Image: Jacaranda FM
Media personality, style icon, and successful mompreneur, Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp shares her family’s plans for the upcoming festive season. An Afrika-Bredenkamp Christmas is made of tipsy trifle, laid-back family lunches, giving back to the community, and edible gifts. For Elana, family time will make this December one to remember.
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I’ll be spending Christmas with my closest family…
Christmas is a time for family, and I love how excited my children get about the magic of the festive season. I remember hot South African Christmases as a young girl and how special my parents used to make them. Now it’s such a privilege for me as a mom to make Christmas special for my children, just as my parents did.
I’ll also get the chance to see my folks – Ellen and Hennie – who are the absolute sweetest. With them, we always ask for edible gifts around Christmas and finish them all by the 27th of December!
Christmas wouldn’t be the same without my dear Mother and Father-in-Law. Every year, they dutifully take the time to put up two Christmas Trees (as we usually celebrate between two cities). They also unpack all their toys and bears (they’re avid toy and bear collectors) for all of us to play with and enjoy.
It is such a special time for us as a family unit. I’m also so thankful to be spending quality time with my husband Ian, who has really worked hard with us and for us this year.
We’re still working on creating Afrika-Bredenkamp Christmas traditions…
Long-standing traditions for an Afrika-Bredenkamp Christmas are almost non-existent due to the fact that we live in two cities. So we do what any travelling family does: we create new ones.
It’s a work in progress, but some of the traditions that my husband and I practice are: making my famous butter turkey two days before Christmas, indulging in a big trifle filled with lots of brandy (for the adults, of course), and opening gifts from Christmas Eve until the 26th of December.
Tradition-wise (so far), there’s no real ritual other than coming together and just having fun! We try make Christmas about good food, great memories, and the best company.
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We’re headed on holiday after Christmas …
We’ll be spending the festive season in Gauteng, where my family and I are based. But soon after, we’re off to Cape Town to spend time with both sets of grannies, grandpas, family and friends.
We also have an annual family lunch at De Grendel. Here we’re treated to several delicious courses paired with some of our favourite wines. Our children then get to play outside on the grass and enjoy the summer sun (or perhaps even some rain this year).
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We get involved in giving…
It’s so easy to get caught up in the rush of social engagements, gifting, and endless planning over the festive season. We try to get involved in our community no matter how hectic everything may be.
Last year we donated beautiful doughnuts to less fortunate individuals in our area. I think it’s so important to take a step back and see how privileged we all are. Giving is part of the magic of Christmas.
On the 26th, we give our Christmas leftovers away to those who need it most. It’s such a simple act, but also such an important one. An Afrika-Bredenkamp Christmas would be incomplete without some kind of charitable act – this is something Ian and I are trying to instil in our kids.
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Christmas is so special to me because it unites communities…
If you walk around the malls, markets, or beaches during the festive season, you’ll see families coming together to celebrate. Everyone joins in and gets involved during Christmas time: whether decorating the tree, shopping for gifts, singing carols, or preparing food.
It’s the one time of the year where everyone understands that they need to spend time together. I really think that’s totally magical and irreplaceable.
By Features Writer, Ashton Kirsten
