Daughter of Claus: Day XXVI
Boxing Day Tournaments and other animals
On the jukebox: The St Stephen’s Day Murders by The Chieftains and Elvis Costello
As I mentioned before, when we’re at Stempster for Christmas, we have our Christmas Dinner on Boxing Day. The other tradition that accompanies this is the Table Football Tournament.
One of the many good things about having a large family is the ability to host a proper tournament. We are, by nature, a competitive bunch, so we all throw ourselves wholeheartedly into whatever the current game-related obsession may be, despite having a good guess at who the possible eventual winner may be (not a given in table football, but there are definitely usual suspects - and I am absolutely not one of them).
Table football is not my forte. For a few years, we also hosted a Table Ice Hockey Tournament, and I was much better at that. Each year, playing table football, someone will point out to me at least once that it is a good idea to always keep one hand on my goalie. There will be other tips - all delivered in familiarly patient voices - and I will forget them all again by the time I’m next at Stempster for Boxing Day and playing table football.
Boxing Day is also a time for taking time to properly go through all the presents opened on Christmas Day, spending moments lingering on each one, maybe starting to read one of the books received, almost definitely opening at least one box of chocolates.
This year, we are in Cumbria for Christmas, and we didn’t even manage to get round to opening all the presents from friends and family yesterday, except for those exchanged by the immediate family with whom we celebrated Christmas Day (and, of course, the sacks from Father Christmas). Auri, Elfi, and their two cousins spent the day either side of Christmas Dinner running up and down stairs (or, in Elfi’s case, crawling with fierce determination and at speed anywhere she could reach before being scooped up - she was also allowed to climb the stairs, supervised of course, and was particularly proud of herself at this, grinning with success when she managed to make it to the wooden ducks in the window halfway up the staircase) and playing games with each other. Somehow, despite a very long day packed with giddiness, there was minimal aggravation and there were no tears.
And so, this morning, Euan, the girls, and I will settle down to open all the wonderful gifts people have sent us, before we all head out for a brisk and much-needed Boxing Day walk, to blow the cobwebs away. Then we’ll come back for something to warm the cockles, before finishing off the game of Trivial Pursuit we all started last night, while the four young cousins continue to run rings round us all.
I would love to hear about your own Christmas folklore and memories. What does Boxing Day mean to you? Do you have any particular traditions that feature every year?