Not feeling it this Christmas? It’s not just you.

Glen Le Lievre

Wait, what? You mean it’s Christmas? Now? How did it get here so fast? There’s supposed to be weeks of parties and shopping and hot weather and ads for gifts that will be on the throw-out pile before New Year. Oh, OK, we got the ads but missed the season.

Christmas must have got caught in the supply chain problems. Or it joined the Great Resignation. Maybe Omicron stole its mojo. You don’t have to be Grinch to not be feeling it this year.

But we have to rally. The rellies are on the doorstep. Prawns are defrosting. The tree needs to be straightened – again – and Mariah Carey is clearing her throat. Let’s bootstrap the Christmas spirit. Now. Yes, you. Get off the couch, we’re getting psyched.

It’s all about family, whether they’re related or just feel that way. They’re yours, they’re here, they’ve had a tough two years and they’re getting together for a feast. Yah. Go on, say it, Yah.

Don’t squabble this year, just be grateful. Even if they bring their dog to the feast. And ask you to set a place at the table for it. Plate of ham, no turkey but Rover loves stuffing. Don’t shoot the dog, just fantasise about it.

Buy presents. Don’t give vouchers for wells in Africa this year (leave that til June 29). Your family needs the replenishment.

Buy treats and knick knacks and that expensive thing they like. Pile the tree high with stuff that says you’ve been thinking about them and you love them. Even if you don’t share their taste.

Talk. Talk about stuff that counts. Memories of the times before. You know what I mean. Those times when you could squabble and not burst into tears. Times when we worried whether the Town Hall Christmas tree was Christian normative, whether grandma would choke on a turkey wing and whether water pistols were harmless fun or part of the NRA’s plot.

Share the chores to make light work for everyone. Sometimes, it’s when you stand at the kitchen sink with a brother you haven’t spoken to in yonks that you discover who he is now.

Play sappy music. It’s the only time of the year you can get away with playing Mariah Carey, Michael Buble and Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? You know you love them.

Go for a constitutional around the neighbourhood to admire the lights. They are naff, cliched and no doubt bad for the planet but they’re also great. Because those neighbours went to the trouble and expense of lighting up the hood for the kiddies and those who remember being a kid.

Don’t spoil the Santa Claus story. This is not the year for myth-busting. Besides, is it that weird that a jolly, fat man has found a way into your home to leave a pile of presents? A bloody bat found its way into a virus and broke into millions of homes, so what’s so weird about Santa.

Don’t talk about that. Just leave it. Live with it. After all, we have survived to show up for another special day. Crank up the sappy songs, drink the best wine, enjoy the moment and make plans for next year …

Then again, there are a few people afraid of toasting to a better 2022. They did that last year and look what happened. No one got a refund on 2021. So, think local, think small, make vague plans. I guess the answer is really to toast the moment. Right here, right now, this is what counts.

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