Christmas

Dr. Seuss

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”

I think Christmas time can be a very hard for many, especially if you are desperate to have a family. Everyone is excited about the kids getting excited, it can be hard to escape. I have many expectations around Christmas; the American Disney movies have so much to answer for. I want the huge Christmas with all the trimmings. I want the ever-illusive Christmas cheer so much it hurts.

The reality is that the harder I push the further away that dream becomes.

In Australia, Christmas is in the middle of the summer, it is hot. For my family it is often at the end of a hard harvest, that is rarely as good as it needs to be financially to sustain the family through the next year.

So, needless to say there are heaps of barriers to an outrageous Christmas filled with credit card driven consumerism and over inflated expectations.  

This year needed a new approach, this year I tried to back right off. I let the day unfold with no expectations.

Earlier in the year, I had raised the idea of Secret Santa, where we bought one present that was something the person wanted. There are no children in the family so, for now, there is some agreement to this approach.

Personally, I loved it. Secret Santa reduced my Christmas shopping stress to a manageable level.

My brother and his girlfriend made an amazing Christmas lunch. All the roast vegetables your stomach could desire with roast pork, turkey and chicken, where too much meat was not nearly enough and some good wine.

While our Christmas is pretty low key with family coming together for the day, we are not tradition free.

We traditionally support the Australian film industry by falling asleep to a comedic movie of some sort. This year was the embarrassing “BoyTown” (2006), which enabled me to cringe and knit at the same time.  All day, I would look up, laugh and then have to look away.

We have had some great movies in previous years:

• Siam Sunset – 1999
• Kenny – 2006
• The Mule – 2014 (not so funny but amazing)
• Crackerjack – 2002
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – 1994
• Muriel's Wedding – 1994
• Red Dog – 2011

As a family it is really nice to come together and laugh. By searching out some great, sarcastic, dark comedies we are all able to relax and have a chuckle.

Rather than last minute, I am now going to need to plan the next Christmas movie. I have used up all the well-known movies; perhaps one of these will make the cut next year:

• The Castle (1997)
• Road to Nhill (1997)
• The Dish (2000)
• He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001)
• Crackerjack (2002)
• Mullet (2001)
• Garbo (1992)
• Housos vs. Authority (2012)
• Strange Bedfellows (2004)

Seasons Greetings everyone, and I hope you had a lovely, relaxing day with loved ones.