I didn’t really grow up in a household with the strongest Christmas traditions. When I was very little I laid a mince pie and sherry out for Father Christmas and wrote him a letter every year but as I got older the traditions we followed became less and less evident. We didn’t always do the classic sitting around the table, eating a roast dinner in our Christmas jumpers. Instead, some of my most vivid family Christmas memories involved going for a curry on Christmas Day and stuffing our faces with rice, spices and naan breads instead of a traditional roast. We’ve never been the most traditional of families, but we had always had a good time at the curry house! This has meant I haven’t always followed the ‘classic’ Christmas day routine a lot of families have. Some years we didn’t even have a tree so I’d make do with decorating the sides and any available spaces with little Christmas trinkets and tinsel. I quite enjoy this slightly quirkier take on Christmas, as much as I love and respect traditions, I enjoyed having a unique family experience rather than the ‘cardboard cutout’ Christmas you see in the movies. It’s also fun to be creative with different decorations and ideas for making the home festive in different ways.
One of our more traditional years – around 10 years ago.
This year is my first Christmas with Vee, so we are trying to make it a special one. We are planning to have a quiet day in together, just us and the pup. We have loads of our favourite foods, from smoked salmon in the morning to the traditional roast in the afternoon (we decided against the curry this year!) Present wise, as I’m sure you know we are buying a house at the moment we are keeping things really low key. Being Christmas together I really wanted to push the boat out and spoil her, but adult responsibility prevails and I’ve had to ‘be good’ and plan for things like surveys, mortgages and damp proofing – Fun times. This year will be all about just spending quality time together and enjoying a break away from it all! This weekend I’ll be decorating the house with a few festive bits, I wanted to handmake some decorations but just haven’t had time this year, so I’ll buy a pretty holly wreath for the front door and a little tree for the front room, nothing too over the top. I’m really looking forward to it!
[Image Source: Pinterest]
Whilst I was pondering Christmas traditions past and present, I did have a giggle reading this quiz on the strangest Christmas traditions around the world, and probably won’t be looking at a Chocolate log in the same way again either! I think we should consider ourselves lucky we have such pleasant lovely traditions like carol singing or putting a mince pie out for Father Christmas, as some countries really do some bizarre things.
Are you planning a traditional Christmas this year, or do you have your own unique style?
– Post written in collaboration with Expedia