When it became apparent that a lot of
activities wouldn’t be allowed, Grace
Olsen thought of ways she could
bring the festive spirit to her two
children, then aged five and seven.
"I was a bit sad that you only get a
few years of magic Christmases when
they are little, and I was gutted that
we were missing out on lots of stuff
during one of their best years. I just
wanted to try and create as much
extra magic as possible."
This came in the idea of camping
out under the Christmas tree. As the
family would normally go to enjoy a
live pantomime in December, Grace
got the idea of watching a pantomime
on television—but with the added
excitement of sleeping under the tree.
LOCKDOWN CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS WE'RE KEEPING
54 • DECEMBER 2021
"We brought down the duvets
with Christmas covers on, loads of
pillows, made a bed on the floor
and got into our pyjamas. We then
watched the panto in the dark
with just the lights from the tree.
We always have a big, lovely real
Christmas tree and with the lights
flickering and glowing, with us all
cosy and festive, it just felt really
magical. The kids thought it was
absolutely brilliant and both fell
asleep curled up under the tree."
Will she be doing it again this year?
"Yes. Absolutely we'll be doing
it again! We will probably go and
enjoy a live panto if we can, but we’ll
definitely be doing the Christmas
tree sleepover at some point."WE CAMPED OUT UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE