It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

I have to be honest, Christmas was a struggle for me when we arrived in 2002. Coming from the UK, I was brought up with Christmas in the winter with all the northern hemisphere traditions of snow, roaring fires, and a full roast turkey dinner. As a family, we would have a stupidly large late lunch with all the trimmings and then sit down in front of the TV to watch the Queen’s speech at 3:00pm before Mum would ask the inevitable “Who want’s Christmas pudding with mince pies and cream?”. I didn’t even realise they were northern hemisphere traditions as they were just what we did. I also came to appreciate that Christmas for me started when there was a change in the atmosphere. I’m not sure if it was temperature or wind or the putting up of the tree and decorations but as we approached Christmas each year, the point in time would come where I suddenly became aware, as per the line of the song, that it was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

When we arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand, all of that changed. Christmas is a summer event. No snow, no roaring fires and no Queen’s speech at 3:00pm. Initially it felt so weird and it certainly didn’t feel a lot like Christmas. Then, slowly but surely, I began to appreciate the difference. Instead of being huddled inside out of the cold, we were able to get out and enjoy the sunshine, although I do have to confess that for our first Christmas Day BBQ, the rain came and I ended up BBQing in the front of the garage. Instead of feeling like a beached whale, bloated after a massive Christmas Day meal, on the couch and half falling asleep for the Queen’s speech, Christmas Day is now far more active with time with whānau and friends after a great BBQ with fresh salads and beautifully grilled steaks, provided it’s not me doing the grilling of course!

I now look forward to Christmas in a very different way than I did in the UK and this year, I am looking forward to it even more than usual. This year has been a tough one for so many people I know. I have now been in my role with Playcentre for one month and have seen the impact upon our people. It varies from the likes of Tāmaki Makaurau who have been locked down tight and isolated from the rest of us for nearly 4 months to centres and staff coming to terms with the vaccine mandate to one centre I visited last week who were thankful that they hadn’t lost any whānau or tamariki as a result of the mandate. What has impressed me is the way that our people have been managing the impact. Yes, it has been tough. Yes, it has been painful. Yes, it has caused sadness but what has shone through is the commitment to the philosophy of Playcentre and to the tamariki.

What we are now facing feels like the change for me in my Christmas. Things have gone from no understanding of Covid, to a global pandemic, to lockdowns, to mandates and now traffic lights all in the space of less than 2 years. However, what I have seen in the last month has given me a real lift. I have now seen whānau tupu ngātahi across the local centres that I have visited in both the South and North Islands and it is brilliant! Its so easy to lose sight of the important things when other things rear up and grab our attention. This past year has been one where lots of things have reared up and grabbed our attention. In joining Playcentre, I have been privileged to see the important things once again – whānau tupu ngātahi. Tamariki laughing and playing together with their friends and parents. The newly discovered joy of water in a sandpit.

The message I have framed in my office says “A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove….but the world may be a better place because I was important in the life of a child.”

With Christmas just a few weeks away now, I hope that you will be able to look past the things that have reared up for you this year, whatever they have been, and see the important things once again. I hope you will be able to gather with whānau and experience all the good things that whānau brings. I hope that however you spent it, wherever you spend it and with whomever you spent it, that you will be refreshed and enjoy a time of joy and peace.

For me as I visit centres and see more and more of them setting up for the festive season, it is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas and I like that. I hope it is feeling that way for you too.

Meri Kirihimete

David Moger

Chief Executive