Nailed it!
Aside from the quarter glass of cheap bubbly to toast the birth of little Jesus, I managed to get through Christmas and Boxing day without the 2 bottles of wine and Cointreau-based cocktails I had been accustomed hereto. Ahh growth.
That’s not to say it wasn’t a challenge; the family getting more and more raucous, the blurring aural battle between television, radio and my mother’s rendition of ‘Silent Night’ (nothing silent about it. You could hear her in Bethlehem), meanwhile I’m sitting there, sober as Death but with none of his motivation. Well, some of it. Well, it is Christmas.
Despite myself, I did manage to enjoy the day a fair bit more than I anticipated. Rambunctious behaviour aside, I discovered that my family are a lot more interesting that I perhaps gave them credit for. Because I’m a chatterbox (at best – though if you met my family, you’d see where I get it from) and after a few drinks we’re all shouting over each other, I don’t think we always take in what each other is saying, playing devil’s advocate to the extent where we start to believe our own nonsense. Taking a backseat and observing and not getting so…impassioned meant that after years (and I do mean years) of having the same dinner conversation, I could actually make my point clearly and have it be accepted, or not take it personally when I was being shouted down. Also, I didn’t take my mid-evening pre-hangover nap and managed to watch Downton. So that was a big win.
I made some pretty delicious alcohol-free cocktails too. The family laced theirs with Disaronno after a couple of sips, but I think the solidarity was there. Ish.
All in all, I don’t think I missed out as much as I would. Sober Christmas 2013 was an interesting experience, and though I don’t think I’ll repeat it (because of gin) I’m glad I did it.
Now to prepare for a sober New Year. I might as well buy a box set now, to be honest.
My Prohibition. My God. I already miss Gin. 