When Christmas comes down

This Friday was 6^th January, and so the Christmas decorations came down (OK, so the tree hasn’t actually left the house yet, but the decorations have been removed…).  For me, that always brings a mixed sense of both sadness that Christmas is over, and slight relief that the house is now back to normal.  The house feels bigger for a short while, although only really because it is emptier.  When the physical signs of Christmas are gone (other than the number on the scales…), it feels like it is time to “move on”, return to the routine and accept that life has to return to normal.  That’s not a bad thing, I don’t think, but it’s also important to remember Christmas and to keep hold of some of our Christmas habits. 

Usually, I store up some annual leave and take 2 weeks off at Christmas.  I tend to divide that time up so that I can relax, see friends and family, and spend time at church.  I read books, watch too much TV, take walks, go shopping and have long chats about nothing.  I cook, host, wrap gifts, make the house look nice and generally try to be a domestic goddess.  I participate in church services and enjoy the infusion of Christmas energy that one gets at church when surrounded by other people celebrating the same wonderful event.  At Christmas, I have time, and so I spend it, freely, without worrying about hoarding it for set things.  During the rest of the year, I am too precious with my time.  I work hard during the week, so at weekends I try not to book too much in, and think carefully about the best use of my time.  That’s necessary sometimes, but I am determined to try to be less strict with my time, and simply do things that I enjoy.

At Christmas, my shopping is focused on others.  I go online, or to the high street, and pick out things that I think my friends and family will like.  When I do the food shop, it isn’t about what my husband and I need to eat over the week, but it’s a chance to think about the people who are visiting and consider what food they will most enjoy and what will make them happy.  I take time over choosing things.  When January hits, shopping becomes more self-centred.  If I’m in town, I’m probably buying clothes for myself.  If I’m in Sainsbury’s, the food is what I want to eat (or what I can be bothered to cook).  When I’ve bought things, they are shoved in the cupboard, or designed to be quick and easy to cook.  So that’s another habit I’d like to keep – keeping other people in mind when I shop, and putting some effort into the things I buy.

At Christmas I go to church more than once.  Christmas Eve is usually a 4-service day for us.  This year we weren’t doing anything at the Midnight service, but we went along regardless, just because we wanted to.  During the rest of the year, it can be easy not to go to church, especially if we’ve been involved in a different service or church event that day/week already.  At Christmas, I don’t decide that I’ve had my fill of church for that day so won’t go again – I lap it up and go to as many services as I can.  Maybe this year I can carry that approach beyond Christmas, even just a little bit.

The habits above are ones that I would love to keep, and we’ll see if I do.  But there is one big habit at Christmas that I know I should cling onto and carry with me throughout the year.  At Christmas, I don’t let myself feel guilty.  I can have an extra chocolate, spend an extra hour in bed, read my book or watch TV when there are household chores that need my attention, order a take-away, take an excessively long bath, ignore my emails, ignore the news, etc. etc. etc.  And I can do all these things without feeling guilty.  Now I know that part of the reason I don’t feel guilty about them is because I know that I’m only allowing myself these indulgences temporarily, and I’m not advocating living an indolent life with no responsibilities or accountability.  However, I think we could all benefit from giving ourselves some breathing room and from letting go of the guilt reflex.  If we ignore the household chores for too long, there is still nothing to be gained from feeling guilty.  Instead, we just need to get up and do them at some point.  If we ignore our emails, rather than feeling guilty, we just need to respond to them eventually.  Too much food should be countered by exercise, not guilt about eating too much.  You get the gist.

So, now that Christmas is “over”, let’s hold onto the things we loved about it, and the things that were good for us.  And in the same vein, many of us spend Advent mentally and spiritually preparing for a celebration of Jesus’ birth and for that day when he comes to us again.  When Christmas is over, let’s not stop preparing for Jesus either.