Do they know it’s Christmas time?
Happy birthday to the song “Do they know it’s Christmas time?”!
It was 25 years ago that a group of musicians, led by Bob Geldof & Midge Ure, got together as Band Aid and sang this song to raise money for people in famine affected Ethiopia.
Unfortunately, there are still many starving people around the world and not everyone enjoys Christmas as we do in Australia (and there are those in Australia struggling, too). But we can choose to let songs like this remind us of the giving spirit of Christmas and do what we can to help others.
Why do we have Christmas wreaths?
Recently, I was asked why we hang wreaths at Christmas time so here is some of the history and tradition behind wreaths…
- wreaths symbolise the celebration and happiness of Christmas
- Advent wreaths for Christians (particularly Catholics) are traditionally made of evergreen branches around four candles and represent everlasting life
- ancient Persians had wreaths as a symbol of importance and success – they usually wore the wreaths on their heads
- wreaths were a symbol of hope for spring when hung in pre-Christian Eastern Europe (especially Germany) – the green showed new life and candles gave light in dark months
- Greeks used laurel wreaths for thir Olympic champions in 776BC or so. Some say one athlete hung his wreath on the wall as a memento and that is where hanging wreaths began
- Romans gave wreaths to their military heroes and leaders
- the circular shape would be linked with wreaths for heads but also represents the cycle of life (no beginning or end)
- Americans in the 19th century used wreaths to honour deceased loved ones at Christmas – initially at the cemetery, the wreaths were brought home and hung
Now many people just hang wreaths because it is a Christmas tradition, or because they have a beautiful wreath they want to display (including wreaths made by chidlren or friends.)
Love Santa Letters 2009
Christmas is very close now, and many children are excited with their letter from Santa. It isn’t too late to order one for the special children in your life – in fact you have until 5pm …
Tuesday 22nd December if you live in Melbourne
Monday 21st December if you live in another capital city or elsewhere in Victoria
Sunday 20th December if you live in other areas (although very remote places may need longer for the Postie to deliver letters in time.)
Ordering is easy – just fill in our online form and we’ll take care of the rest for you on behalf of Santa.
Christmas laughs…
Reindeer names
Everyone knows Santa’s sleigh is predominantly pulled by his reindeer, but not everyone can remember their names!
As well as the 8 named in the ‘A Visit from St Nicholas’, there are other reindeer in stories about Santa:
- Rudolph – the unusual red-nosed reindeer helps guide the sleigh on particularly dark and foggy nights
- Olive – “olive the other reindeer shouted out with glee”
- Chet – the reindeer in training in “The Santa Clause II”
- Cupid – the reindeer who falls in love with Private (the penguin) in “Merry Madagascar”
Can you add any more?
And you may not know that the original story included Dunder (which became Donder then Donner) and Blixem (later Bliksem then the German Blitzen).
Santa just smiles when asked the names of his reindeer and lets us remember the poem…
Favourite Christmas songs
What are your favourite Christmas songs (not carols)? How often do you listen to them (by choice rather than when walking through a shopping centre!)?
Some of the songs I can think of are:
6 White Boomers by Rolf Harris
I’m dreaming of a White Christmas
Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?
I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus
Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer (so well known I think it is almost counted in amongst the carols, but I don’t think it really fits there)
Giving Christmas gifts
We usually give a present to our kids’ teachers, leaders, etc. Most other families seem to do this too so it almost feels like we HAVE to give rather than do it because we want to.
This year we’re torn – there’s someone we don’t want to give a gift to but it feels rude and wrong to not give something.
Will the teacher feel insulted to not get anything? That isn’t our intent.
Is it giving the wrong message (to ourselves at least) to give a present we don’t want to give?
Christmas Pudding
We had some delicious Christmas pudding last night, made by our friend’s Mum. She made it ‘properly’ – soaking the fruit for weeks beforehand (in Port in this case).
This pudding was mostly fruit and was about the moistest and yummiest pudding I’ve ever tasted. If I can get the recipe and am allowed, I will share it here too.
Anybody else had some good pudding yet this year?
Air clearance
Flying around Australia requires letting Air Traffic Controllers and airports knowing where you are going – and that includes Santa’s flight on Christmas Eve!
Of course, Santa is special so Airservices (the people who control Australian air space and airports) gives Santa extra help and clearance 0 and warns other pilots to stay out of the way of the sleigh!
Airservices has just added this year’s flight information for Santa to their website so you can keep trackof what is happening with Santa and how he is meeting safety rules for Australia.
Dressing up
How much do you dress up for Christmas Day? Is it a special occasion you get a new outfit for or choose your best clothes in advance? Maybe you have a casual day with the family and wear whatever you grab from the drawer that morning?
I can’t say I buy something new for Christmas Day, but I certainly do my best to look nice and consider dressing up to be part of the celebration (that is, making it a day out of the ordinary).
All my family dresses nicely, if not in their ‘good clothes’, but a couple of my in laws are much more casual (everyday t-shirts and shorts) which surprised me the first year or so. Having said that, they are neat and clean, and I don’t think they have dressy clothes for other occasions either so it works for them and no one seems to mind.
As a kid, we spent half the day on the beach so we mostly wore our good clothes there and then wore bathers!
Do you find that your entire family dresses to the same ‘code’? Does it matter to anyone on the day?
Creating a Christmas Wreath
Having a wreath hanging on your door or veranda is a common tradition in many Australian homes. Have you thought of hanging a homemade wreath?
Making a plastic bag wreath
Here is how my daughter made one a few years ago (she was about 6 at the time and had help) Not only is this child-friendly to make, it can be highly personalised and recycles plastic bags!
- bend a metal coathanger into a circle
- cut the hook part of the coathanger off (unless you prefer to use it for hanging) and make sure sharp edges are hidden/filed
- cut plastic shopping bags into long strips – the more strips you use, the better the final result but 3 bags would be the minimum
- tie the strips onto the circle (double the strip and pull the lengths through the loop is the easiest way)
- spray paint the wreath
- once dry, tie on some Christmas baubles (or plastic holly, Santa ornaments, Lego ornaments, etc)
- use some pretty ribbon to create a large bow at the top, with enough left over to use as a tie for the wreath
- hang it on your door – or give to someone else for their door
And Squiggle Mum has instructions for three lovely wreaths you and/or your young children can make.
Do you have another way to make a wreath you could share with us?
Christmas wreaths
Do you hang a Christmas wreath on your front door? Or somewhere else?
A wreath is both pretty and cheerful, and I find them quite welcoming as well. There is such a variety of wreaths that see as you view homes – from the elaborate ones in shopping centres, to stylish ones, green traditional ones and colourful ones.
What type do you prefer?
If you are interested in hanging a wreath but don’t have one, why not make one yourself? Or get the kids to make one…
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