It’s Boxing Day. Okay, that’s not a holiday we celebrate in the US, but so what? I’m adopting it nevertheless. If the day after Christmas has a name, why not use it?
Boxing Day is traditionally the day following Christmas when wealthy people and homeowners in the United Kingdom would give a box containing a gift to their servants. Now it’s just what the Brits call a Bank Holiday. In other words, people who work in offices have off but stores and restaurants and service businesses open as usual. Sure, among the well-heeled, fox hunting is the traditional sport of the day. For the rest of the population, it's shopping. Stores advertise sales to lure the bargain hunters who Santa brought cash or gift cards--just like in the US. Apparently this year London shoppers are faced with service disruption on the Underground due to a drivers’ strike. The dispute is over the union's demand for extra pay for its members working on the Boxing Day public holiday. I'm guessing the delays won't keep many people home.
I think my Boxing Day will be an official catch-up day. There’s so much to do--tasks that usually get put off until I’m embarrassed into taking the time to do them. The gift wrap strewn around the guest room will get organized and put away as will Christmas gifts. The tree will have to stay put until New Years Day, but I can buy one of those ornament storage boxes today so taking it down won’t be the hassle it usually is. A few last minute holiday cards need to be mailed out and a few presents still wait to be delivered. Then a couple of hours of revisions, a load of laundry, a nap and an episode of the BBC’s MERLIN series can fill out the day. Hmmmm. This sounds like a plan.
What are your Boxing Day plans? Heading for the mall? Curling up in front of the fire and reading a book? Do you have any post-holiday traditions to share?
3 comments:
Boxing Day is also my wedding anniversary. Why the heck did I get married the day after Christmas? Hubs and I--and most of our friends and family had time off then from work and/or school. Today, our tradition involves calling restaurants until we find one that's open December 26.
Happy Boxing Day, Lark!
Some things seem like a better idea at the time than they do years later--your anniversary falling so close to Christmas must feel a bit like that. But happy anniversary, anyhow! Hope it was a lovely day!
Boxing Day, December 26. I had an idea. I had to share it. Although we Americans do not have a history of "boxing" things up and giving the boxes to the poor on the day after Christmas as do the Brittish, we are the most generous people on Earth. The day after Christmas is still a day the local "soup kitchen" needs help feeding the homeless. People we remember on Christmas still need help the next day. And those many of us who might be “down” in the holiday season still need a kind word or a hug. So, let us create a personal Boxing Day, and make the day after Christmas a date to write a check to a charity; bring clothes to a church's "clothes closet" or that big "box" in the mall parking lot asking for donations of clothing; bring food to the local food bank; take presents to an eldercare facility; or do any one of the hundreds of things you can think of to make someone's day better. Happy Boxing Day, everyone! I am off to find my check book!
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