LET THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS SPARKLE INTO MY HOUSE

“MY INSPIRATION FOR CHRISTMAS IS VERY SIMPLE: DO WHAT YOU LOVE WITH THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE”

Hundred years ago, maybe not so long ago, but 10 years have passed for sure, I wrote about the pre-Christmas rituals in my home in Poland. Now I’m reading this and laughing because the funniest thing is that these customs haven’t changed for centuries, be it Easter or Christmas. Rituals are the same before every holiday.

Have you already guessed what pre-Christmas customs this post will be about?

The pre-Christmas atmosphere in my family home was felt for miles. Stressed mom, grandma, aunt, and how many women were in my family, all felt the pressure that Christmas had to be perfect and imposed a lot of responsibilities. While the whole male group was obliged to organize a Christmas tree and a carp. Only this. Since my mother couldn’t cope with all the duties alone, I, as another female representative, was pushed to all kinds of jobs from an early age.

PRE – CHRISTMAS WORKS IN MY OLD FAMILY HOUSE:

cleaning
shopping
cooking and baking helper
help with peeling and cutting
washing windows
decorating the house
and plenty more

TASK NO 1

Cleaning

I’m traumatized to this day after the task of wiping the leaves of flowers from dust. This is not a joke. My mom had and still has a little jungle at home, and those crappy flowers with big leaves are really dusty.
Another cleaning task that I also hated was changing the curtains. Now I have blinds all over the family home. I don’t care that there are millions of beautiful curtain designs now. Of course, every year I hear comments that they will buy me curtains for Christmas, but I always say that I will throw them away and I will keep my word.

TASK NO 2

Shopping

I still can’t understand why women make life so difficult for themselves. It was enough to make a shopping list and send the men’s team shopping. They disappeared for a day anyway when they went to get a Christmas tree or a fish, so why not give them more quests?

Of course, shopping always fell on me, and it wouldn’t be as terrible as cleaning if it wasn’t for the constantly missing things. More butter for the dough, flour, eggs, cinnamon, cloves, etc. Instead of buying in excess and saving my time and energy. Forget about it! Same comedy every year. I remember once a saleswoman counted that I was in her shop 13 times in one day.

TASK NO 3

Cooking and baking helper

Let me start by saying that after all my baking and cooking experience with my mom, I still don’t have the talent to create the dishes my mom makes. I’ve gotten better at cooking, especially with two kids, but baking doesn’t fascinate me. Maybe because I always whipped the foam wrong, the sugar was not well mixed, there were too few raisins, and then too much. I’m telling you, it was a women’s pre-Christmas madness. No wonder my dad and brothers disappeared.

TASK NO 4

Help with peeling and cutting

I was a master at this task. Maybe not for the first two years, but for the next I could peel carrots, parsley, and potatoes with my eyes closed.
I mastered the cut to perfection. The pieces of vegetables or fruit had to be exactly the same size. I was a maniac in this category. I have it to this day.

TASK NO 5

Washing windows

It’s December 9th and my windows still haven’t been cleaned and I don’t see the need. I washed them in September, they are not dirty. Why should I follow this sick rule of cleaning windows before Christmas and Easter? Yes, we have such a rule in Poland and in the Czech Republic too. Maybe I will use my children for this task, as my mother used to do. They love spray, water, and toilet paper, maybe they can do it. I’m kidding, let them have different memories of pre-Christmas preparations than I do.

TASK NO 6

Decorating the house

This is the last pre-Christmas task I remember and the most pleasant. I love creative work, it gives me great joy, just like my children now. Every free weekend we carry out many projects adapted to the creative abilities of children aged 2-5. https://littlepuzzlesandme.com/little-puzzles-art/.

From those times, I had the idea of drying oranges and decorating the Christmas tree with them. All our table and door decorations were made from fresh Christmas tree branches. The whole house smelled wonderful of fresh Christmas trees and oranges. If it wasn’t for Christmas decorations – the magic of the coming Christmas would not be visible.

When Christmas dinner came and everything was perfectly prepared, all the women’s faces relaxed. The gentlemen’s smiles lasted all day, so the men’s bunch looked the same, stress-free, throughout Christmas time.

PRE-CHRISTMAS WORK IN MY OWN FAMILY

I’m fed up with the Christmas pressure after starting my own family. My Christmas atmosphere is stress-free and we may not have a lot of cake and many types of fish dishes, but we do have wonderful gingerbread cookies made with love and we have each other. I feel the magic of Christmas thanks to decorations and my family, not thanks to washed windows.