block country. No wait it's just the hoards desperate for Christmas cheer stored in out of season food and booze, and let's not forget for this week only bulk food shopping is a family activity so each trolley is now accompanied by both parents and 2.4 children all throughly fed up of the supermarket. I just want to pay for my loaf of bread oh and buy extra wrapping paper which has been replaced with mini eggs at Morrisons !!
Ok supermarket rant over for now, I will save my rant about being accused of shop lifting by a computer ever time I try to adjust my shopping or the computer can't work out why the weight of a 7kg bag of charcoal is 7kg. And the carefully chosen voice exclaim "unexpected item in the bagging area, are you stealing form us you untrustworthy human"... sorry I said I'd save that rant.
The discussion about commercialisation of Christmas and the increasing pressure to spend is not a new one and dates back to the Victorian era. I'm not talking about a feast here I fully support the tradition of Christmas dinner with a roast bird etc I fully support decorations, and I fully support the giving of gifts and cards to loved ones. What I worry about is the need to spend a fortune and the behaviour that causes.
Do we really need the spend or is there more to it. Do we really need to beg borrow or steal, some will feel there have no option some will not know any different. Over the last few years I've seen people I know or know of struggling to pay off last years Christmas debt and borrowing for the next Christmas with a higher interest lender. I seen 'houses broken into' and crisis loans and claims made after. And the world carries on blinded by the Christmas lights.
Everyone's hearts bleeds to genuine stories of loss at Christmas and it's those families that I think we should look at for strength.
A few years ago we had a skint Christmas, one of those where unexpected events mean you've spent any reserves and it's a general strain to make ends meet and achieve children's dreams on Christmas morning. That Christmas was amazing we had a great time together as a family and the lack of spend on presents was barely noticed, thank the lord for seconds hand items. The gift of Christmas for me is family. (Tomorrow's blog entry will be about my family memories)
This year as with any year as we get closer to Christmas focus turns from the kids I what to buy each other, me for my wife and my wife for me. As ever the question is what do you want for Christmas and the realisation that I've missed the hints and bought something else.
When my wife asked me what I'd like I thought for a while and decided rather than spending £50-£100 on me I would rather we had a family day out together. And so we did. Which is a rarity for our household. Not only did I enjoy it but so did they and that meant so much more than an item in wrapping paper, the family together having fun enjoying and celebrating life together. Isn't this what's it's about? The giving of a gift not the present within the wrapper?
I really enjoyed looking at the families faces on Thursday, we had a great day out!
I managed to have a couple of moments thought yesterday and the chance to catch a few of my children sitting at the dinning room table, so I asked the question
"What was your main present last Christmas?"
Well the answers varied and took a while, I'm still not convinced they actually knew or remembered the main present we had sourced 12 months ago.
Right rant over ! As I'm sitting in a separate room from my family as I write this, oh the irony
Questions to any reader
"what was your main present last year "
"What was the best thing about Christmas last year?"
Merry Christmas all !!!!!
Post publishing addition.
I know someone who when short of cash near Christmas will go quiet and avoid us, then when finally pinned down will say they feel bad because they want to give the kids £10 for Christmas, I tell them every year! Don't give them £10 just buy them a selection box and smile
Guilt and the herd mentality come to mind. This given to us by exposure to adverts and media as well as feeling the need to keep up with others. I do wonder how many people really enjoy Christmas and whether for most it is just a horrible stressful time of year. You're right, it is about family and enjoying being together. Me and my partner don't buy eachother anything for Christmas, we just focus on the kids. I've never been unhappy at this arrangement as it takes away a huge amount of stress for both of us and it is only convention and pressure saying we should exchange gifts in the first place.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the kids, they're definitely a bit spoilt when it comes to presents. It is important for me to remind them though that not everyone is as lucky as them and don't get what they get. They're definitely having Christmas in a way I never experienced in terms of presents. I guess there is an element of me trying to make up for that. I was never unhappy though, because I enjoyed the feeling of the season. I'm guilty of perpetuating commercialism with my kids, but not as badly as others. It will require a massive shift in society for more people to chill out and realise they can drop out of the rat race. I applaud you for your attitude and for sticking to your principles.