Ruban's blog: Holidays are Coming

Growing up as a child, the choral tones of "Holidays are coming" blasting through your home signified the start of the Christmas holidays and yuletide greetings. As a fully grown adult with two children, endless parties, canapes, social gathering requests, and copious amounts of alcohol, it signifies the beginning of a migraine and a mental breakdown. Though John Lewis has us convinced it's the most wonderful time of the year, for many people it represents conflicting emotions, from joy to being left overwhelmed, or downright in the dumps. While I enjoy the period overall, particularly with two young children, it is a time where we can put ourselves under immense pressure, whether it be to buy that perfect gift, to make time when you don't have any to meet those friends you haven't seen for months, or to lay on that flawless Christmas lunch for a ridiculous number of people. 

For us, December kicks off with a birthday for my mother and father-in-law, on the same day. Why the universe conspired to lob a logistical grenade at me so early in the month is beyond me. Coming straight after is another two fingers up at me from the universe as my eldest son's Christmas Play is on an hour before I am due at my work Christmas lunch. Having missed out on the chapter of 'self-replication' at university, it means another logistical challenge as I half watch my son's Oscar winning 'two-lines' turn at being Joseph whilst being left to wonder who I'll end up sitting with at the Christmas lunch and whether there will be any Xmas doner kebap (it's a festive Turkish restaurant) left for me. 

December also seems to represent a month for hermits to become social butterflies once again. Despite there being approximately 334 other days, people like to cram as many social gatherings in 31 days as possible, making it difficult to know when to say 'no' without the guilt. It is also a time where it can really highlight a person's loneliness or provide a stark reminder of those who we are no longer able to share these times with. Coming to our third Christmas now without my wife's mum, there is always a tinge of sadness of not being able to indulge her with the kids' joy when opening gifts and running amok doped up on gingerbread and icing. 

A more recent dilemma is the traditional Christmas lunch. 2023 has been a revelation in the kitchen as we discovered the delights of something called roast chicken. As we have been largely having a weekly fix of the roasted chicken, it has presented a different problem of what to do on Xmas day as we normally have said roasted chicken. How do I fool the kids into convincing them that the roast chicken I serve up on Christmas Day is completely different to the one I likely served up a week back. Is it the presence of the much-maligned Brussels sprouts to differentiate or do I need to wrap the chicken in tinsel?

And if that isn't enough, our eldest son's birthday is on New Year's Eve (and breathe).

At the very real risk of sounding like Scrooge, and amongst the lights, glitter, and wrapping paper, we can easily get swept away with the festive period and forget that it's not always the easiest time for folks. We can also easily forget to look after ourselves as we run our mind and body into the ground trying to be the #1 Festive King or Queen. Enjoy the festivities but put your feet up. Roast that turkey if you need to, but don't forget to baste yourself in bath salts to unwind. And lastly, holidays are coming, but then so are plenty more.

Ruban is a husband to one amazing wife, father to two wonderful young boys, and a willing slave to all three. When he is not dancing around with a child on his shoulders or ferrying them around on piggyback, he can be seen attempting to kick footballs, save worlds on his Playstation and occasionally audit some things for a lucky City insurance firm.

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• Families