Well, looks like this time it’s the right one. We will be entitled, this year, to a Christmas like in time. Without restriction, without bubble, without distancing, without mask, without Zoom. A Christmas of yesteryear. The first since 2019. Finally! It will do good ! We are going to do the party ! We will have fun !
But it won’t happen on its own. Canceling was easy. A call or a text, it was settled. We could rest our conscience in peace, telling ourselves how much we would have liked to receive kinship. How we would have spoiled her. How we would have covered her with our generosity. Unfortunately, we couldn’t. It wasn’t our fault. It was the fault of the “three amigos”. Merry Christmas, gang! We’ll get back together!
Not canceling is another story. First, you have to organize what you don’t cancel. It’s a lot more complicated. How do we do that again? Three years is a long time. Do you remember the complexity of the task?
First, you have to draw up the guest list. How many and who? Not obvious, han? In 2020, it was easy, we could only celebrate New Year’s Eve with people from our household. Last year, the quota was ten guests. We received the closest relatives and that was it. But this Christmas, what are we doing? Do we return to the table of 2019 or do we take advantage of the precedents caused by the pandemic to eliminate those we have wanted to eliminate for a long time, without daring to do so, tradition obliges? It’s tempting. What are we doing with Uncle Germain and Aunt Delphine? Where do we draw the line? At fourteen? At twenty? At thirty?
What reason do we give to those we no longer invite? We sold our chairs? We moved to a smaller place? Have we lost contact with them? Do we have long COVID?
And the food? In three years, everything has changed. Allergies have multiplied and veganism has spread. Finding a menu that everyone agrees on is mission impossible. How many options are prepared? How many EpiPens do we buy? And the gifts? The last two years, it was simple. We gave gifts to the people we saw, and since we didn’t see anyone, it didn’t cost much. But this year, who are we giving it to and who are we not giving it to? Big dilemma. The worst is when you receive a gift from someone to whom you had decided not to give it. We feel so cheap. We feel cheap for ten times the amount saved.
And then, it’s not just the receptions to manage, there are the invitations, too. In 2020 and 2021, nothing could be simpler: no one invited us. Our holiday break was truly a holiday. We were lounging, we were enjoying the great outdoors, we were refueling. It will be the return of major negotiations. When are we going to my family? When are we going to yours? Do you really have to go to yours? When are we going to my friends? When are we going to yours? Do you really have to go to yours?
There are not enough days to fulfill all his obligations. You are going to miss the soft Christmases. Because who says to see people says to dress like people. You will have to update your wardrobe. Yes, the Christmases of yesteryear are silver Christmases! And since 2019, everything has not only changed, everything has inflated! The coronavirus was soft on the Visa.
Speaking of viruses, that’s not going to be missing. Instead of having one who prevents us from going out, there will be plenty who will run. Without a mask and without distancing, we are all going to pass them, cheerfully. The nose will run as much as the green mint cream. The ER will be overflowing with sick people and Red Nose will be overflowing with drunks.
I forgot the decorations. This year, it is not enough to embellish your bottom of Zoom. You have to decorate the whole house. Inside and outside.
You have four weeks left to prepare for all of this. No chance that the Legault-Dubé-Boileau trio will come to save you. Christmas 2022 will take place. Full. Thoroughly. With all its excesses. You control them. It’s up to you to measure them. Happy Holidays, friends! In six weeks, it’s over!