My family's Christmas preparations

Seeing as though it is Christmas Eve. I should tell you what my family and I do when preparing for the festive season.

When we were younger, my brother and I, it was always really special because every year, my grandparents, my cousins and my aunt and uncle used to come to us or we would go to them and we would get such cool things. I remember the one year I got a pair of roller blades, black and yellow ones too. Not a day went by that I didn't want to put them on and go racing up and down the park pathways with my cousin's. It was the best times ever.

We would literally get so stuffed from all the food that used to get made. It was the way we all imagine it to be every year. There would be leftovers for days and then still have more the following day on Boxing Day when we would go to friends there for lunch

As we have gotten older, it has become less about who got what and more about spending time together and making lasting memories with the people we love.

As I have gotten older, I have been helping with preparing and making the food. It used to be chicken and turkey and gammon and sometimes corned beef, depending on how many people were coming every year, sometimes more would show up during the day. Nowadays, its gammon and chicken and salads, I don't really think that having a hot lunch in a South African Christmas is really necessary seeing as though it is so hot at this time of the year. We had a hot lunch last year because my cousin was out from the UK with her husband and the kids and that is what they normally do.

This year it will just be my parents, myself and my paternal grandmother as my brother is overseas working and he will have a busy day tomorrow. He lives and works in Dubai now. My maternal grandmother passed away on new years eve last year.

One thing I do realise as I have gotten older and have become more independent is that I would much rather remember who I spent it with than what I got for Christmas. I outgrew a lot of the toys I used to get quite quickly as I got older.

Material things hardly matter to me anymore. It is the memories that I hold onto anyway. Life has taught me all of these things over the years. Things have gotten a lot simpler for me and I prefer it that way. Nothing complicated. It just adds to the stress the more pressure you put on yourself and in the fast-paced world that we now live in, that is the last thing you need.

What are some of your Christmas rituals and preparations that you go through?

Let me know in the comments.

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas day tomorrow and that 2020 is the best year ever for you all.

I will see you all tomorrow to tell you all about my day and the memories I made. I will be putting up a sneak peek of how I prepare the gammon on my Instagram story (@helensellick) if you want to check it out.

Merry Christmas everyone.

#blazedesigns #mypassion #christmas2019 #preparations #holidaycheer #lovewhatido #memories