Things that upset me this Christmas

It’s almost Christmas and the Möller household is stirring. The kitchen is mopped, rusks and milk tarts are being baked, the house is spring cleaned and the car washed, the garage is swept clean and lawns are mowed because it is almost Christmas and the place must be ready and time is running out. With this in mind I decided to mow the back yard late this afternoon before the sun sets. While I was busy I thought of a few things I don’t like very much.

Washing the car or mowing the lawn is fine; you just get on with those chores without complaining too much. No, something I don’t like very much is when, while mowing the lawn, you walk through a thick and sticky spider web. This is followed by a crazy slapping and hitting all over your body at anything that feels like a spider. Afterwards you hope the dog was the only witness to that spectacle. That is not nice. 

Something else that is not much fun is when you don’t see the dog poo hidden in the grass, more so when it is one of those steaming fresh mushy ones. To say that this is unpleasant is a gross understatement. It reeks! And then you are reminded of it each time the wheel turns. But enough about stinking dog poo, this is supposed to be about Christmas and stinking dog poo doesn’t go well with Christmas. 

But there is something else that I don’t like at all, something which also doesn't go well with Christmas, and this is the thought that we are so far from our family. This will be the fifth Christmas that we celebrate in Australia, without our sisters and mums and dads and the in-laws. I could not have asked for better parents. I have always enjoyed visiting with my father in law, and if only my mother in law was a pain then at least it would be easier for me to be far away from her, but I have the best mother in law I could have hoped for. My wife and I have both been blessed with three sisters and when we start chatting there is no stopping. And then of course there is my loving grandma and grandad who we all love so much! 

We always miss the family, but this is especially true over Christmas. All the friendship and laughter, and of course all the presents too. This Christmas promises to be a good one, but there will always be that void that can only be filled with the people who are close to you. So to my family, when you read this (you better read this, or else…!), know that we miss you very much and that the biggest Christmas present would have been if we could celebrate Christmas together with you. Know that we love you and look forward to the day that we will see you again.

But wait, before I become too nostalgic let me finish. May you and all my other readers have a very blessed Christmas!

Christmas in the Möller-household