Christmas is a time full of family and tradition. I love how our family gathers together to celebrate each year. Here’s what a typical Christmas looks like for me:
Christmas Eve
We tend to gather at my parent’s house on Christmas Eve for a carols sing along. The Vision Australia’s Carols By Candlelight, which is televised from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, has been a tradition ever since I can remember. We joke that Dennis Walter and one of my uncles could be twins, get up and dance around the house to the kid’s entertainment, and sing our hearts out to Deck the Halls, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Jerusalem.
Christmas Day
Christmas Day is divided in to four parts for us: Preparation, Gift Giving, Lunch, and After Lunch.
Christmas lunch is the big meal of the day, and we usually have several members of the extended family over. To get ready for their arrival, the morning is a flurry of last-minute cleaning, putting out table decorations, and cooking.
By the time the family starts arriving, the preparations are mostly done and we can sit down, catch up, and exchange presents.
Depending on how hot it is (Christmas Day temperatures tend to hover anywhere between 20 – 35 degrees Celsius), we have turkey, chicken, and kebabs cooked on the barbecue, as well as salads. We always eat so much that dessert – gingerbread, mince pies, chocolate truffles, fruit and cheese platters and my Mum’s famous fruit salad ice cream – often comes out in lieu of tea around 6pm!
The rest of the day is spent in a food coma, chatting and playing games. This year my uncle brought over Cards Against Humanity – it’s an inappropriately hilarious game, and it suddenly seems like everyone I know either owns it, has played it, or knows someone who has played it!
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a quiet day in our house – still full from lunch the day before, it is a day for sleeping and lazing around, before the end of the year and returning back to work sets in.
Do you have any Christmas traditions? Share them in the comments!