The Aftermath of Christmas: A Toast to the Ladies!
@owlwings (43897)
Cambridge, England
December 26, 2016 3:46am CST
Leftover food, forlorn dishes of snacks, empty and half empty glasses, piles of torn wrapping paper, unwrapped and sometimes exciting gifts in ooh-ahh-uh-next piles where people were sitting, the unreal and ineffectual Christmas lights still blinking on the tree in the bright sunshine ... these are all characteristic of a Boxing Day morning.
Time to tidy up!
Boxing Day is an institution which is peculiar to Britain and the erstwhile colonies. Americans and many other countries don't have it. This year, of course, it is a Monday and (for many), therefore, because Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, will also be a holiday.
Those who have Boxing Day as a holiday will know it as a time to wind down from Christmas Day, to tidy up and to meet up with all those who they didn't see over Christmas. It was also (in England) the traditional day to get out and about - to exercise and walk off all those extra pounds we put on yesterday.
Oddly enough, whatever the weather gave us on Christmas Day, Boxing Day is often bright and cold and brisk. I have often thought that it would be an ideal day for a barbecue (but, so far, it has never happened). It's certainly a day for walks, playing golf and (when fox-hunting was allowed) a traditional day to meet with horses and hounds and have a good run (whether you found and killed a fox or not).
By the time you get back from the walk or the golf or the hunt or whatever social occasion you have indulged in, there is usually a mouth-watering spread of cold meats, sandwiches and all kinds of other buffet items to satisfy the newly-ravenous appetites. Who provides these? The "'er indoors", of course! The (mainly) ladies who stay behind, tidy up and lay out the repast.
The ladies who manage and make Christmas and the following day very rarely get any credit for this. It is something that has to be done and the men are (usually) too spaced-out, hung over or otherwise occupied to do it - after all, for the rest of the year, they are the 'providers' and the 'managers' of things!
I think that the ladies who keep our celebrations going according to tradition deserve a toast!
Here's to the Ladies!
11 people like this
12 responses
@allknowing (153529)
• India
26 Dec 16
There is one thing we do here on boxing day I doubt if any of you do it there. We get sweets from many neighbours. The sweets are sorted out - cake pieces, kulkuls, cones, rose kokis, laddoos, ghatias, marzipan................., - all separated and put in separate bags and kept aside to be either given away or eaten at leisure.
2 people like this
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
26 Dec 16
That's a nice custom. Many people now exchange presents on Boxing Day with those whom they didn't see on Christmas Day. It extends Christmas, especially for the children, who often get so many toys these days that it's a good idea to keep some of the presents back under some pretext.
2 people like this
@allknowing (153529)
• India
26 Dec 16
@owlwings Slight clarification. We get the sweets either on 24th or 25th but the sorting is done on boxing day
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (502956)
• Italy
26 Dec 16
It has been a hard morning, I have cleaned up the mess of the Christmas celebration. Today is St. Stephens Day here, it's a holiday and I am enjoying a quiet day at home. I propose a toast in your honor, thanking you for giving credit to the ladies for the hard work.
2 people like this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
26 Dec 16
I think the "ladies" might also be glad the "men" get out of their hair for a bit, lol
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (24130)
• United Kingdom
26 Dec 16
This year we all cooked something or other for Dinner although admittedly I did not do any washing up! I did however put stuff away. You are not wrong about the ladies keeping up the traditions though and I agree a toast to their organisational skills!
2 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45490)
• United States
26 Dec 16
Two people don't make much of a mess so my house is clean and ready for whatever today brings.
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
27 Dec 16
nice.... like you say ..there is a lot of behind the scenes, hard work that goes on to make these days special...
1 person likes this
@Gita17112016 (3611)
• Trinidad And Tobago
28 Dec 16
Right with you: To the ladies. It is the man that makes a house and the woman who turns it into a home. Very well put.
I wonder if ladies were invited to these fox-hunting sessions. I have never seen a picture of a lady joining the group for a hunt.
Boxing Day is a time for visiting relatives and extended families. We fete and dance to loud music. But it is still in the tradition of visiting families. Hardly any one worship the patron Saint.
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
28 Dec 16
Ladies certainly followed the hounds. There were long riding dresses and specially designed side saddles and quite a few ladies were just as expert as the men in clearing fences and ditches without a fall and, by all accounts, a few were just as bloodthirsty and keen to be in at the kill.
