All is calm

The tree is wrapped the refrigerator is trimmed.

Michael Buble has been serenading us for most of December and to be perfectly honest I rather like it.

It used to be that when Jim Reeves began to crooning from the record player it was the start of something good in my mind.

But in recent years he has been toppled from that position by the smooth Canadian. For many years I hated Christmas altogether, I can’t really decide why in particular but I just disliked everything about it. Perhaps it was my ultra orthodox stage when I discovered the truth about most of the reasons why we do what we do.

This totally ruined any enjoyment from a religious point of view.

Christmas carols were a reminder of screeching children struggling through meaningless ancient songs at school. We weren’t allowed to have the words as it was viewed as a failure on the part of the teacher, so we memorised these carols in word only, certainly not in meaning.

For me, the return to loving Christmas began with marrying into a family who adore it.

When my own family began to come along we started little things that made it special to us. Frank Sinatra helped me to appreciate the old songs with renewed eyes and introduced new tunes to carols that I disliked, thus giving them a renewed vigor.

As my thirties drifted away like melting snow our home became very busy at Christmas time. Our commitment to the disenfranchised resulted in a home that saw many and varied faces share our table on the 25th. It was incredibly different to anything that either of us had ever grown up experiencing.

My childhood revolved around a ridiculously early rise, followed by mountains of confectionery and a hurried dinner in order that more chocolate ans tv could be consumed. Visitors were viewed with great distaste and quickly dispatched after the briefest of communication, how dare they interrupt our viewing!

When we became focussed on giving others the love that they lacked it changed us.

Our buying habits changed dramatically as we would think in a totally different way and approach the whole season from a vastly altered place.

Two years ago today I was frantically arranging for a bed to be delivered to a woman who never had one, it was successfully expedited and she slept peacefully into Christmas 2013.

This year is very different.

As soon as I hear Mr Buble singing silver bells it is Christmas for me. Today we drove the five hours south to be with family for a few days, the roads were quiet and we had fair weather. The Starbucks was gingerbread and the music was festive. The carol service this afternoon was perfect, and I am sitting sipping while the kids in the basement are making happy noises watching a movie.

I can hear sticky tape being applied by the mothers in the other room. When the children finally retire we will unload the gifts from the car and it will be their turn to excitedly rouse us all in the morning.

A lot has changed in this year but my love for the happiness of this time of year in growing undiminished.

And I love it.