What makes the 25th of December special
As the Grizzly Gazette Advent Calendar comes to a close here on the 24th of December, I wanted to write about what makes the 24th and 25th of December special. Both days have some significance in Christian-based cultures, but varies from country to country with different traditions.
Here in Denmark, and most of the Nordics and other parts of Western Europe, the eve of the 24th is a time where families get together to eat a big dinner, dance around the Christmas tree and open presents. For kids, the 24th of December is often called βthe longest day of the year,β since the whole day is basically spent waiting for the moment when presents are opened. The 25th, on the other hand, is mostly just another holiday, often reserved for visiting parts of the family not gathered on Christmas Eve. In the UK and the US, by contrast, the morning of the 25th is the main event, with far less emphasis on the night before.
What makes the 25th special for me is more of an unwritten family tradition that the day after Christmas Eve is a do nothing day. The 24 first days of December is basically one big countdown to Christmas Eve, where a lot of things is reaching their conclusion. The last episode of the julekalender airs, the kids get their final advent calendar gift (another custom here is that kids get a small present every morning till Christmas in December), and there has been lots of planning in the family on where we are having Christmas this year, who brings what, gift budgets and so on. In addition, there is usually also a lot of other Christmas events during December. The kids' school will have some sort of Christmas party, there will be a Christmas party at work. If the kids are going to various after-school activities like sport or music lessons, these will also have their own "ending of the season" kind of event. All of this sort of culminates on Christmas Eve as a grand finale for what can be a bit of stressful month.
The 25th becomes a day off, a chance for kids to actually play with their presents and for everyone else to take a break from hosting or visiting someone. That has been an unwritten agreement in my family and I intent to keep that tradition now for my own kids - and myself. This makes the 25th something akin to the 1st of January as a day where nothing really happens, the world outside is mostly quiet and there are no immediate plans. Which makes it the best day of the year.
With that, the Grizzly Gazette Advent Calendar is now concluded. If you haven't already and are in need of killing time before the big night or morning or whatever tradition you may follow, go read the other 23 entries. On behalf of the Grizzly Gazette team, we wish all readers a pleasant holiday!