Det er lov å grue seg til jul
Det er lov å grue seg til jul
Ingenting er så koseleg som jula. Familien samlar seg, vi tar fram julepynten og tenner lys. Vi gir og får gåver, og alle er glade. Er det rart vi gler oss til jul? Eller? Vi tok ein liten prat med Maja Lunde om det å gle seg og ikkje gle seg til jul.
“At Christmas, both the good and the bad emotions are turned up to full volume. If you miss someone, you miss them even more on Christmas Eve. I thought about that a lot when I was writing *The Snow Sister*,”saysMaja Lunde.
There can be many reasons why children don’t look forward to Christmas. Some adults get so stressed out that it isn’t enjoyable. Other adults drink too much alcohol and act differently. In some homes, there’s no Christmas celebration. Then it’s not so nice to see everyone else having a good time—and getting nicer and more fun gifts than you do.
Divorced parents
For some people, Christmas is a sad time because they miss one of their parents. Maja Lunde has experienced that too.
“My parents are divorced, so I remember well what it was like to miss the person I didn’t spend Christmas with. That’s how it is for an incredible number of people. And of course, we all want Christmas Eve to be perfect. So it’s especially painful when things don’t go as planned,” says Maja Lunde.
Fortunately, Maja has learned something important: that Christmas doesn’t have to be perfect. It can be wonderful just the way it is. A Christmas that’s different from what you had planned can still be a wonderful Christmas. She and Lisa Aisato talked a lot about this while they were writing the book*The Snow Sister*, and that’s exactly what the book is about. Lisa created the beautiful illustrations for the book, while Maja wrote the text.
– If your friend is dreading Christmas, it might be a good idea to ask why. And then you can ask if there’s anything you can do. Maybe you and your friend can create your own Christmas tradition together? But if there’s something serious causing you to dread Christmas, you need to talk to an adult about it,saysMaja Lunde.
– That’s what Julian has to do in *Snøsøstera*. He has to dare to tell his parents that the way things are right now isn’t okay. And then there’s a better chance that everything will get better. Just like it does for Julian and his family.
CHRISTMAS LOVER
By the way, Maja Lunde is a real Christmas person. Even though she often missed someone at Christmas when she was little, her parents were good at creating a wonderful Christmas. That’s why she has so many fond memories from her childhood. Now that she’s grown up, Maja has come to really love the cozy atmosphere of Christmas. She can feel the Christmas spirit throughout her whole body. And she decorates her house in the Villa Kvisten style. Maybe she’s a little like Hedvig?
“There’s a light inside me and little bursts of joy in my head. For me, Christmas is over-the-top, warm, and bright red. But the most important thing about Christmas is that we have a good time, not that we try to make it perfect,”says Maja Lunde.
Text: Ida Michaelsen
Photo: Siren Høyland Sæter