Right then,
In our 7 or so years of being a family, the thought of Christmas has usually filled me with dread, always something sad seems to happen (we know what that was this year, happened left of the Pond), but this year for some weird reason, Christmas for us ran very well and smoothly. I’ll outline what we did this year, and I’d love to know what was done by our mixed TT families here. I’ll discuss what the plans were regarding the tree, Christmas Eve (German Christmas) the obligatory visit to the inlaws, and the Dinner on the 25th.
Having grown up with an artificial tree in Britain most of my life, the ritual of going out and hunting down a real tree is something I love here in Germany. We used to go to places like Rauchenberg near Aying to cut our own tree but found it a tad too commercial, so went to a local farm. All the same, the tree was locally grown. The kids did a great job of decorating it, and I finished it off with real candles, which we lit at present opening time, with a safety bucket of water at hand.
I/we decided to stick to the German tradition of opening presents on 24 December, early evening. The kids are kicked out of the room, the fire is lit to roaring level and when the candles around the room are lit we ring a bell and they are let in to open their presents. we don’t spoil them with lots of crap, just enough, and no digital stuff just yet. They are more than thrilled with what we give them. We usually follow my wife’s tradition of salmon on toast with the toaster brought in the room and the freshly charred remains passed round. In the past the wife’s fam get togethers even involved lobster and caviar, when she was a nipperin.
Christmas Day for me until today used to be the worst day of all, but oddly enough I found myself up early out for a brief jog which really helped wake me up. My normal proceure is to wake with a sore head and start the cooking in a foul mood! But this time, a decent start, kids banned from the klitchen (I can’t multitask to save my life) and a wife out cycling made the whole process of cooking the chicken very very relaxed, stress free and the best dinner I may have ever made, considering the eff ups I have made on the 25ths of the past.
Tomorrow Boxing Day is earmarked for yet more Saturnalia blowout with the obligatory inlaw visit and exchanging of cheap usually offloading of last year’s unwanted Chrimmy gifts. This will be venison with blaukraut, knödel dumplings and lots of shouts ensuing from the kitchen as usual.
So that seems to over several years have evolved into our tradition which always was a compromise between two cultures, into a nice way to celebrate.
Hi, interesting to here about your take on DE-UK Christmas here. We stayed put this year as wife is pregnant and due in March so we did not want to fly home. Usually we head to my folks in Edinburgh who have hosted an extended family Christmas dinner for as long as I remember and our daughter loves the attention and gifts associated with a trip to Grandma and Granda’s.
This year, St Nicholas came on the 6th and small boots were filled with chocolates and a parent dressed up for one of our 3yr old’s friends and others. I wonder if I will be able to do that for others in the future. Need to brush up on my German incase a difficult question comes form one of the nippers and they spot my dodgy accent.
24th was a family Weihnachten at my wife’s Oma’s. Usually a dreaded event, this year went well. Fish and presents. Wife was anxious that der Nicholas had been and wanted something left under the tree for when we returned so involved some distraction tactics and a dash to the keller for a couple of things before wife and child got into the living room.
We had agreed that family gifts would be on the 24th and Santa Claus would come overnight leaving gifts for the 25th morning. However as the day got closer my Wife was not so sure and worried that our daughter would miss out compared to her friends if she didn’t get a visit on the 24th. Thus the dash to the keller. I think Santa coming overight is a much better idea as we have time to get everything ready for the next morning. But it’s not easy to convince a German
Next year may be back in Scotland, but if not, we will see of our new family traditions will be maintained or not.
Keep up the good work
Ross (BobD)
Thank you Ross for stopping by! It’s always an honour if someone reads my blog!