A Time For Rejoicing -   No matter what your belief system is, this time of year has always been one for celebrating. For those in the Northern Hemisphere Christmas falls near the Winter Solstice – the shortest night of the year (generally 21st December) with many “pagan” celebrations held at this time marking the turning of the seasons – the culmination of the darkest days of winter, calling on the sun to return and bless the earth. Christianity chose to embrace the celebrations of the pagans and change their focus to celebrating Christ’s birth rather than alienate people from events that were important to their way of life on the land. Many different cultures celebrate this time of year with festivals that involve gift giving and feasting – particularly after a period of fasting. In many cases the common theme sharing a special meal after a time of lack or scarcity of food – as was the case in early times when food had to be preserved and put aside to carry people through the harsh winters of the colder north.
It doesn’t matter by what name you choose to call our festive season – don’t let religious, cultural or material connotations stop you celebrating with family and friends. Forget about the commercial craziness of decorations in the shops from September on, don’t worry if your beliefs aren’t the same as others, forget about the differences between cultures and religions – celebrate another year of seasons turned and lessons learned. Get together with friends and family in whatever way you can – it’s not about the presents or grocery bill – it’s about appreciating time spent together as fellow travellers through life. Who cares if you only just met half an hour before you sit down and share a meal – there will be all the more to talk about as you get to know each other!
It is extremely difficult if you have lost loved ones during the year who won’t be celebrating with you, - involve them in your Christmas by sharing memories of those who are not with you – putting their photo on the table or by the tree – they wouldn’t want their “leaving” to take away all your joys in life.
If you have a family parted because of divorce or distance be creative – don’t make the celebration about a date on the calendar – create two Christmas Days if you must – one year my parents wanted to celebrate Christmas with all their kids but had also been invited to spend Christmas with my mothers family – all six of her brothers and their children, a logistical nightmare for my four siblings and myself as we lived the furthest away from Mum’s family and wouldn’t be able to get there in time. Instead we decided that we would celebrate Christmas with our own partners and children on Christmas Day – then we would all pretend Boxing Day was the real Christmas Day and meet up with Mum and Dad back at their home then. We had an absolute ball! The kids called it the year there were two Christmas Days!
Christmas Is.....
Hard on the hip pocket! Buying so many gifts at one time and purchasing all the decorations, nibbles and booze can be just a tad draining on the old bank account even though retail businesses love this time of year. It took me many years of depression in December before I woke up to myself and realised Christmas is not an unexpected expense that hits you out of the blue – we all know it is coming for 365 days! If it’s important to you to have a big meal on the day or buy presents or travel why do you leave preparing for it till the last minute ? Open a Christmas club account and put away an amount each month you can access only from November on to pay for Christmas and the holidays.
 Buy gifts during the big sales and put them away – or spread out the cost by purchasing gift vouchers valid for twelve months and buy your gifts with those in December or give them as presents that of course can be redeemed in the post-Christmas sales. Purchase Christmas grocery items well before Christmas to avoid the price hikes of the last week, who wants to pay double the cost on a frozen rolled turkey breast or leg of ham?  Nuts, confectionary, soft drinks, seafood  and alcohol all increase in price in December before being “marked down” – leaving you thinking you are getting a bargain when in fact you are paying the top price of previous months!
Send care packages as gifts – one Christmas we had very little money and I could not be with my family – I sent my mother a small basket I bought for $1 at St Vinnies and filled it with a packet of her favourite teabags, home made ginger bread, cheap Christmas baubles with my kids names handwritten on, and drawings they had done especially for Nan and Pop. Dad got a bag of macadamia nuts collected from our tree – his favourite snack while watching sport on TV!
Make personal gift certificates  – things you are happy to do for someone else such as washing a car, cleaning a house, giving a massage, making a special dinner, gardening etc, just make sure you are willing to honour them! I am hoping to convince my kids to give me these – Ben could wash the windows so I can see the view for the first time in six years, Ethan could find his floor and Sarah could drive Paul and I home from Christmas parties and New Years Eve!
Yes my eldest now has her P Plates which is definitely something to celebrate, although I hold my breath till she is home safe and sound – I know many of you identify with that – the apron strings are definitely being severed! For those of you freaked out about the idea of your children being old enough to drive – don’t panic – most of the time they won’t be able to afford petrol so they won’t be going far! I’m proud that she was able to pass first time – made it worth all the hours of practice we did – 120 hours is definitely a lot of practice and I believe it is supposed to increase soon.
I’m glad she has had the practice although I think that 50 hours would have been adequate – most of our hours were built up through driving the same route over and over to school and work and soccer, which tends to make them complacent rather than experienced. We tried to fit as much parking practice as possible but it is hard to teach a learner the right way to drive when all over Lismore there are idiot drivers consistently doing the wrong thing and when people do not have the patience to allow a L plater time to park – even when there is room to go around!
In the end we finished up with three paid lessons with professionals to fine tune her – not cheap but I’d say essential – and under the advice of others we booked an instructor to give her a final lesson just before her test and allow her to use the driving schools vehicle for her test – many failed tests are because of the car being used not the driver, so if you have an L plater, I would definitely recommend following our example if you are able.
Christmas Is...
Over fast...so don’t get too stressed – each Christmas that rolls by marks another year full of experiences good and bad and watching our children grow and change rapidly – make sure your focus is not on what you spend but on how you spend the time – be generous with hugs not just cash – even a technology hungry teen appreciates you kicking back with them and letting them know they mean so much more to you than what is under the Christmas tree.
If this year has been a tough year for you, don’t be disheartened – every day is a new day, see what you can do to make the rest of this year, and the New Year – something to be remembered not forgotten.
Merry Christmas everyone – we live in a beautiful, peaceful, plentiful part of a not so peaceful world – we have many reasons to celebrate together, let’s not forget that!
Caz Greene