FESTIVE DAYS

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

We are probably all sitting in the same bath, at least in our Western world. Believers and disbelievers, we all celebrate Christmas and business is business the shops are the first once to show us the festive days. We run around in circles to buy Christmas gifts, although now we have the possibility to stay with our bottom fixed on the chair and buy on Internet. The only thing we have to do is to check the mailbox or the mailman (but not literally) to pay attention that the parcel doesn't get into the wrong hands.

Then the majority of women start to compose menus, to count the heads they have to feet, then they whirl around in the kitchen to prepare all special plates. Sometimes in couples there are disagreements, because mother 1 had always prepared a turkey while mother 2 had always prepared a duck, or a special fish and as we all keep to our traditions we have to compromise.

In the past at least we had no family problems. There were parents and kids. Today with patchwork families, there are several parents and several kids and everybody wants to celebrate on Christmas day, which becomes a brain raking problem for the now grown up kids, where to celebrate, with mother first and her new husband or companion or with father and his new wife or girlfriend. The children are pulled in all directions and have to celebrate several Christmases in two or three days, in advance or nearly in the new year. Difficult to keep up with traditions. But as it is with all in life we adapt to the new way of life.

What hasn't changed is the Christmas tree, the ornaments or decorations, everybody wants to have a tree. It sits there in a corner in each family and listens to the fights, disagreements, cries or happy moments. The only really happy once are little children. They appreciate to have so many Christmases to celebrate and therefore get far more gifts then in a so said "normal" family, which is only composed of a couple and two couples of grandparents.

It even becomes more complicated when relatives live far away and the Christmas victims have to drive or fly for hours to celebrate with the respective parents. Our grandparents had it easier, there were no cars, no airplanes and they stayed in their own town or village.





I did my duty too, composed the meals run around for the gifts, and now everything is ready for Santa to come. Even the chimney is cleaned so that Santa doesn't spoil his red coat, with all the visits he has to do in the world. Climbing in and out of chimneys must be a hard work for the old man ! He earns a medal !

to all of you