Yesterday I took pictures, as usual. We went for a long ride in the mountains, which is not usual. It is when we live here, but in Norway it seems like there is a lot of important stuff that has to be done these days, which makes it absolutely impossible to take a day off and go for a ride. It is not of course. Well, there is work, but a lot of the other stuff? I have learned that living in different settings, learning how other cultures celebrate, leaving the settings we are used to, will give everything a new take. What is important will be done, what’s not, will not. The real difference is always taking the time to really discover what is important, to us, and why.

When we lived in Indiana we decided on our four values of Christmas, peace,quiet, joy and fun. What makes that happen, what celebrates that will be done, what else is not. It is a real eyeopener,to stop and ask: will I contribute to a Christmas celebrating Peace if I do this? Will this bring Joy?  There is no given what will, there is a lot of “givens” that don’t.

Believe me, I know better than most how frantic and exhausting it is possible to make the season of peace and goodwill. The main story on Indexyourlife in December will be my way to a Christmas free of tangles.

In December my brother and I write an advent calendar blog together in norwegian.You may visit at  JULEFRYD or Christmas Joy. This year we will be writing or sharing thoughts and joys of gifts, giving and sharing. We will post there every day, and I will share some of that blog here on indexyourlife too.

All pictures at Indexyourlife are mine, if not otherwise stated.

First there was advent calendars with tiny pictures. Just the wonder of seeing a tiny angel or a deer in the woods, the joy of beauty, would make us jump out of bed in the mornings. Then there was some lucky children, that told us of calendars with chocolate every morning, they lied of course.

Then, while I was busy growing up, studying, working, having children, Christmas shifted into another gear without me really noticing. When it was time for my children to have advent calendars, chocolate was a thing of the past. There should be gifts, small gifts, but still things, that had to be bought, packed and numbered. It was fun to look for tiny treasures through the year, but also quite without meaning. So why not give them things they really needed? By then we had three children. The calendar gifts were tied to the garland on the banister and the whole staircase from the living room up to the second floor was jammed with 72 gifts. Not silly stuff, toys, garments, books, puzzles.

It was too much. And not for me. The gifts were disturbing the morning peace and made our advent into 24 Christmas mornings. I had never considered that receiving gifts can be stressful, but our children thought so, and my husband thought so. You are not always in the mood to be happy and grateful, sometimes you just want a peaceful breakfast. Kind children will try to, they will smile and say thank you, they will recognize the effort that went into the gift giving, but they will get tired of it.

Then one morning two were crying for not having got the color they wanted on their christmas tights and one was crying for not finding his gift. I sat down on the stairs to comfort them, when my husband said, is this really how you want advent mornings to be?

It was not. The next november we talked about what we were looking forward to in advent. Then I wrote 24 cards, each with one thing to do. Not what had to be done, but what we wanted to be done. Many where special books to be read at bed time or Christmas movies to be seen. Some where clearing our closets and giving to Goodwill. There were cards for making cookies and for polishing silver. When they were still small, I would adjust the card for the next day according to circumstances. If I was ill, there would be reading cards, if a surprise play or concert came up, I would add that.

Then there would still be gifts of surprise and fun, but only in the wooden shoes on Sinter Claas and in the stockings on the morning of Christmas eve.

As the years came by, I realized that the “to-do” calendar had not only saved the peace of several winter mornings. It had also taught us all that advent should not be a frenzy of activities. To do one thing each day that makes Christmas is enough. It has also taught my children the how and when of the things they cherish for Christmas. Some they will leave behind and some they will take with them. It is all for them to decide.

Believe me, I know better than most how frantic and exhausting it is possible to make the season of peace and goodwill. The main story on Indexyourlife in December will be my way to a Christmas free of tangles.

In December my brother and I write an advent calendar blog together in norwegian.You may visit at  JULEFRYD or Christmas Joy. This year we will be writing or sharing thoughts and joys of gifts, giving and sharing. We will post there every day, and I will share some of that blog here on indexyourlife too.

All pictures at Indexyourlife are mine, if not otherwise stated.

How would you like to celebrate Christmas  on a 200-year-old farm in a norwegian mountain village? The big, white old farm-house is filled with lights and guests, frost and snow cover the woods and the fields, but inside everyone is warm, safe and filled with joy. The cows are resting in the big red barn and dusk is falling. Then at five everyone goes out on the doorstep to listen to the faint sound of church bells announcing that Christmas is here. The next morning everyone will bundle up and drive to the 800 year old small stone church. The trumpets will sound, the choir will sing and everyone will be wearing their national costumes. Then there is Christmas lunch with all the traditional foods, then there is parties and playing in the snow. This fairy-tale will last until well into the new year.

This is how the best part of my childhood Christmases was spent, on an old vicarage in Norway. I have lived in the land of Christmas cards and Christmas stories, it is all true.

And then it is not.

This is what advertisements and movies want us to believe is the norm. This is what we can buy the plastic version of. I know that to try to be where I am not, will only bring disappointment and restlessness.

To me real life Christmas is to embrace and to enhance what is real, what is true and what is important to us.   What I really learned from my winter magic Christmases though, is still the best tool I have for making Christmas happen anywhere.

You see if you live in a fairytale, you still have to live. It is so easy to focus on all the extra things that needs to be done, bought, made and planned and forget that Christmas has to take place in real life. In my childhood that meant that chopping and storing firewood was an essential preparation. Which meant that as many chores as possible should be done before Christmas so that everyone could rest. To me now, it means that stocking up on toilet paper, detergent, coffee, juice, candles and cereals is the first thing I do for Christmas. The rest will happen, the rest will be magical, I know.

Believe me, I know better than most how frantic and exhausting it is possible to make the season of peace and goodwill. The main story on Indexyourlife in December will be my way to a Christmas free of tangles.

In December my brother and I write an advent calendar blog together in norwegian.You may visit at  JULEFRYD or Christmas Joy. This year we will be writing or sharing thoughts and joys of gifts, giving and sharing. We will post there every day, and I will share some of that blog here on indexyourlife too.

All pictures at Indexyourlife are mine, if not otherwise stated.to day they are from last years Christmas walks in Norway

We will be eating breakfast at a secret place tomorrow!

I whispered this to my two girls while I tucked them in. I knew it would make them excited, I knew they would not be able to sleep, I knew they would be whispering to each other and try to figure it all out as soon as I left the room. That was part of my plan, surprise, expectations and secrets are  important ingredients of happy memories, and I always tried to make the most of everything where no material gifts were involved.

The girls were only two and four years old and did not know of Santa Lucia, the Saint that walks through Scandinavia on the longest, darkest night and wakes the household with lights, coffee and saffron buns.

The next morning I dressed them in white night-dresses on top of their usual clothes. I had made baskets with saffron buns, and in the car I told them of my plan. We were going to surprise their great-grandmother with singing and breakfast! They loved it, in the car we practised the Lucia song, they had a bun each for starters, and then we were there.

The dawn was coloring the sky soft pink and the world was covered in snow when I lighted their candles and followed them to the door.

My grandmother was just as surprised as I had hoped. She was just as happy as I had dreamed of. The four of us were gathered in her living room, the girls sitting on the floor beside her, and we had the loveliest, most memorable breakfast together.

I would have loved to say we did that forever after. We did not, this was the only time. I would have loved to say we kept visiting someone for surprise breakfasts, we did not. I allowed plans and expectations, obligations and schedules take over our advents for many years. Deep inside I have this treasured memory though, and the assurance that magic can happen when I listen to my heart and follow it’s prompts.

Believe me, I know better than most how frantic and exhausting it is possible to make the season of peace and goodwill. The main story on Indexyourlife in December will be my way to a Christmas free of tangles.

In December my brother and I write an advent calendar blog together in norwegian.You may visit at  JULEFRYD or Christmas Joy. This year we will be writing or sharing thoughts and joys of gifts, giving and sharing. We will post there every day, and I will share some of that blog here on indexyourlife too.

All pictures at Indexyourlife are mine, if not otherwise stated.

Lucia procession in Sweden, photo by Fredrik Magnusson, Wikipedia Commons

It was pitch dark and way too early in the morning. We were bleary eyed and tired. It was eleven days until Christmas, and our family of six were all out and about, on different icy roads, braving different snowdrifts, carrying different offerings to the community declared idea of “let’s have some Christmas fun”.

My husband and our 10-year-old daughter had been downtown for an hour and a half already. Practicing for the 7.00 AM Lucia concert with her class. It is one of the most beautiful celebrations, in an 850 years old stone church, always with the eminent choir Cantus. Afterwards they would be having breakfast together and parents were invited. Nothing fancy, just bring some Lucia saffron buns. It would have been so fun to be with them.

Our oldest daughter was in school already, practicing for the 8.00AM Lucia procession. Her class was given the special honor of visiting all the other classes. Parents were invited, nothing fancy, just bring some coffee and Lucia safrron buns. They were going to be beautiful, it would be so much fun to be with them.

Our youngest was happily jumping in front of me and his older brother on the road to his kindergarten. Actually it was his day off, but would it not be fun to have everybody with their parents in for a 7.00AM Lucia celebration? Nothing fancy, just bring some Lucia saffron buns. He was adorable, four years old, with tinsel in his hair, a white Lucia gown, and joyfully singing about the Sweet Lucia and the dark winter night. It was so fun to be with him.

It could not last though. Soon we had to excuse ourselves and retreat through the snow to our 7 years old’s school. He was in his first year and all parents were invited to share Lucia breakfast with them at 7.30AM, so that we could eat before the procession came. Nothing fancy, just, you know.

We balanced ourselves and our baskets with coffee and Lucia goodies into his classroom just a little bit late. They were all so excited about showing their parents what they had been doing for Christmas, and hiding what should still be kept a secret. Everyone was eating, having coffee, visiting, then a hush: wasn’t that singing in the schoolyard? The kids ran to the windows and watched eagerly on the procession of white-clad almost teenagers with lights in their hair, traversing the yard and entering the lower school building. The small ones rushed back to their tables with shining eyes just as the first of the older ones opened the door. In they came, filling the small world with light, song and hope. I smiled to our oldest in the procession, who waved with her hand knee-high so that nobody should see it. As they stopped in front of the classroom and sang another song, my husband and other daughter crept in on the bench beside me. We were all together, and it was so much fun.

When I tell this story, 16 years later, it WAS fun. As it happened it was just hectic, or as my mother used to say “the day did not add up.” Too many obligations, too much running here and there, too many well-meaning people arranging things for us to experience Christmas cheer. We did make it, between us we were four places at once. In a way.

I did not look forward to the next school season of Celebration. Until we got the invitation. One event, all children, all parents, same day, in the afternoon! Someone had been thinking, and it was GREAT fun.

Pictures today are not mine, they are from Wikimedia Commons and Youtube, these events took place before digital cameras! By the way, I do not think I had time to taking pictures!

Believe me, I know better than most how frantic and exhausting it is possible to make the season of peace and goodwill. The main story on Indexyourlife in December will be my way to a Christmas free of tangles.

In December my brother and I write an advent calendar blog together in norwegian.You may visit at  JULEFRYD or Christmas Joy. This year we will be writing or sharing thoughts and joys of gifts, giving and sharing. We will post there every day, and I will share some of that blog here on indexyourlife too.

All pictures at Indexyourlife are mine, if not otherwise stated.

Dark December, seen from San Marcos road

The weeks before Christmas was cold and draughty in my childhood. Windows were flung wide open in the cold winter mornings. Rugs, blankets and carpets were aired, furniture was moved. Everything was cleaned, polished, buffed, washed and organized. No matter which room you entered you would find a bucket with soapy water or someone on top of a ladder. My cozy nooks were all gone, there was no place to hide with a book or even homework. Of course we were enlisted to work. My mother, sometimes her mother, and then the hired help, was not enough. When we were older, it was fun. We played Christmas music and did one room after another together. Even so, I kept thinking, why?

December is the darkest month in Norway, no one will actually see if your house is clean. Much better to do it in spring, when it shows!

December is the month with most parties, when I grew up there was a steady stream of visitors, and every party left the house in need of a clean up. Why not wait, no one visits in february!

Golden garlands

For several years I had to test these theories, I did neither have the health nor the help it took to do a major house cleaning every Christmas. I kept at it during the year, but I never had the strength to have the whole house clean at one time. To defend myself I even laughed at those “old-fashioned ones” that still did a Christmas cleaning. Our house was cosy and warm all December, and layers of gingerbread dough, glue and glitter was added every day.

I did not miss the draughty days, but I slowly realized that I did miss the feeling of Christmas as a fresh start, a clean, clutter free slate, ready for a new year. As I grew wiser I knew that my foremothers had not kept washing and cleaning, scrubbing and polishing to keep up with tradition. They all had joined the ritual of cleansing. Hard, but satisfying work. Leaving the old behind, sloshing the dust and dirt of both crushed hopes and happy memories out with the sloppy waters.

A wise old aunt said, scrubbing is not the beginning of a clean house, but the end of a dirty one.

I have the strength and health now, and I dare to admit, I love a clean house at Christmas!

Fresh start at every wave

Todays pictures are from yesterdays beach-walk at Coal Point, who would not love a day of cleaning when topped with an excursion like this!

Believe me, I know better than most how frantic and exhausting it is possible to make the season of peace and goodwill. The main story on Indexyourlife in December will be my way to a Christmas free of tangles.

In December my brother and I write an advent calendar blog together in norwegian.You may visit at  JULEFRYD or Christmas Joy. This year we will be writing or sharing thoughts and joys of gifts, giving and sharing. We will post there every day, and I will share some of that blog here on indexyourlife too.

All pictures at Indexyourlife are mine, if not otherwise stated.

Sometimes, some things are just not done

My mother used to tell this story of the Advent when my kid brother had the croup, my two-year old sister was diagnosed with severe mental handicaps, and where most of us had the flu. “I did not do anything for Christmas that year, but somehow it got to be Christmas anyway,” she said.

When we grew up, we did not believe her, no way everything had been as chaotic as that? We six children had not experienced anything else than pure Christmas magic.

When I started out as a housewife my self, I did not believe her. There won’t be any Christmas unless, until and before this and that and more is done. I was brilliant at it. My friends and family told me how wonderful our Christmases were. I had several ideas for books on the theme Christmas decorations, Christmas lists, and Christmas gifts.

Nature is at it’s most peaceful

The most stressful tradition of them all was the Scandinavian one that Christmas happens between the 23rd and the 24th of December. The children should go to bed in a messy, advent home with no red or green, and awake to a decorated fairyland with a glittering tree.I was not allowed to do have anything to do with this until I married. Then it was all up to me, and I had everything to do with this surprising piece of magic.

It took years before I believed my mother. One december morning I finally could tell my self:

“You are not the Christmas Miracle!”

To me that was the slight turn of perspective that made me rediscover advent and put me on the path to truly joyous Christmas preparations. Along this road I have made wrong steps and some smart moves which is what I will write about this advent. Come along, or lean back and rest in your own hassle free way to Christmas Joy!

While I used to insist on activity

Believe me, I know better than most how frantic and exhausting it is possible to make the season of peace and goodwill. The main story on Indexyourlife in December will be my way to a Christmas free of tangles.

In December my brother and I write an advent calendar blog together in norwegian.You may visit at  JULEFRYD or Christmas Joy. This year we will be writing or sharing thoughts and joys of gifts, giving and sharing. We will post there every day, and I will share some of that blog here on indexyourlife too.

All pictures at Indexyourlife are mine, if not otherwise stated.