My dad didn’t have an amazing childhood, but he never speaks bad about it. His parents struggled through each month just managing to pay for necessities and rarely buying luxuries. His father had been in the war and, from what I remember of him, he wasn’t a happy guy – but he totally adored my nan. My dad had two sisters who we only see at Christmas these days, and spent most of his childhood playing in the street and supporting Manchester United. My nan died of breast cancer before I could ever meet her but the only stories I hear of the “good old days” usually come hand in hand with laughter, and huge smiles. My dad loved his mum more than anything in the world and we rarely speak of her now because he still hasn’t really accepted her death, even though she passed in the early 80s.
He went away to university and studied Fine Art, and I think that’s where my creative streak comes from. His artwork is just stunning and he has the most amazing eye for detail – I’m so proud that my father has such a huge talent. He just about graduated but got a job somewhere that is completely the opposite of where an artist should work. I shan’t tell you where but let’s just say there are slot machines and huge amounts of cash in his view every night. Did I give it away? Well that’s where he works as a manager.
My parents had a difficult time conceiving, and my mum suffered several miscarriages before she had me. But at 32 years old, they finally got me (woo!) and they were too tired to try for more. The day after my mum gave birth my dad got mugged and turned up at the hospital with two black eyes, and a few broken ribs which is a story that never gets old in this household. Once I was home and they were settling into family life, he developed manic depression and had a few scary moments which led to him being institutionalised for a while. So I have a creative streak, and a very over active and analytical brain to thank my dad for.
My dad is incredibly academic and extremely protective, sometimes to his detriment, but he only wants the best for me and nothing less. Everything he does is for me and my mum. All the money he earns goes on making us safe and happy. My earliest memories I have of my dad consist of him taking me out every Sunday morning to the park to feed the animals, and then stopping off on the way home to get me a bag of sweets. He’s always encouraged me to read books and get on with my work, and always asks why I’m not doing university work if I’m sat watching TV. As annoying as this is, I understand why he does it. He wanted a better life for himself than he had in his childhood, and he wants me to have a better life than we do now. Not that it’s bad in any way, he just always thinks there is something better.
These days my dad is grumpy most of the time, and worries constantly about our finances even though my mum has them completely under control. But with his grumpiness and worrying, comes a wicked sense of humour and a huge amount of love and I honestly could not wish for a better father. I love you dad 
I’m currently sat here drinking a warm cup of tea, and listening to the muffled sounds coming from the TV downstairs. Christmas is almost over for this year, and I couldn’t have asked for a better day.
My dad woke up at 6am because he was far too excited to sleep anymore, and sat downstairs for an hour by himself eager to open the huge mound of presents under the tree. An hour later my mum walked into my room and asked me to wake up – I turned over, looked at my alarm clock, and promptly told her to “Get stuffed!”, which is why I was downstairs five minutes later handing out gifts. I won’t go into what everyone got because it doesn’t interest most people, but I can say that I was more than happy with my presents. I never asked for anything in particular this year, so my mum went off my Amazon Wishlist. She’s convinced she didn’t get me enough but at 21 years old I’ve come to accept that I don’t get a sleigh load of toys anymore and that’s fine by me. Although I’ve repeated this countless times to her both yesterday and today, she still wants to take me out shopping in the sales and get me some more things. I honestly don’t want anything else – seriously. My dad, as always, was ecstatic with his gifts – you could get him a bar of chocolate and he’d be thrilled. My mum rarely shows excitement so you never know if she’s pleased or not, but ask her and she’ll say she’s happy. That’s all you’re ever going to get out of her, so after she said the above about her gifts I was pleased.
After presents we all congregated in the kitchen singing and cooking to Christmas songs, and then went about our own business unwrapping our various gifts from their plastic wrapping, and trying to find room for them on various shelves in the house. Going on a couple of hours, we sat down at the dinner table and dug into our starter of… prawn cocktail. So very retro, I know, but I’ve had it for 21 years – why fix something that’s not broken, eh? The main course was a mixture of beef and goose, with all of the trimmings, and I mean all. Never mind trying to cut down your food at Christmas to stop yourself putting on weight – you must get your five-a-day ten times over in one sitting of Christmas dinner, so it can’t be bad! We then retired to the living room and played the most amazing game – you pop a CD in the player, hand out answer sheets, and it runs you through 50 questions on music and film, through to news and sport. It may sound slightly boring when I say it, but I had a lot of fun as did the parents.
Eventually everyone fell asleep, and woke up just in time for the annual family gathering around the TV – BBC1 certainly had the monopoly last night. I don’t think I moved from the TV for about 5 hours except to top up on alcohol or nibbles. My dad then got another one of his quizzes out and it all got slightly competitive, my mum began name calling, and my dad stormed off up to bed. I couldn’t help laughing – it’s just so dysfunctional, and untraditional in my house at Christmas that you have to expect the unexpected. I carried on watching the TV for a while, then got into bed, read a couple of chapters of my book, and then slept until lunch time today. My mum laid a buffet out for lunch, and now we’re all in seperate rooms doing various things – dad watching TV, mum pottering around the kitchen, and me up here.
All in all it’s been one of the best Christmas’ of recent years – no major arguments, no disappointing gifts, no stress… it’s all been very chilled and relaxing. I just don’t want it to be over – I’ve really got into the festive spirit this year, moreso than other years, and now it’s almost over I feel like something sad has come to an end. But onto 2010, which will hopefully be brighter and happier than this year. Hope everyone else had a good day, and I hope some of you are feeling as grumpy about Christmas ending as me!
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