This year, rather than our usual UK Christmas, we thought we’d head downunder. It had been 12 years since the kids had experienced Christmas in New Zealand, so now 15 and 13, the memories were rather hazy.
So what makes up a kiwi Christmas in our family? First of all, Christmas is actually the Saturday or Sunday before. That’s because my mum realised once my brothers started bringing girlfriends that the chances of getting us all together on Christmas Day were slim to none… while I remember feeling a bit gutted at the time as it made for a quiet big day – I can now acknowledge the wisdom of the decision.
This year, it was a bit different. We booked out a school camp site (think industrial kitchen and lots of bunk beds) for a couple of nights. That’s because it had to host:
- 2 grandparents
- 7 siblings (one couldn’t make it)
- 6 significant others
- 17 grandkids
- 3 of their significant others, and
- 1 amazing aunt who’s always been more like a sibling.
There were also a couple of partridges (ok probably quail), and we had to settle for lots of cherries rather than pear trees.
We even managed to hunt down a Christmas tree – think a few of the kids finding a likely looking branch to cut down and decorate up…
With so many people, it could’ve descended into chaos, however, it seems to work like a smoothly oiled machine with minimal communication (that might cause other issues!). Everyone contributes to the main lunch, with the only certainties being the oldest two brothers bringing the ham (no turkeys here) and potatoes.
Some years ago we also introduced the present stealing game, which spices up the interactions. This year, the frying pans seemed particularly popular!
I think the kids loved it – we didn’t really see them for a couple of days as they caught up with their cousins and discovered the freezing swimming pool, flying fox (zip line in the UK) and bow and arrows. What could have possibly gone wrong…
Tough Mother 