See Fifi!
9:38 a.m. - 2008-12-29
Nothing!!!
Today Biba and I shall do nothing, for the most part. I was just reading Thee Biggest Trainwreck Ever! and Biba is doing art. She loves all her new art supplies. I actually got no art supplies even though I did say when asked that they might be nice. I am a terrible artist, though, so why waste the money?
Because we make our new traditions, I don't really get disappointed at Yule any more. Things are different here. First off, it seems that decorations and music and Buy Buy BUY keeps coming earlier and earlier. There seems to be no tradition except for that of greed. All of this buildup and hoopla and then suddenly, Boxing Day, all snaps shut and off. That is not how we do it in Fifi Land.
First off, Biba puts her shoe in the window on the sill on the evening of 5 Dec so that St. Nicholas will come by and fill it with chocolates. I shall deffo fill Biba in on the history of the Bishop Nicholas but she is a bit young for it right now unless we don't go into specifics. Even in Europe, St. Nicholas is not seemingly such a big deal . In the Netherlands, possiby Belgium as well, he runs with a crew of thugs. Well...sigh...not here. At any rate.
We do not put up decorations weeks and weeks in advance. Roughly a week before, but we've cut it close some years. ( Yes, as if the House of Fifi has been that longstanding. It will be ten years, though, next year and it seems ages!) We keep things up until Epiphany. Have you heard of the 12 days of Christmas? Count them. You'll end up on 6 January, Epiphany. At my Mum's, they move the Magi across the mantelpiece slowly, day by day, until they reach the manger on the 6th.
Of course, we do actually take down the Christmas things then, sometimes a few days after, every so often, a day or two early. Then comes the New Year. And you know, January is the time of the galettes des roi, then Burn's Night come rolling along, so there is never really a lack of things to celebrate.
I just feel sorry at that things are built up artificially high then only to snap shut abruptly. Sound familiar these days? And don't I sound unbearably smug and self-righteous?
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