BOXING DAY

Yesterday, December 26  was Boxing Day here in Canada. It started as a British tradition for the wealthy to give boxed gifts to their servants December 26. Most Commonwealth countries celebrate Boxing Day! It is a federal national holiday and a statuary holiday here in Ontario. If you work on Christmas and Boxing Day you get paid time and a-half! I like having the day off. Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year- the two stat days were Dec. 26 and 27th. Boxing Day is now about shopping for bargains and we actually have Boxing Week sales. The news showed how some people lined up at their favourite stores to get those post-Christmas bargains for hours. I used to go shopping for Christmas goodies. Now I wait a few days to go to some stores to find a couple of boxes of Christmas cards. Since I have a house full of Christmas items, I don't tempt myself by being in the stores with the crowds. I chose to babysit two of my grandchildren while my daughter shopped! Now all the email flyers sent have boxing day sales that can be shipped right to your home if you like! Some of the people interviewed yesterday actually said they would rather watch the Junior Hockey Championship games than shop- two girls! Hockey over shopping!! Boxing Day is also a day to "crash". Eat leftovers! Tidy up after the Christmas dinner-putting all the good dishes and platters away! Have a nap or read a book or listen to any new CDs received as presents. Boxing is a funny word though as we usually think of the sport of boxing! Or the expression- Don't box me in! Sometimes we put our lives in boxes! We give presents in boxes! There are Big Box stores with big bargains everywhere! Some churches still has an " alms box". We ship things in boxes. Some surburban homes are like rows of boxes! We store items in boxes! We can even be buried in a pine box! Boxing Day- what did it mean to you? Did you shop? Or just drop to relax and enjoy the day?