Remembering what's important...

Christmas can be difficult for many, for some it's a time of love and togetherness and joy. For others it's a reminder of loss, of separation and of sadness.

My Christmas was a mixed bag of emotion, hubby started work at 7am, so we were up early to see him before he went to work.

The boys and I started out our day having breakfast with my son, his fiance and my gorgeous grandson.

Off to lunch at my brother-in-laws, I tried not to be too solemn that both of them had their family's there while my own parents, brother, sister-in-law and nephew were four hours away. Hubby called in for a mere half hour but missed lunch. I remind myself that I need to be thankful that I have family and that I'm not forced to spend the day alone.

We picked up a girlfriend of mine and her daughter on the way home, hubby had already picked up her partner on his way home from work. The two of them spent Christmas Day in different homes because of family divides and lack of family unity. How many family's spent their days apart because of family conflict?

Hubby went out to a broken down car in the McDonalds carpark, he tried to do everything to fix a car that just didn't want to go, because it was Christmas and there were kids in the car. The car was beyond fixing. The cars' owner was far from home and faced the prospect of a tow truck and hefty bill to get the car home.

Hubby questioned why the woman and two children were in the car park when McDonald's was closed. She said they were doing a custody exchange for Christmas Day. With no money to get the car home and the added dilemma of how to get the kids home because they couldn't go in the tow truck, I'm guessing their Christmas Day wasn't too enjoyable after that.

For us, Christmas night was at home with friends and some quiet drinks. More drama eventuated and we had one of my girlfriends on my lounge for the night. How much drama occurs on Christmas Day because family's are divided and stress levels peak?

Today, Boxing Day and I had a relaxing, restful family day. Hubby had the day off and my boys were at home. We did boring, uneventful things - yard work, cleaning and then just being together. We've had our own dramas in recent weeks, so no stress or drama was restful and reassuring. I also spoke to eldest MM and his girl and they both had a good first Christmas together with their darling baby boy.

So for today - all is as well in my world as is possible.

So after a nice Boxing Day I've decided that Christmas needs to be abolished, too much stress and pressure. Seriously, how many people spend days, even weeks preparing for a day which for many can be so stressful and overwhelming if not downright horrible.

Hubby says for Christmas next year he wants to take the boys and just go away and not do the Christmas thing - I'm starting to think there's some wisdom in his thinking, and I don't often see wisdom in some of his thinking.

I have included a montage of my favourite family photos for 2011 at the bottom of my About Me page. I realised there's a slight imbalance, from the very few photos of both hubby and I which I could find and the abundance of photos of my boys and my grandson.

That's just the way I like it. All of my favourite people are in these photos, my family - the ones who make life worth getting out of bed every day for. I don't need Christmas Day to remind me how special each and every one of these people are in my world.

Hope your Christmas Day was a good one wherever you were and whatever you did. Hug your loved ones often everybody. To all of you who drop by here regularly, thank you for sharing a small part of my world in 2011.

Cheers, Fi

Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future. ~ Gail Lumet Buckley