Christmas at my House by Becca

Since before I can remember, Christmas has been my most anticipated time of year. It began as sheer excitement for the prettily wrapped parcels beneath the tree, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to love it for more than just that reason. Of course, the prettily wrapped parcels are an added bonus!

I’m the eldest of seven children, so as you can imagine, the atmosphere when I arrive home on Christmas Eve is mental. Even if I went home in the foulest mood and not at all excited for Christmas Day (which would never, ever happen by the way), walking into that house and having six excited little people squealing about the fact that Santa’s coming would be impossible to ignore, and impossible to not ‘catch’.

I work in retail, so I’m usually working on Christmas Eve. Once that’s out of the way, I go home, pack a bag and then travel back to mum’s house. I have a stupid tradition, where I play ‘Driving Home for Christmas’ during the car journey, simply because it fits so perfectly. When I arrive, my mum is usually found making Christmas dinner preparations in the kitchen. Whether that be getting all the pots and pans ready, peeling the veg, or adding the finishing touches to a Victorian trifle, she’ll be there, and usually with a drink to hand me.

What comes next is waiting for the rest of the house to go to sleep. Easier said than done. I can’t blame them. I can remember, so clearly, how excited I used to be on Christmas Eve, unable to sleep because each time I closed my eyes, images of waking up on Christmas morning repeatedly took over. So, for mum and I, it’s a big waiting game until they’re all finally fast asleep in bed. Once they are, we begin to move presents from the designated ‘hiding place’ to the living room. I love this. I love placing the wrapped up gifts into their separate piles. When it was just me and my younger sister, our presents were placed in two separate piles, but now that there’s seven, it’s a little tricky, like a sort of puzzle. I can’t put into words how important I feel putting their presents in place for when they awake on Christmas morning. It’s so much fun, and Mum and I usually cast excited smiles at each other as we get to work. By the time we’re finished, we’re usually knackered, and it isn’t long before we head off to bed. We share a soppy hug before we part, which always makes me brim with tears (I’m so over-sensitive, haha!) and then sing, “See you on Christmas morning!”

Last year, I was ridiculously eager. I put an alarm on my phone for something ridiculous like 5.30 am and ended up drinking numerous cups of coffee, watching the TV, reading, gazing longingly at my own pile of presents, and face-planting the floor before anyone else woke up. It was torture! In the end, they woke at about 7.30-8, and as they hopped down the stairs, one by one, I was relieved to finally be joined with other people who were awake! I adore racing into the lounge before them, waiting for them to reach the doorway, and then flicking on the lights. As their eyes glance around at the presents, their tired faces quickly come to life and it’s wonderful to watch! Once everyone’s sat by their pile, we have to wait for Mum to wake up. It’s a rule. She usually comes down about five minutes later, and I get a cup of coffee prepared for her, haha. Once she’s settled in one of the chairs, coffee in hand, dustbin bags at the ready for the discarded wrapping paper, the fun begins! Being in a room with that many children, and my teenage sister, all of them tearing off wrapping paper and launching it over their shoulder, it gets messy very quickly! I usually run around like a headless chicken, depositing the paper in the dustbin bag. I love watching them opening their presents, I suppose it reminds me of when I was little. As is normal for excited children, once the wrapping paper is off and they’re faced with their presents, they want to play with everything straight away, so chaos usually ensues.

What comes next is Christmas dinner, which never, ever gets boring. Mum decorates the table beautifully, with candles and tiny glittery trees, and usually, because there are so many of us, we have to pull chairs from other parts of the house, otherwise there’s no way we’ll fit! The only thing I don’t have on my plate are sprouts, because they’re disgusting! BLURGH! But other than that, we all devour the food on our plates and finish up with comfortable, bloated tummies and satisfied appetites. Next comes pudding, and after that, we usually head back to the living room, to watch whatever Christmas film is on TV.

I look forward to Christmas throughout the year. Although people say not to spend your life waiting, I do find myself waiting for Christmas Day. No matter what’s happening in my life, I feel relaxed, at peace, and completely trouble-free. There’s something magical about the 25^th of December. Being with my family, eating a huge Christmas dinner together, helping Mum take the presents into the living room, having a drink while she preps dinner… It’s all so beautiful and something that I look forward to constantly. Christmas, in my eyes, is the best time of year by far.

From me, I hope you have all the most magical Christmas, full of happiness and excitement and love! I hope you all eat way too much, are spoilt by Santa, and have a very, merry time! I know I will!

Happy Christmas,

Becca xxx