Merry Christmas everyone

I always have very fond memories of Christmas from my childhood. Lots of family traditions evolved as we grew up.

For example, each year a huge box full of the various decorations that we had accumulated over the years would come out of the loft and my sister and I would be allowed to run loose and decorate the house. The whole house was subject to our creativity and tinsel would hang over every picture, glass balls hang from the mirrors, and the tree would be erected (we had a very good and expensive fake one, my mother being allergic to real pine needles) and we would cover it. Only when I hit my mid teens did the concept of taste and colour coordination kick in, but by that time my Dad had acquired a set of singing Christmas lights for the dining room and all hope was lost.

Mum and Dad invite the children from their church or neighbours to decorate the house now, and the result is similarly haphazard.

We also had a lovely habit of getting presents that were designated as "Christmas tree presents". These were lots of little presents that would be given out after Christmas lunch. They were usually small things that Mum had picked up over the course of the year (Mum, quite unbelievably would start her next year's Christmas shopping at the January sales). My Aunt C was especially good at this as she had lots of local end-of-line shops stocked by the surrounding factories where she lived and we would end up with bags of silly things.

It had nothing to do with the quality of the gift, but the fun in opening it and laughing at what was inside.

This is something I am bringing to my little family this year and in addition to a big present for Eve, I have spent the past couple of weeks picking up lots of little gifts for her to open over the course of the day. They range from a colour book I picked up for under a pound (in HK dollar terms) to a cute little push along car that beeps. Just like my Mum, I am opportunistic in my purchasing and the Boy is starting to wonder what will appear next.

Therefore, I will be bringing an old tradition to my new family this Christmas.

Postscript for my family: I tried, and failed, to find a Lego santa and his sleigh