I’m about to go Xmas crackers

If we step back, we can enjoy the simple magic of Christmas

THE so-called “should list” over the festive season is cracking me up. “Are you all set?” has been my biggest bug bear. We’re all training for the same Christmas marathon – complete with trolley wars and hot tempers flaring. We’re supposed to be filled with the Christmas spirit, not tearing around ticking off the to-do list. I heard a retail expert on radio saying how customers are totally emotional at this time of year, some bursting into tears in car parks before they even walk into the shop. The checkout folk avoid making eye contact with customers for fear they’ll be growled at. We are so focused on getting to the end of the marathon striving for feigned perfection that we’ve forgotten the simple joy of being festive. I was in a lovely fish shop this week and witnessed an elderly gent engrossed in conversation with three female staff, one Brazilian, one Mexican, the third Bolivian. It struck me how lovely it was he was quizzing them about their national traditions. They were beaming with pride and he left the shop bellowing “Happy Christmas, ladies”. It was a simple exchange, but made everyone’s day. We underestimate our kids’ festive expectations too, because the biggest gift we can give them is time. My girls remarked that what they really want to do over the holidays is to bake cookies and go on family adventures with our pet pooch Peanut. They want homemade hot chocolate while snuggling up on the couch watching Christmas movies. Our Christmas Eve will be spent munching mince pies and watching Angela’s Christmas and Angela’s Christmas Wish. Every year we look forward to watching these animations based on Frank Mccourt’s famous book Angela’s Ashes. Both tear-jerking instalments, set in Limerick in the early 1900s, are all about the power of family and the innocent wish of a child. In the first movie Angela is trying to keep the baby Jesus warm; she borrows him from the church and the drama unfolds from there. In the sequel she’s on a mission to make sure her Daddy returns from Australia for Christmas to a safe warm loving home, reunited with his tribe. If we take a step back from the madness, we can appreciate the simple stress-free magic of Christmas.