Traditions can be great as long as they’re something you enjoy. I love going to see our local high street turn on the Christmas lights every year and I’m always first in the queue when it comes to making the yule log with family – it involves making icing sugar look like snow, who doesn’t want to be involved in THAT? But blow me, the dull traditions can go. I don’t want to watch the Queen yacking away, eating into my precious sliding down a hill on a tea tray time and I could definitely do without the tradition of uncle Ken burping after adding too much brandy butter to his Christmas pudding.
There are lots of other traditions that I’m happy to give the old heave-ho(ho-ho) too. If you’re family don’t like sprouts then why force them to eat them, it isn’t fun and you’re wasting money. Okay so it may only be a couple of quid but that couple of quids worth of misery is better off in your pocket than making a seven year old cry. Christmas pudding seems to be an opinion divider, you either love it or you hate it. If you’re in the first group eat it until your heart is content but if you’re in the second group then why even buy it? Sure it might be a family or even British tradition but who cares? Chasing a wheel of cheese down a hill is a British tradition as is gurning but if we’re not fond of it we don’t partake, so why spend money on things you don’t need just because lots of other people are doing the same?
Don’t like turkey? Scrap it as a tradition and cook something you do like. What exactly is the point of bringing home a 15lb bird if your family will eat the breast and toss the rest in the bin? Either just buy turkey breasts or start a new tradition and buy a meat that your family do like and will happily scoff in sandwiches in front of the telly or curry the next day.
Is it traditional in your family to hit the sales on the 27th? Throw that idea out the window and let everyone know you’ll all be going for a Christmas walk or for a pint in the local pub with friends.
Think about the ‘traditional’ things you’re planning to do this Christmas, do you really want to do it? Do you need to do it? Do you enjoy doing it? If not scrap it and save yourself some money and effort.
Which Christmas traditions would you be happy to see the back of?
{Photo: adie reed}
Amen to that!
Incidentally, in my humble opinion, when it comes to taste chicken beats turkey ANY day.
I agree. Make your own tradition with your own family. If that involves having a barbeque on christmas day then so be it.
We live in Spain and have my family coming over to stay and they’re expecting turkey. Turkey is not a traditional in Spain, so we figured why spend a fortune trying to get hold of one? They’re having chicken, like it or lump it!
I quite agree. Making your own traditions is more important than sticking to those pushed by TV.
I’m with Harri, good chicken beats turkey by a country mile.
I’ve cooked 2
free range chickens – on Christmas eve so I don’t have to faf with them on the
day for the past 2 years. Tates better and far less stress.
One Christmas
tradition I might get a lynching for suggesting we dismiss is Father Christmas.
Because of the Aspersers type leanings of my eldest, I’ve been honest from the
start. We have Father Christmas but they know who it is. I couldn’t bear the
idea of the embellishing my parents went through to get round the fact that we got
less than our friends and cousins. Having to send money off to Santa etc – The loss
of mystery for the child who needed black and white honesty seemed a small
price to pay. But has in fact rid us of a huge burden I’ve seen others fall
under.
Another lesson
from my childhood was my brother playing with the box of his expensive star
wars toy more than the toy. Huge amounts of expensive toys really aren’t
needed. Stick with what you know you can afford and don’t let yourself be
beaten up by letters to Santa. They are wish lists not need lists. Help your
kids pick what they really want off the list. And don’t be afraid of good
quality second hand – little ones won’t be bothered by the lack of box. Growing
up in a recycled house hold my kids understand the balance of what they can get
that’s second hand versus how little they would get if everything was new.