Christmas is less than two weeks away, and I’m panicking. Not because I still have a few gifts to buy (I do) or because I’m hosting the feast this year (I am) or because my kids have decreed I’m not allowed to watch Elf until Christmas Eve (they have), but because when I was at the bakery this morning, I spotted something unbelievable. Hot cross buns. On sale at the bakery. The week before Christmas. What the actual…
So according to the bakery, I’m apparently supposed to start getting ready for Easter when I’m not even ready for Christmas yet. I’ve complained in the past about holidays seeming to come earlier and earlier each year, but this is ridiculous. The Christmas lollies aren’t even marked down yet! Which, incidentally, is my favourite thing to buy on Boxing Day. There’s something about a half-price box of chocs that makes them taste better than they do at full price. Plus I can have twice as many.
We haven’t made our yearly pilgrimage to see Santa just yet. I’ve scheduled that happy event for Christmas Eve Eve, which is a thing in my family. 23 December, aka Christmas Eve Eve, isn’t as frenzied or frantic as Christmas Eve on 24 December. So we’ll have plenty of time to see Santa, get a great photo of the kids smiling jovially, and maybe even have a relaxed family brunch together. It’ll be a far cry from the following day, when I’m suddenly remembering all of the things I forgot to buy (every year without fail I forget the heavy cream), and the kids are asking if they can open just *one* small present, and the Christmas carols are cranked to be louder than the baby’s wails when she’s overtired and doesn’t want to nap.
“There were hot cross buns for sale at the bakery,” I mentioned to my husband over dinner tonight. “It’s just too early to think about Easter!”
“Hmm, I don’t know,” he replied, looking thoughtful. “Maybe we should get some. Hot cross buns would be yummy for Christmas morning breakfast.”
I think I might need to volume-up those Christmas carols a bit higher to cover the sounds of my overtired wails…
Katherine Granich
