Christmas is not just about commercialism, but also about
enjoying memorable moments, and something that we have done as a family, for
several decades now, seems to have aroused some interest, so to save my breath,
I’ve decided to write it down.
On Christmas Eve, we have a shepherds’ supper, which
initially, at least, when the children were smaller, consisted of what we
thought the shepherds would have eaten on Bethlehem Plain, on the very first Christmas
Eve, while sitting around their camp fire. I’m not sure where we got this idea,
but it stuck, and over the years, became the children’s favourite part of
Christmas. Occasionally, when they were smaller, we had it outside, around a fire
in the garden, and once, our eldest daughter dressed up as an angel and sung to
her four year old baby sister, who commented that “the angel looks just like
Georgie.” (Unsurprisingly.)
As the children grew up, it has become more of a “Brian
Aldridge School of Shepherding” feast, with champagne, but it is still eaten in
front of the fire, with candles and we always light the tree candles* for the
first time, sing a few carols, and read “the Night before Christmas”. Some years, when we have had one child or
another singing Midnight Mass, at Gloucester Cathedral, we’ve had to go easy on
the bubbly.
Because it was something different, it was quite a calming
way to get small children into bed on Christmas Eve: candle- and fire-light is
far more soporific than electricity and the flickering Television screen, so we
didn’t have trouble with them staying up for hours, waiting for poor, exhausted Father
Christmas to fill the stockings. (We used to leave some brandy for FC and a few
carrots for the reindeer, but they’re a bit old for that now, and more inclined
to drink the brandy themselves.)
The menu is a godsend for busy "caterers" at this hectic
time of year, as it consists of bread, crackers, cheeses and salami, a few
olives and pickles, with bunches of grapes for pudding. This means NO COOKING!
Fab idea! Now that they do their own shopping
and cooking, the children bring a contribution to the feast, so that we get a
variety of cheese and salami which nobody in Bethlehem would ever have dreamed
of, but the theme remains the same.
As we no longer have small children, we thought that the
popularity would have waned, but it is still their favourite Christmas
tradition, and even if they can’t be with us on Christmas Day, they will drive
miles to come to the shepherds’ supper, which is rather touching!
*Safety Note:
We've been lighting candles on our Christmas trees for over 30 years, and only once has the tree caught alight, and was quickly put out. But we put our tree up a day or so before Christmas Eve, so it hasn't had time to dry out, and we never leave lighted candles unattended. We now use these candle holders which are much safer than the old clip on types, and have - fingers crossed - not had a problem since. (Though, actually, the children really enjoyed the little conflagration!)
