Christmas Stereotypes

Who is seated around your festive table?

I’ve just read, and thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Mother I could have been’ by Kerry Fisher. Amongst her many writing skills, Kerry is adept at presenting family relationships and all the tensions, misunderstandings and regrets that inevitably feature. Reading the book over Christmas made me think of the way people behave during the festive season. Of course the following are just examples, and bear no resemblance to any of my friends or relatives, but I wonder if any of the following are familiar:

1.     The person who spends the weeks leading up to Christmas promising, ever more fervently, to help with the preparations, then takes to their bed with man-flu on Christmas Eve.

2.     The person who sulks all day if given anything that isn’t on their Christmas wish list. Surprises, no matter how well-intended, are not gratefully received.

3.     The person who spends all day stuffing their face with crisps and chocolate then protests they ‘couldn’t eat a thing’ when your much slaved over home made meal is put before them.

4.     The person who promises to get up at the crack of dawn on Christmas morning to help, then appears, bleary-eyed at eleven am, when you have been up for hours knee-deep in sprouts, and says, ‘Oh I see you’ve started then.’

5.     The person who follows you round the kitchen yabbering in your ear, variously blocking the oven, the fridge and the sink – whichever you need most – but never offers to do a thing.

6.     The person who stands too close to you, incessantly humming ‘Rocking around the Christmas tree’ until it becomes an earworm that you’re trapped with until Easter.

7.     The person who claims to be allergic to everything you have planned to cook for the next few days.

I could go on…

The thing is, we all recognise these stereotypes, and when we present irritating characters in our fiction, often as asides to the main events, we gain reader sympathy in creating a shared sense of frustration at the way people behave. Our prose becomes richer, more humane, and more empathetic as a result. And we have the added bonus of gaining revenge against those annoying people who have driven us mad throughout the festive season …!  Win-win, really.