Merry Christmas, everyone!
We have spent a lovely Christmas with family and good food, including some homegrown roast chicken, first brined by The Husband, lamb, ham and yummy desserts. It is nice to have some downtime, just enjoying the company of those closest to me. Honestly, this Christmas I’m just thankful to have all my family around me without any serious or life-threatening health issues. I know a number of people who have been sick or had kids or good friends sick in the lead-up to or right on Christmas, some very seriously so. And after having some of my own health issues this year, I’m just grateful that I’m alive and able to continue to make a difference to those around me.
I find myself being a bit annoyed about santa this Christmas. We don’t do anything about santa in our family because I don’t think it’s ok to make kids believe in getting presents from someone who isn’t real, I don’t think it’s ok for kids who think santa is real to tell other kids about the fantastic presents ‘santa’ gave them and make others feel sad or unimportant because ‘santa’ didn’t bring them any presents, or brought less prestigious ones, and I don’t think it’s ok for parents who have made their kids believe in santa to make other parents or kids feel bad for busting the myth to their kids. If people lead their kids to believe that santa is real and that he brings them presents, then they are totally responsible for the hurt that comes when their kids find out it’s not true. Let’s just be real and talk about these things properly.
- Contrary to popular opinion, kids don’t need chocolates or santa to experience joy and excitement at Christmas.
Santa doesn’t live in our hearts or our home; sorry santa, you’re on your own. In our family we focus on someone who brings us true joy: Jesus, the greatest gift of all. What a beautiful story that can make everyone feel loved, no matter what we get or don’t get for Christmas, no matter what struggles we’re facing, no matter which loved ones around us are hurt, sick or even dying. If we ask Jesus to flood us with his love and peace, he will. And so we have an unusual amount of babies around our house at Christmas…
Each day of December The Little Fulla and I did the advent calendar house. Each draw brought a new piece of the Christmas story and a Bible reading, followed by lots of imaginative and surprising play. One of my favourite parts was when Mary rode the donkey off to the side of the road because she had to pee.
The lead-up to Christmas seems to be a busy time for everyone, for different reasons. One of my goals is to get any present shopping done before December starts. That is one of the keys to reducing craziness. This year I decided I was over the materialism of buying stuff for Christmas stockings in addition to our few presents for each other. In our stockings we each got a special fruit, by today’s standards (mango or pomegranate), and a Bible verse. I meant to get us all to write nice notes to each other too but ran out of time. The Little Fulla was very excited about his pomegranate.
We brought the potted Christmas tree inside some time in the lead-up to Christmas, and I found some things to rig it up higher off the ground. Then I decorated it, finding that gloves were quite a good idea when handling a Sitka Spruce.
Even without excessive present shopping there’s still a lot going on at the homestead in December. In contrast to our Northern Hemisphere buddies, our Christmas is not marked by snow or other forms of cold weather. It is summer, and that means the vegetable and fruit crops are in full swing. So, while we are preparing for Christmas gatherings and food-making, there is a busy garden to look after in order to have lots of good homegrown food for our family in the year ahead.
Sidle along to Part 2, for all the goings on…
Wild Hope Homestead 
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