Over tea with my girlfrens, we started talking about the meaning of Christmas to us. It was fascinating for me to listen to my frens, as they shared about their childhood experiences of Christmas and how those have shaped their own expectations and celebration of this festive season. For B, she has always been told, as far as she can remember, that all her presents were from Santa. And she only saw the presents under the Christmas tree on Christmas Day itself, as Santa Claus only comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve night. And to keep the realism up, the family would put a glass of milk by the chimney for Santa and a carrot beside it for Rudolph. One year, her uncle even got some horse manure and placed these out in the garden to up the realism factor! So, she was astonished that her partner did not grow up with this tradition, but instead was always told who gave the presents - grandparents, parents, uncles, aunties... C is from Europe and says in her country, they have the tradition of St Nicolas and he comes on Dec 9. So, for them, they would get their presents earlier and they too would put out a drink and a carrot for St Nicholas and his reindeer respectively. She said her 3 year old daughter loves this bit of Christmas tradition. E has always grown up with Christmas stockings and this year, she is knitting one for her baby daughter's first Christmas, which I thought is really sweet.
The discussion really gave me a different perspective of Christmas, which to me, in its most profound sense, has always been a picture of a snow-covered house, beautifully decorated Christmas tree, presents, poinsetta, holly, roast turkey, gammon, mulled wine and stollen. It was nice to know the family traditions some people have, and see the glow on my friends' faces as they talk about these fond memories - it gave a new sense of depth to this festive season that in my experience in tropical Singapore, has only been marked by Christmas cards, Christmas light-ups, crazy shopping and happy feasting.
Christmas remains for us purely a great occasion to gather with family and friends and have food and exchange presents, though this year, I am predictably hit by the "Baby's First Christmas" syndrome and am the dream consumer for the retailers. Should I queue up at the mall and pay for a chance to enter Santa's Grotto and get Julien a photo with him on Santa's lap? Should I get a personalised letter from Santa addressed to my baby by giving a small donation to a charity? Should I get Julien an elf suit for cute picture-taking? Should I get him a storybook that says "My First Christmas"? The list is endless, and Daddy Low would be alarmed to know these thoughts racing through my mind... but rest easy, dear, for so far, I have not succumbed :)
In fact, the only thing we did so far is to bring Julien to his first Christmas market experience a few weeks ago, where I got him a teeny weeny snowflake globe to mark the occasion... that is, until Daddy Low and I went Christmas shopping today.
We were really shopping for other people, and when we were in the shop, it was just amazing to see the possibilities we have. Everything looked so nice, beautiful and fun! And after a few hours of shopping, we were done. Or so I thought. We had also picked up things that we wanted ourselves and Daddy Low laughingly said that we will just wrap up one item from our own shopping and that would be our presents for each other. After 5+ years of marriage. while it is nice to spend the festive season together, it is no longer as exciting or as much of a novelty, given that we don't have much of a tradition attached to Christmas anyway. So, I was alright with that... until I realise we don't have a present for Julien. And Daddy Low was like, "Oh please! He's too young to know anyway, and we did buy new clothes for him. You can wrap that up!" But somehow, it is not the same! Christmas may be no big deal to 2 adults, who are just happy to spend it in each other's company and chill out at home, but for my little boy, it has to be more special than that! It is, after all, his first Christmas, even if he is too young to understand it :)
So, we went back to the children's section again and we looked up and down the aisles. And in truth, it need not have been expensive or posh, but somehow, we ended up getting one of the more expensive items there. And boy, is it big! It is, in fact, Julien's first major, big-item developmental "toy" and I am so glad that we got it, even though I had misgivings about paying so much for something that will just take up space at home, when he outgrows it. But you know how it is - you see something and you know immediately that this is it! And even if you feel you shouldn't get it, you secretly wish that you will. And I did walk away and search the other aisles for more possibilities, but nothing else caught my eye and when I walked back and saw that Daddy Low is still at the same spot, reading the text on the box and checking how many are left on the shelf, I knew that he felt the same way as me. When he saw me coming back, we looked at each other for a moment and in those few seconds, it was almost like our eyes shared the same thought: "Should we?" followed by "Let's do it!" :)
Now, I can't wait to wrap it up and place it under the Christmas tree. Actually, probably beside the tree - it would be too big to put underneath! But in any case, let's get it wrapped first; I hope I have enough wrapping pape...
Jules, you are going to love this! I can't wait to see you try it! :)
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