So, this Christmas thing.
I used to love Christmas as a child. Like all kids, I loved leaving mince pies out for Father Christmas and carrots for his reindeer and all the other stuff that makes Christmas, well Christmas. Then I grew older (obviously!) and went through the trauma of finding out that it wasn't Father Christmas who ate the mince pies, it was in fact my slightly-tipsy father and that my mother wrapped all the presents whilst also half cut. I wanted to keep the excitement for my younger sisters so helped my parents to wrap presents and do all the other bits.
The best things I remember about Christmas as a child was the Monopoly game after we'd eaten. My dad worked at Marks and Spencer for a while and managed to get a huge oak dining table in black that could have easily sat 10 which was quite excessive considered we lived in a 3 bed through terrace house. But we'd all take our seats at the table, drinks ready, snacks ready and prepare for a game that would last for usually most of the evening. Whenever anyone left to go to the toilet, they used to take their money with them to make sure that none of us were playing dirty. Occasionally my mother would kick my youngest sister under the table when she'd missed someone landing on her property and we'd all fall about laughing when she used to say "Ouch, mum, why are you kicking me under the table?!".
We also used to alternate the Christmas meal between the whole traditional turkey, stuffing, Christmas pudding thing and a Caribbean affair which was basically just everything slathered in spices. I used to love helping each of my parents out with the meal and perhaps a sign of a masochist in the making, I even liked the washing up afterwards.
I think it turned when my parents divorced. We were quite a close family and for many reasons, the whole separation really affected us. I remember the first Christmas that I spent with just my mother and two sisters. We were all in varying states of misery and on varying strengths of medication. It was just a process to go through and I think Christmas lost its charm for me then. Presents are great when you're a kid but it's not about presents, money or just 'stuff', it's about the falling asleep after too much turkey, watching shit films and then being forced to thrash people at Monopoly (Apart from 2010 but we don't talk about that).
After that year, I started to despise Christmas and saw it as a money spinning effort which made the nation become obsessed with stuff and money. I mean, I've seen PC world computer magazines that have just stuck a couple of holly leaves in one corner and some 'snow' around the top of the page and then it's a perfect Christmas catalogue. Adverts that say they know "exactly what Mum wants" this year - I know for a fact my mother wouldn't like some trashy, two-bit watch from some "Buy now, pay 25 years later" shop. Christmas was a time to chill out on my own and do the whole watching TV and eating until I sleep lark. But I never did it with my family.
And so it continued for around 5 years with different boyfriends, different levels of pessimism and different levels of Miller-family interaction. I think the change started when my sister had her first daughter. All children love Christmas, no matter what. I think I thawed out a bit and tried to enjoy Christmas the way my niece did. I've now got two nieces and this year is the most excited I've felt about Christmas in some years. I've banned presents (apart from me buying for my nieces as they're only young) but will be having my family round for the day after Boxing Day. I'm going to hopefully recreate the atmosphere that I remember from when I was young, lots of nice food, games, naff TV and someone (probably my boyfriend as he'll be the only male there) falling asleep with a party hat on. Memo to self, must buy party hats. I don't need anything and it'd break my heart if my family bought me presents anyway. One has two children and the other is self funding a university course and the thought of them spending money on me sickens me. I'm going to feed and water them until they're pogged and half cut, this is what Christmas is about!
So out with the shit Argos catalogues covered in holly leaves.
So out with McDonals doing festive pies
So out with those adverts saying that my father needs to have a Lynx shower gel and deodorant combo pack
In with Monopoly
In with having my family round and spoiling them silly (and fat, and drunk)
In with enjoying what Christmas is supposed to be about
