C is for CHRISTMAS

So, was it worth all the fuss in the end? All the endless lists of things to do, presents to buy, food to get, cards to send, people to visit and all for just one day. I don't know of any other day in the whole of the year which requires so much preparation and often causes so much consternation among individuals. For weeks, we spend our time wrapping, putting up decorations, standing in queues, rushing, carrying plastic bags with a variety of shop motifs displayed, buying stamps, checking who has sent us cards and who hasn't, dreading that a card might arrive from someone whom we have forgotten about. And as the big day gets closer we become more frantic, buying extra bottles of liquid refreshment, more food just in case we run out, a few extra stocking fillers for our nearest and dearest and, inevitably, even on Christmas Eve many of us will be found back out in the towns, with just a few small things on a list that we forgot about and must have before the twenty fifth. We even find time to fit in a few carol services and maybe even a Christmas Eve gathering at church before the final preparations begin. Then the day arrives and the kids are up at four o'clock to check that Santa has left everything they asked for and we are dragged out of bed at an ungodly hour to share in their happiness, maybe even record it for posterity with our camera or video recorder, while cartoons blare from the television and compete with the Now 150 CD that you wish Santa had forgotten about in their stocking. Oh well, there's no point in going back to bed now, after all it will be daylight in less than four hours so we make a cup of tea, change bread into toast and amid the tonnes of wrapping paper spread around the room, the noise and the toys we start to prepare dinner.

Turkey stuffed, ham wrapped, bacon rolls ready, roasties swimming in goose fat, for the experts say that is the only way to cook them, potatoes peeled, vegetables sliced, gravy in the saucepan and then when everything is cooking nicely it's off to church where there is just time to sing a few carols, sit uncomfortably through the shortest sermon the minister preaches all year, wish him and everyone else a Happy Christmas and then it's back to the kitchen for the next three hours to check on the turkey and trimmings and prepare the plum pudding and the other desserts, before setting the table for the big event. Then the family start to arrive so during the short interlude from the kitchen, hair is tidied, clothes are straightened and everyone is welcomed into the living room and offered drinks and maybe a mince pie. Oh no, we forgot to buy mince pies! The day is ruined! How can we last the whole of Christmas Day without mince pies? Surely they are the very centre of Christmas Day. We wonder if a local garage shop might be open, just for a few hours but there is just no time to go there so the relatives have to make do with just a piece of Christmas cake and we detect a slight disappointment on their part? Anyway, no time to dwell on it, there's dinner to be cooked. By early afternoon, everything is ready, though the bacon rolls are a bit crisp and a few roasties are slightly burnt. Never mind, we'll hide the burnt bits on our own plate. We wonder will the vegetables be warm enough and is that gravy too thin? We hope the prawns are not off and what about the guests who don't like prawn cocktail? We better have a tin of mandarin oranges just for them. OH dear where did we leave the crackers? They are quickly distributed around the table but, as usual, they're slightly disappointing when pulled and only grandad wears his paper hat. Where has all the festive spirit gone?

BY late afternoon, Christmas dinner is just a pile of empty plates and while everyone struggles off to watch the Queen or sleep, we try to bring some normality to the recently created bomb site and just as darkness begins to fall normality is restored, all the dishes are washed, leftovers are binned or covered in cling film for the next day and it's time to sit down and relax. This is normally the time when someone suggests that a cup of tea, a few turkey sandwiches, some Christmas cake and a mince pie would be nice. OH no, they still want mince pies! Anyway, some time late in the evening, everyone filters home and just before we collapse in a heap there is time to catch an hour or two of television and then it's off to bed. So, was it worth all the fuss in the end?

When I was young, things weren't a lot different though I don't remember the build up to the big day ever being as frantic as it is now and certainly if mum was uneasy, she didn't show it. Our Christmas Day tended to be fairly low key, just the four of us, time for church in the morning, a relaxed dinner in the middle of the day, a helping hand with all the washing up, in the days before automatic dishwashers and everything cleared away long before the Queen was ready to make her speech to the nation. There was plenty of time for everyone to sit down and watch television, go for a walk, have a snooze or read a book and maybe catch a cup of tea and a sandwich late in the day. I reckon if you're a child of the sixties or seventies then that's the way you remember Christmas. Oh and before I forget, it's Jesus' birthday too.

'But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.'

Mince pies aren't really important in the end!