Considering Christmas

Once again, December is barrelling towards us at great speed. It seemed like only yesterday we were lamenting the end of summer and now the end of the year is nearly here. I doubt many people will be lamenting the end of 2020 though! (Personally, I believe it is naive to think 2021 is going to miraculously fix everything and it could be even harder, but that's the pessimist in me.)

With the days getting much shorter and the heating finally on, I guess it's time to start thinking about Christmas. I had planned to get a head start on my gifts this year as I plan on making them all. However, between falling out with my sewing machine every time I use it and helping my brother in law-ish, all that time I gave myself in September has shrunk considerably. 

Having not decorated at all for Hallowe'en it feels weird that I will be getting the Christmas decs out soon. There were a few contributing factors to the lack of Hallowe'en decorating, not all covid related, which make me fear that they might infringe on my Christmas decs too! In theory, they will all be done with before December - or at least done enough that I can deck the halls and falalalalala-la-la-la-la-laaaaahhh. That is my hope anyway. (I appreciate that paragraph is vague and borderline nonsensical, but I have my reasons.)

Of course, there is more than decorations and unmade gifts to be thinking about. Advent is drawing closer and I will be reusing the calendar I made a couple years back. Lidl often have some great individually foil wrapped choccies to pop in those pockets. I have to say though, is it just me or are there loads more bespoke advent calendars this year? My news feed is full of gin ones, gourmet sweets, probably bacon - I tend to glaze over and keep scrolling because my inner Grinch yells, "Too early!" Honestly, if an eco-friendly hot sauce one existed I would be hard pressed to not indulge.

Tis the season, after all.

Actually, that is something I rather dislike about this season. I live with the ethos, Take what you need. When you go to the sugar stand, do you need two sugars or a handful? Two, obviously. No one needs a handful. The wanton greed and entitlement our capitalist lifestyles encourages does not sit well with me. This time of year we are bombarded with the need for more more more! Whether you are feeding a family of four or four generations, you have to have the biggest turkey. You have to have all those extras you can barely squeeze into you over stuffed tummy. You have to have a dessert or three, as well as all those selection boxes. You have to have a cheese board.

So much food is bought and wasted this time of year. We start the New Year feeling so guilty about how much we have eaten that we guilt ourselves into spending money we don't have on gym memberships and diet supplements which we will keep up with for a week and then never again. Why not just, buy what you need? Sure, indulge a little. The merriment of Christmas is there to make us feel warm and safe during the darkest nights of the year. But the excess is not necessary.

And I have not even started on the toys yet!

I do not have kids yet and despite coming from a large family, we have always put more stock in the effort than the quantity. I appreciate being brought up that way. It's better on the purse strings! It is a belief I will pass down to my kids when I have them and I do look forward to sharing the magic of Christmas with them. (No, I am not pregnant. Just broody.)

Ranting done now. I hope.

So what are my plans for Christmas this year? Well, it's hard. Are we going to be in lockdown? Will we be able to visit family? Will we still be in lockdown but generally ignore it because if Dominic Cummings can go visit his family up north, then I can see my aunt from around the corner? Who knows.

I can certainly get some ideas though.

Thanks to my recent obsession with board games, I have joined an online community for girl board gamers. It's great; there's a discord, a facebook, and a whole bunch of like minded ladies who will happily play hours of Villainous with me via Tabletop Simulator. For the Hallowe'ekend, we tried to do a virtual game festival. The planning started a little late and lots of people were working, so only a couple of sessions happened. But we have repurposed the sign up sheet for the solstice four-day weekend and hopefully there'll be some sessions for that!

My college girlfriends and I do a secret santa every year. This year is going to be handmade and mailed to each other, then opened via video chat. There's going to be house tours of new places, probably mulled wine for those of grown up enough to like it (ie, not me), and plenty of giggles. I love those ladies and the weekly group chats we had during lockdown really helped with keeping sane!

No doubt, I will see loved ones in some way, shape, or form and having these little events to look forward to is helping to keep the Christmas magic sparkling. I love a good Christmas market, they often signify the start of my Christmas experience, but they aren't likely to happen this year. But if 2020 has taught me one thing, it's that we have to adapt and find new ways to do the things we love.

I had hoped this new national mindset might have toned down the Christmas capitalism, but maybe I am naive in the end.

Anyway.

I would love to hear what festive ideas you have a-mulling with your wine. What changes are you making to make your Christmas covid secure?