There is nothing that beats Christmas Eve
Children from Taugheen Playgroup who helped Santa Claus switch on the Christmas lights at the Taugheen Community Council's special festive event where the children also sang some popular Christmas carols. Picture: Trish Forde
My favourite day of the year is Christmas Eve. As the song says, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. For many there is a lot of work to come, but with all provisions having hopefully been made, Christmas Eve itself is a day to savour.
For Christians, it is a day of anticipation and exultation. The meaning of all that is best described in song: . To hear that sung on Christmas Eve in a cathedral with a full choir would raise anyone’s heart, whether you are a believer or not.
And for those less religiously inclined, it is a day of tradition, enjoyment and relaxation. It is truly a time for all. Christmas remains a Christian festival of course, but its reach and its embrace has widened.
For all those who are lucky in their lives, believer and non-believer alike, Christmas Eve is filled with the anticipation of sharing time with family and friends. On Christmas Eve, some last piece of that picture may still be awaited: the joy and drama of the late arriver. When they do arrive at the door or get collected as the day darkens on Christmas Eve, that is a special kind of magic. The song with a thousand memories, captures it well. That famous ESB Christmas advertisement captures it best.
Arrivals are anticipated with increasing excitement, and in some houses, it is a day of excitement about a very specific arrival. And that is a very special excitement indeed.
Now not all little ones are like Winnie the Pooh’s friend Tigger, but if there was ever a day on which they all come close, it is this one. And as we all know, the wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things. They are bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, and especially on Christmas Eve. Lords knows there is no need for Skittles on Christmas Eve.
That excitement sets the scene for leaving the stocking out, as well as a little something for the man himself – a mince pie and milk, everyone, just milk – as well as for the reindeers. Yes, that’s reindeers plural. Rudolph may well have a very navigationally helpful red nose – and a catchy song – but this is a team effort. In this era we don’t just pick out the most prominent team member for the reward. You wouldn’t want to leave anyone on the team out so everyone gets one. So be sure and leave out another eight carrots for Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. You get a prize of sorts yourself if you can say those names out loud without smiling – the Order of the Grinch!
For there are no good prizes for not smiling today; it is one for smiling without reservation. Smiling and revelling in joyful innocence as you check out how that reindeer herd are getting on as they fly around the world, dashing through the snow. You can be kept up to speed on that on one of the great pleasures of the day: the weather report on RTÉ. Isn’t it gorgeous? And whether it is a starlight night, or whether it rains or snows, red, amber, or yellow warning, Santa Claus will get through. It does you good to think of it.
For all those reasons, there is a lightness in your heart on Christmas Eve. And the lightness is there above all because the anticipation of something can often be sweeter than the thing itself. In this instance, it may be because Christmas Day itself can be hard going, even a bit of a slog. Yes, there is excitement, often in the early morning, but as the day proceeds there is a lot of dinner to both make and digest. That can be a drag on the best of emotions. At the very least, too much dessert and Quality Street can dampen the mood. But Christmas Eve is much more free and easy.
Christmas Eve is for carols and Midnight Mass. Whether you believe or not, you can bring someone you love who does. While there, you can light a candle to remember a light in your life and to defy the darkness.
It is a day for something good on the telly, which you can all watch together – and argue about – like it was the old times. It is a day for an easier and dare I say tastier dinner, which is less hassle and which all can help themselves to from the pot. And which perhaps someone who won’t be in the kitchen on Christmas Day can make?
It is a day for family traditions. Perhaps it is the ham, freshly roasted and left on the counter top with the freshly baked bread for neighbours and friends to enjoy. Perhaps it is the two drinks before the bar closes early, making sure everyone – bar staff and all – are home well before midnight. Perhaps it is a family gathering in the same restaurant every year. Perhaps it is fresh flowers for the person who was good to you every day when you were small. Whatever it is, we enjoy it on that day.
It is day to recall our childhood memories of what was done in times of Christmas Past. Readers will have their favourites, perhaps evoking different traditions in simpler times. For me, those memories are of the day spent in Ballina on Christmas Eve, buying the last minute presents, which were of no monetary worth but contained all that is valuable. I remember cousins and uncles and aunts, and a very special Grand Aunt, and I remember getting back late for midnight mass, and wondering whether Santa would have arrived while we were in the church. He never did. He always came later. In fairness, he had an awful lot of places to visit before he and all those reindeer got to Kiltimagh.
New memories will be made this year, as they are every year. Those who are not with us, either because they could not make it this time, or, alas, never will again, will be especially and fondly remembered. The best wishes of all will be sent to those who are working on Christmas Eve, and especially to those who are making sure those who most need care receive it. Those people should be atop the tree in every house, as well as, might I say, getting very good overtime.
Above all, Christmas Eve is a day to look our own Ebenezer Scrooge in the eye and say that we all can change; that we can all bring light and joy into the world; and to make sure we say all those important things that too often are left unsaid. Happy Christmas.
