For me, there’s no sweeter day on the calendar than December 25. I simply love Christmas.
My first Christmas column appeared in The Weekly in 1984. By then, we had four children: Reagan, Flynn, Patrick and Courtenay. I wrote: “A parent who has spent Christmas Eve struggling to assemble a bicycle or a swing set that is 15 screws short knows a lot about goodwill, love and peace on earth.”
Back then, The MOTH (The Man of the House) didn’t know a Phillips Head Screwdriver from a plate of egg and chips. A toy with ‘assembly required’ filled us both with dread.
Ruff Red (Rowen) was born in 1986 and the family has grown since then. There’s our son-in-law, Tony, daughters-in-law, Katherine and Rebecca, and now four grandchildren – two little girls and two little boys.
I decorate the Christmas tree alone. I’m the only one with the patience to do it slowly and carefully.
“You’re the only one mad enough,” suggests the MOTH.
I’m sorry to say my family is a bunch of tossers. They ‘fling’ tinsel when they should ‘drape’, and totally ignore the back of the tree!
I work slowly. I position three sets of fairy lights well into the branches. Old, delicate, beautiful ornaments hang up high, out of reach of tiny hands. Next, a battalion of coloured balls and delicate ornaments collected over the years, and finally, the stiff, gluey masterpieces made at school on hot December days by our five kids.
I hide the weirder pieces at the back and cover the lot with an avalanche of tinsel. I won’t be satisfied until you can see our tree from outer space.
“What do you think of the tree?” I ask in an embarrassing plea for attention.
“Cool.”
“Needs more tinsel on the left.”
“It’s leaning a bit.”
Denne historien er fra December 2020-utgaven av Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 2020-utgaven av Australian Women’s Weekly NZ.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
PRETTY WOMAN
Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
The unseen Rovals
Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.
Great read
In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.
Winter dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.