Did you know? Nobody knows exactly when the Boxing Day tradition began but, apparently, the earliest known record of it is in Europe in the middle ages (I’m getting this info from Wikipedia so do with it what you will). It’s called Boxing Day because, traditionally, servants of wealthy families, who obviously had to work on Christmas day, were given boxes of gifts and food by the wealthy families they served to take back to their own families. Now-a-days, Boxing Day obviously doesn’t have the same tradition but it is my favourite day of the holiday season. I know, I know, what a weird day to have as your favourite, right? Well, yes , okay it probably is, but hear me out. I do like Christmas because you get to spend the day with your family eating rubbish food, drinking alcohol, and opening presents. However, by the end of the day I’m always feeling slightly ill and uncomfortable from eating and drinking far too much. There’s also a lot of pressure on Christmas day isn’t there? Pressure to say and do the right things, pressure to pretend to be excited when you open your seventh pair of socks, and pressure to get along with your family all day so that you don’t end up being the relative who ruined Christmas (and nobody wants to be that guy!). Also, for me, since we started having Christmas in the UK (we used to go abroad every year), we always go to my grandparents, which is nice as I don’t think I’d like to have it at my house, but when you’re at someone else house there isn’t the same level of comfort you get at your own house.
Boxing Day, however, feels way more relaxed than Christmas day. I usually wake up around mid-morning but stay in bed for a few hours browsing the sales online (I will never understand people who get up super early to go and stand in queues for hours when you can shop online from the warmth and comfort of your own house!). Today is also probably one of the only days of the year when I don’t wake up tired as I usually fall asleep really early on Christmas night. When I finally get out of bed I usually find my mum stressing about the house being spotless or she’s out of the house buying yet more food for our already full-to-bursting fridge! We usually invite my grandparents over to have a buffet and we just spend the day eating good food (and not just junk food like the day before), drinking (and not a weird concoction of drink as we have usually learnt our lesson from the day before.), and playing games. It is, for me, the most relaxing day of the festive period and that’s why it’s my favourite.
This year, although it does still feel relaxed, I have the pressure of my last ever January exams looming. I’m really beginning to panic about them now as, so far, I’ve done a grand total of 0 hours revision. Oops. I have been telling myself that I’ll start today but, let’s be honest, I’m probably not going to, and if I do I’ll probably do that little that I might as well not have done any at all! Still, this time next year I’ll be a graduate and won’t have any exams coming up. I don’t know which is scarier to be honest!
I hope everyone who celebrates had a wonderful Christmas yesterday! Also, does anyone else have any boxing day traditions they’d like to share?
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O hours revision!!!!!