If you’re still in a position of hosting the family Christmas, you might need a few suggestions on how to unwind before the drama of New Year and immediately afterwards. In this article, we give you suggestions (some tongue-in-cheek) for how to spend the time between Christmas Day and 6 January.
What are the 12 days of Christmas?
For Christians, the 12 days are about the elapsed days between the birth of Christ and the arrival of the Magi (the three wise men who brought gifts from afar). The 12 days start on Christmas Day evening.
(The 12 Days of Christmas is also one of the silliest Christmas carols ever, one with which Selfridges of London had fun back in the 1980s. By the 12th window, the ‘true love’, who in each successive window became more dishevelled, was buried under a mountain of dancing ladies, maids-a-milking and various fowl.)
Our 12 days of Christmas
26 December: Boxing Day. Figure out the gifts, and how many batteries you need. Recycle the wrapping paper. Watch the Boxing Day cricket test match at the MCG.
27 December: Read a book. Hopefully a thoughtful friend or family member gave you one for Christmas. If not, revisit an old favourite. This isn’t the time to start grappling with deep philosophical questions or meeting new characters. Reading today should be as much a meditation as learning or being entertained. Start cocktail hour early.
28 December: Recycle the wrapping paper. Go for a swim – in the pool, in the river, in the harbour, on the bay or in the ocean. It doesn’t matter where. Just get water over your head and chill out with wild swimming...or floating.
29 December: Start panicking about NYE. Buy wine, beer and cocktail makings. Invent a new cocktail for New Year’s Eve.
30 December: Have some people over for brunch. See why hosting a brunch party at home is great because you can prepare easily and have your afternoon free once everyone heads out again. Have an afternoon nap.
31 December: Party on, or have a couple of friends over to watch the New Year’s Eve fireworks around the world. Serve the cocktail you invented the other day.
1 January: Get up at dawn. Go for a walk and watch the sunrise. Contemplate the year ahead. (Will Covid ever end? Do I have my keys?)
2 January: Think about your new year’s resolutions. Don’t do that EVER? Then read what other people are doing.
3 January: The worst is over. Now try to avoid people Happy New Yearing you. Or get in first. Or – drastic measures – move countries until March. Even then, we can’t guarantee immunity from a random “Happy New Year!”.
4 January: Remember where you stashed the boxes for the Christmas decorations. Sit and look at your decorations for a bit, then leave the house and go for a walk. Think about boxing the Christmas decorations.
5 January: Start taking down decorations in time for the ‘proper’ day of 6 January. (That said, in many families, including ours, the decorations came down on 27 December.) Put your organic wreath in the green waste bin.
6 January: Put all those decorations away for another year (or not). It’s Friday and you’re probably at work so leave this until tomorrow.
Do what you want over the 12 days
Hey, if you’re the energetic type and love nothing better than cycling 100 km before breakfast, then do that. All we’re saying is, if you’re more the chill-out type, this brief break is the perfect time to take it slowly. Whatever you do, have fun!
Leave us comments on our socials about what you’ll be doing over the Christmas break.
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