It’s beginning to look like Christmas…

Isaac Newton as a Wise Man in the Nativity

Is it beginning to look like Christmas? Maybe not quite like I used to know. Everything changes when you have grown up children.

Many years ago, when my boys were still young enough to be involved, I would write nativity sketches for our local church. It is such a familiar story that I always presented things differently.

One year we had an angel in training with L plates on. She didn’t understand her mission, as she visited a young girl and nine months later some shepherds on a hillside.

We’ve had Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton and Stephen Fry being the three wise men. We’ve had a shepherd washing his sock and Joseph inventing a skateboard. One year we even did the nativity in the style of X Factor.

I miss those days and fondly reminisce about them with my boys.

I’m not sure I feel prepared for Christmas this year, I’ve not yet got a Christmas tree – the living one I’ve had for two years died. I watched all the needles turn brown and drop off a few months back.

Although I have a few Christmas cards on my mantlepiece, I’ve not actually written a single one, perhaps writing some and listening to my Partridge Family Christmas album will get me in the mood.

I did go to a Christingle service this morning and I’ve just lit my advent candle; I’ve managed to keep up to date so far, not letting it burn too low or forgetting to light it for days on end.

There aren’t many presents to buy this year, no one needs anything. It’s oldest son’s birthday tomorrow and all I’ve sent him is a pair of socks! Although he thought from the outside it looked like a bar of soap, I hope he’s not too disappointed either way.

Some Christmases are full to bursting with glitter and festive madness. Perhaps it’s time for something simpler, spending time contemplating the truth behind it all.

Tomorrow I shall order my turkey crown, apparently turkey on Christmas day is expected, although we once had sausage and chips (read my memoir for that story). The boys will be here with me and when they arrive my home will swell with love and laughter, even if we just sit and share stories of Christmases past – “Remember when we had the muppets in the nativity, whatever happened to that video…”