Fig.A. Here’s the thing Housekeepers: you can keep your clove scented oranges and all your fancy festive fripperie. You can whistle for your stilton and port and tell your vintage paper chains to go take a hike. Perhaps, somewhere out there, there is a picture book perfect family enjoying the BrocanteHome Christmas of my dreams but the rest of us are squashed up in our Mum’s living rooms, eating too many Quality Street and arguing over whether the Vicar of Dibley is funny (the answer, of course, is yes). You see on Christmas day none of the silly little frilly nonsense we work ourselves into a frenzy preparing really matters. It actually doesn’t make a jot of difference whether your crackers are from Lidl or Harrods. Whether you turn up for Christmas dinner in your nightie or your ball gown. None of it matters, because after all, Christmas is never, ever without calamity of the unforeseen kind. No matter how many lists you write, you will forget the prawns for the prawn cocktail starter. Your babba will work himself up into such a state over the “mud” (read gravy), that your Mum has poured over his Christmas dinner, that only a bottle of tea and a snuggly blanket will prevent him throwing the goddamn dinner at anyone who dares to laugh at him. Someone will buy you something ugly. The kids will fight. All daylong. Your sister will get a teeny bit sozzled in a silly hat and say “Let’s get this party started!” every half hour and your Dad and other random males will find the Playstation bought for the five-year-old so enticing they will spend most of the day in another room… At seven o’clock despite the lure of carefully selected board games, the entire family will congregate in front of the television to watch Doctor Who. (See Fig. A.) This procedure will be punctuated by lots of most unfestive “shhhhhh’s” and your Dad will moan and wail and swear he will never ever eat again after your Mum’s wonderful dinner, and then follow up these amateur dramatics by consuming half a ham and a full round of brie. And you? You will feel so exhausted you can’t speak and slope off to your childhood bed followed by cries of “party pooper!”. But you won’t care. You will get into bed in a room you slept in for ten years of your childhood and smile at the wallpaper and laugh when you hear your Dad and sister singing in a stupid fashion…  You do all of these things, because this, Darlings, is what Christmas is about. Golden moments to be treasured forever. We don’t have to kill ourselves making it special because it already is. Golden moments wrapped in terrible tinsel, but wonderful all the same. I’m glad it’s over and I can’t wait to do it all over again next year.
Create your own Brocante Life Book, plan Christmas, set up routines and rituals or live life the BrocanteHome way with my guided workbooks and planners.
Welcome once again to my morning pages: the occasional, unedited spilling of my morning mind on to the screen. Approximately seven hundred and fifty words of stream of consciousness, transparent writing inspired by Julia Cameron. So you can dig a little deeper…
You know I sometimes wonder if every housekeeper in the land knows secrets that they are just not telling me. Take for example my kitchen mixer (no it ain’t pink: I wish!). I risk life and precious fingers cleaning it and I…
Slice a lemon in half and leave it sitting onthe draining board before you go away for a day or two. You will return to a scrumptiously fresh kitchen… The torn pages of a book can be repaired by smearing the tear…
If I was ever to get the hang of the yarny conundrum that is knitting, this would be the result. Why I still can’t fathom something millions of women seem capable of doing standing on their heads, utterly bewilders me. Other Things…
You know you want it. Other Things To Do At BrocanteHome Browse the Bookstore Discover a curated list of books to enhance and support life the BrocanteHome way Browse the Bookstore Life Love & Vintage Housekeeping the by BrocantePrintables on Etsy Create…
9 Comments
I couldn't have put it better myself – you have summed it up perfectly! And yes, the Vicar of Dibley IS funny – can't wait for the second part!!! Merry in-between-Christmas-and-the-New-Year! Clare x
And YES – the Vicar of Dibley IS VERY funny! You've captured the spirit of Christmas. When it comes down to it – that's what it is really about isn't it? How quickly we forget.
That IS the wonderful thing about Christmas. We are imperfect people so if we had a perfect Christmas…it would not be us. I miss my mom at Christmas, even though she has been gone for many years. Mainly because she was the one who put the fun in Christmas, she had such a loony personality. 🙂
i really, really like this. thank you for putting into words what Christmas is really like, and really all about… and happy new year! 🙂 hugs, maryann
So funny. And how strange that I, too, slipped off into my childhood bedroom for a quick little forty five minute nap, as well. Mmmm.. It was delicious! I think we had a wonderful Christmas and all were exhausted! Be happy in 2007, honey. G.
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I couldn't have put it better myself – you have summed it up perfectly! And yes, the Vicar of Dibley IS funny – can't wait for the second part!!! Merry in-between-Christmas-and-the-New-Year! Clare x
And YES – the Vicar of Dibley IS VERY funny!
You've captured the spirit of Christmas. When it comes down to it – that's what it is really about isn't it? How quickly we forget.
Yep. All the way over here… the same! So funny.
That IS the wonderful thing about Christmas. We are imperfect people so if we had a perfect Christmas…it would not be us.
I miss my mom at Christmas, even though she has been gone for many years. Mainly because she was the one who put the fun in Christmas, she had such a loony personality. 🙂
I do not know who the Vicar of Dibley is! But, even so, you summed up what makes Christmas so special..quite well.
i really, really like this. thank you for putting into words what Christmas is really like, and really all about…
and happy new year! 🙂
hugs,
maryann
Oh! This is just SO beautiful. I needed it.
Thanks for redirecting my thoughts.
I could not agree more!
Sounds like a pretty perfect Christmas. Clarice
So funny. And how strange that I, too, slipped off into my childhood bedroom for a quick little forty five minute nap, as well. Mmmm.. It was delicious! I think we had a wonderful Christmas and all were exhausted! Be happy in 2007, honey.
G.