Well it’s that time of the year, gloriously arriving with a thunderous bang of melodious carols and Xmas décor hijacking your sights, sounds and senses. As far as family holidays go, this surely is one of the biggest ones of the year.

The whole period of Christmas is important for those of the Christian faith on a religious and spiritual level, but in this day and time, where we try to teach our child to accept all religions, Christmas has to also be celebrated to the fullest, at least that’s what my children believe.

They need to see that Santa on Christmas day, have the family over for a roast lunch and play those afternoon games and pull few crackers along the way.
These days are important for children, building those little memories, feeling cherished and loved, carefree and wondrous, these are their glory days.

I, their mother, doesn’t feeling so glorious, if you know what I am saying. The reeling, dizzy confusion of the amount of preparation work that lays before, makes me want to run screaming to my own Mummy.

But one cannot hide under their mother’s skirts for too long however tempting, I must come out and face my children and make this holiday a resounding success.
Parents worry not, look for that superhuman strength in you, we can do it, children being children will not be too fussed if you forgot to baste the turkey, but they will be disappointed without presents or the lack of good times.

Here are some well discussed BUT always useful tips to survive the holidays:

1.    With the advent of the school holidays means that children aren’t hopefully tied down with other extracurricular commitments.
        If so, make use of those invitations by unsuspecting grandparents, loveable aunts and lonely cousins, who always say they’d love to have the kids over for spend the days, spend the weekends etc.

Organize such outings for the kids without your company, they will love the excitement and you will definitely appreciate the quiet time for some serious xmas planning.

2.    It’s doesn’t mean you’re turning into your mother, or that you are some fun-killing, boring unspontaneous credence of society. Keep your sanity, plan ahead. Be annoyingly critical of how you organize your Christmas, when you’ll put the tree up, when you’ll go xmas shopping, when you’ll do your charity work or even to the point of when you’ll start mixing your xmas cake.

Being ready and organized results in a cooler and a confident you that will make the actual event a success rather than a scene from dramatic Indian Bollywood film.

3.    Never take on too much than you can’t handle!. Of course that doesn’t mean to go to the extreme of deliberately loosing that annoying aunt’s yearly caroling fiasco.
        Go to as many events as you can, keeping in mind that you also will have small children tagging behind you, so the late night Xmas dinner might be a miss for little ones.

4.    Remember to make giving to the poor and misfortunate an important factor, for this will help to give the children a new perspective of life.

        Sometimes Christmas tends to be all about Santa and the presents, but infact there are the important qualities of love, compassionateness, fairness to others that we should teach the children about.

5.    Do not get caught up in the family drama, so great Uncle George drank too much punch and tried to dance the jig with his wonky hip or the kids ate too much candy or that cousin said something to the other cousin or all the other things that great big families wallow in. The beauty is, that you have a great big family with all their quirks and weirdness to spend time with and you are truly blessed for that.

I’ve found over the years and as the kids get older our family gatherings get more special. The kids, being older put on shows and other activities and the day is constantly filled with laughter and tears of joy.

We cherish our older folk and guffaw wholeheartedly at their antics of the bygones days, the children listen their faces brimming with joy. This is truly the circle of family love, the melding of the older and the younger helped along by us.

Be it Christmas, be it Vesak, be it Ramazan, the family is the only component that stands tall and strong. Enjoy your holidays with your families, I will with mine.

Happy Holidays to all my readers, you are after all my other family, the one who shares my thoughts and feelings! Thank you for everything!

By Mayuri Jayasinghe