That also slightly worries me about Christmas. In France, it's not like in the US. At my house, Christmas dinner on the 24th meant ham, mashed potatoes, and probably a pie of some kind for dessert. You might feel a bit full, considering that we would probably have spent the whole day eating all of the chocolate in the house, but generally, there were no major concerns.
In France, there's the Revellion. The Revellion is every imaginable thing to eat, served in shifts. So there's smoked salmon and blinis, there's fois gras, usually about 3 difference sizes of shrimp, there's snails, there's langoustine, sometimes coquilles-st.-jacques, crab, basically imagine a type of seafood, it's there. And that's just the first course.
I still haven't completely recovered my appetite. I eat a little, but I don't eat like I used to be able to. I basically have two weeks for my GI tract to reestablish itself, or I'll be in the bathroom every 20 minutes. Here's hoping that happens. I can eat whatever I want, but I just don't feel well.
Maybe there's more at play for why I don't really feel like Christmas anymore though. Maybe I'm getting more and more annoyed by building traditions and just seeing it work out to nothing. Part of me wonders if it would maybe be better once we have kids to never have two Christmases the same. Maybe one Christmas will be in France, and the other in the US. Then after that, maybe we'll be in Auckland, and maybe another year in Tokyo. Of course, I would wonder how that idea would work with kids. I dunno.
I remember how much I loved Christmas as a kid. Christmas music started in my house on the 1st of November. We would come home from our grandmother's and start decorating for Christmas. We bought our tree in December of course, but it was a real one. I always was the one pushing for it to be put up that night. I wanted Christmas to start as early as possible and end as late as it could.
Probably since I started college, Christmas has been getting more and more depressing. It feels like we're clinging to these traditions that just are losing what they meant. I think everyone suffers from the same problem of Christmas not being what it was when they were young.
I have an idea I'll start on the site the 12th. Hopefully you'll find it amusing. Why you've stuck around this long, leaves me with questions, even though it makes me happy that you have!
I'm feeling anti-Christmas, even with kids and even without sickness. I'm just not into it. But I do feel some pressure to make it fun for the kids. I suppose they'll have a good time. Now that we live close to our families, we'll probably hang out with them, but I feel so blah about it. Bah humbug.
ReplyDelete@ Fie - I think it's hard not to feel at least a little blah about Christmas as we get older. For me at least, I think part of it is watching all my past Christmases fade into the distance.
ReplyDeleteDo kids not make that much of a difference, or is it just a whole new load of problems for the holidays?
I think that it just makes you feel more pressured when you have kids. Under normal circumstances, hubby and I might just say, "no gifts this year" and take a trip or something. We'd spend the money on something fun, but not really material. If we had a LOT of money, we might do that this year with the kids, except (a) we don't have much money, (b) they expect SOMETHING from Santa, for Christ's sake. I think once they are older they might buy in to the idea of going on a kick-ass trip instead of getting stupid gifts, but that might be wishful thinking.
ReplyDeleteAll that said, the kids have a great time on the holidays. They love all the gifts, the food, the candy, the tree, etc. To me, it's mainly a pain in the ass. But when the kids get all happy and excited, it's worth it for about ten seconds. Ten golden seconds.
I guess that's what parents get for Christmas.
We have yet to go to the storage unit to get the Christmas stuff. I just want my three little trees, our fireplace stockings and my Christmas China. The rest will have to wait until next year.
ReplyDeleteHope you get your appetite back soon. Love the look of the blog. All wintery and cozy.
Fie - I bet those ten seconds are totally worth it though. I think kids will always expect some kind of gift though. Maybe you can go on trips when they want clothes?
ReplyDeleteAlso that was one really nice thing about this year. Partner and I bought Skyrim and called it the present for ourselves. We haven't bought anything for ourselves that wasn't practical in about 2 years. We felt justified.
Nubian - I hope you're able to get all the decorations out you're looking for. They sound absolutely charming!
The blog look was pure luck this time! I just noticed when you mentioned it.
Hello T.
ReplyDeleteJust catching up with your blog...
I don't have particularly fond memories of past Christmases when I was a kid. It was fine and very lively with all the gifts and the food - yeah! we also had the Réveillon with a table full of everything immaginable but we started to eat only after La Messe de Minuit so around 1:00 AM.
I love your idea of spending Christmas in a different place very year. I've been wanting to experience Christmas in Venezia, Italy for many years now. I can't find out why. But something also tells me that I might be dissapointed if it ever comes true.
Hugs
Jon
Blue - Italy has to be wonderful for Christmas. I'd love to do Venice one year, just to see how different it is. You are right though. Sometimes dreams don't match reality, at all.
ReplyDeleteI went to midnight mass one time with my sister and brother in law. I'd never been and I felt like someone should go with them. So I did. I still don't entirely understand why I went.