I get ridiculously excited over Christmas

by Hannah Davidson

Christmas for me is the best time of year! I love everything about it from the lavish spreads of food to the TV specials and to the general festive cheer we all feel as the big day draws closer. 
 
I have the fondest memories of celebrating Christmas as a child.

It would all kick off with being given an advent calendar, on the 1^st of December of course, that I would religiously stick by; just the prospect of getting a double chocolate treat on Christmas Eve was exciting enough.

Each year into the build up of the festive season I would insist on having the Christmas CD on repeat in the car, so eventually I would learn each song word for word, a personal favourite being ‘All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth’ which I’m pretty sure drove everyone mad.

Ridiculously excited 

Despite my love of singing Christmas songs I found Christmas carollers the biggest cringe. Ever. Why would you serenade a stranger at their front door?!

I’d spend Christmas Eve getting ridiculously excited (I still do to be honest) eyeing up gifts under the tree from my family, trying to guess what it could be underneath all that wrapping.

If we were really lucky my brothers and I would be allowed to open one small present on Christmas Eve, which if anything made us more desperate to dive in and rip everything open.

It was then that time of the evening to perform my very important role of leaving a plate of mince pies and a glass of milk for the big man himself and carrots for the rest of his team.

Gullible child 

Living in a maisonette at the time we didn’t have a chimney, so Santa had to be creative and come through our letter box instead. I was a very gullible child.

The rest of the evening was then spent counting down the hours and minutes until I could rush to bed, despite not being tired, and forcing my eyes to shut so Father Christmas would leave me my pile of presents.

Most years I would hear ‘Santa’ clumsily burst through my door, dragging the presents to the end of our beds.

I wouldn’t dare open my eyes for even a little peek just incase he caught me looking.  Nothing beats waking up at the crack of dawn and the first thing you see is your bedroom smothered with presents. Especially if your pile is the biggest!

Christmas day hasn’t changed much in my twenty years; it’s still a day we all spend together as a family, stuff our faces, drink our cupboards empty and then sleep it all off. But for me that’s exactly what makes it special, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Merry Christmas!