Thinking Outside Of The Boxing Day

While I always like to write a Christmas Day post, I don’t always bother on Boxing Day. There are only so many times you can make jokes about festive pugilism after all.

Still, I find myself with a few moments to kill today, as my daughter is enjoying her afternoon nap and my wife, who has a work ethic that I find incomprehensible and had to be persuaded to reluctantly take yesterday off, is now back to her studies. So I thought I’d pen a few words of wisdom on the day after a Christmas that was not nearly as bad as advertised.

In a moment I will start making the, now traditional, sprout soup, which serves as a healthy alternative to the massive amount of chocolate that would otherwise be our staple for the next few days. The chocolate will still be eaten of course, but the soup at least ensures that we get some nutrition. I should point out that it is sprout soup in name only. I once did make soup out of nothing but sprouts and it was more than a tad bitter. These days sprouts make up a very small percentage of what is, essentially, a mixed vegetable soup. You can’t really taste the sprouts at all. Which is a good thing.

As I write this I am drinking quite a strong beer. Indeed it is almost as potent as the one I drank yesterday, which frankly floored me for most of the day. But I haven’t got anywhere to be, so I might as well be inebriated. I will technically be responsible for the welfare of a small child in an hour or so, but my wife, while ensconced in academic literature, is still within earshot, so I’m sure all will be well.

If needs be I can always sober up with a cup of my Christmas-themed coffee, which is only slightly more expensive and marginally less pleasant than my usual brand of coffee. Although I can’t promise I won’t add a drop of brandy to the coffee.

Little Proclaims has, for her part, thoroughly enjoyed Christmas 2020. She was too young to really notice Christmas 2018 and Christmas 2019 was somewhat ruined by her having tonsillitis so I’m not sure she got the most out of it. She is more than making up for it this year and is very much a fan of presents. There are still a few unopened gifts as we’re trying to eke it all out a bit, but I’m not sure how she’s going to take it on the day we have to tell her that there are no more things to unwrap. My guess is that she will not take it well.

She is also a fan of the Christmas tree. I didn’t actually put it up until Christmas Eve because I wanted it to have a chance of surviving the big day. It has been touch and go and not every bauble will make it to the other side of the festive period, but so far, though not entirely unscathed, the tree is still standing.

Which is not something that will be true of me if I keep drinking this beer.