What women want for Christmas

Christmas is upon us, we are just days away from celebrating one of the most important holidays of the year. Indeed, during the festive season, families get together to enjoy all the merriments that the season has to offer.

I remember back when I was a child, Christmas holidays meant decorating the house with glittering ornaments. I’d wake up in the wee hours of the morning after a sleepless night filled with anticipation for the coming day’s activities. Such were the joys that contented a little girl’s heart.

Today, as a grown woman – a mother and wife, Christmas season means being ahead of everything. My children love the festivities that come with the season.

Around the world, people celebrate Christmas in different ways. From families getting together for the holidays, to spending quality time with your significant other, joy is derived from things that truly make us happy.

Woman magazine talked to different women in Dar es Salaam who shared with us their plans for the holiday, and what the festive season means to them.

Nancy Lazaro, 32, Project Manager

First of all, I love my husband to bits. The greatest gift I have ever received from him, and I keep receiving every single day, is his unconditional love. Throughout the year, he surprises me with gifts every now and then, and during Christmas specifically, togetherness is the greatest gift there is. We do not regularly exchange physical gifts during Christmas, but constantly, we exchange kisses, hugs, laughter and just enjoy the day together as a family, whether at home or away. This Christmas, all I desire is for him to keep loving me the way Christ loved the church. That’s all.

Planning Christmas celebration

Ever since we started dating back in 2012 todate, Christmas has been a special holiday for us. To us, Christmas is about love beyond love, knowing love and spreading love. My husband and I plan and work hand in hand to ensure that we have amazing and meaningful Christmas holiday. We discuss on the budget and other logistics ensuring we plan better and each one of us understands what will happen during the holidays. As a wife, it is normal to have a lot on my to-do list during Christmas time, but I am thankful for my husband who will always find creative ways to help me with whatever he can. In planning together and discussing every detail of the holiday, it helps us to be very peaceful and happy on Christmas day.

What Christmas means to you

Christmas means love, God’s love; it means salvation; it means surrendering, letting God be God, for in Him we live, and we move, and have our being.

Tecla Timothy, 36, Businesswoman

I understand the importance of Christmas, and thus work hard to make it memorable for my family. I get my hands full during the holiday season by preparing meals for my family, buying new clothes for the children and making sure everything goes according to plan.

I believe these are my responsibilities as a mother. My husband supports me financially but taking care of decorations and other activities during Christmas has always been my duty.

This year, what would make my day on Christmas is receiving two gifts; one is to celebrate Christmas in our new house. But this is rather impossible considering the house is still under construction. Secondly, I would like to open a boutique in Kariakoo and expand my business.

Ndimbumi Msongole, 30,Communications Specialist

Christmas means spending quality time with family – sharing warm ambiance, amazing food, spiritual renewal and laughter.

On gifts: I do not expect gifts, never had gifts as a child except for new clothes. So I don’t expect gifts from my partner, he doesn’t get them either.

If there was a gift exchange, what I would most desire this year would be some good converse sneakers.

On Christmas planning: All the Christmas planning falls on me, my partner helps gather the necessary ingredients of the festivities.

Modester Kamoga, 31, Sociologist

I embrace the idea of giving gifts during Christmas season. It is a very important culture that should never be forsaken.

Receiving a gift makes you feel like you have someone who remembers and cares for you. It also creates a feeling that you have people to lean on. Those are the same people who will support you when you are in need.

I have never received a Christmas gift before. The only people I buy gifts for during Christmas holidays are my parents. This year, however, I’d like to receive a gift. I love makeup, I’d be happy if I receive a makeup set, dress or handbag.

I plan to celebrate this Christmas with my husband and two children by preparing a feast after Christmas mass.

Joyce Jacob, 30, Businesswoman

I’m a wife and mother of two, I love the festive season and have been celebrating Christmas ever since I was a child.

Brought up in a Christian family, there were a lot of festivities centered on Christmas celebrations at home.

As an adult today, I still cherish Christmas celebrations. I spend time with my family, prepare food, decorate the house, read the bible. My children enjoy such activities.

The gift I desire most is to spend enough time with my family.

However, I wouldn’t mind if my husband buys me a treadmill. It would be a gift that will make me exercise from home instead of going to the gym on a daily basis.

Dina Akinyi, 38,Businesswoman

This Christmas I expect a Range Rover from my boyfriend as a gift.

Such a gift doesn’t come cheap, but a Range Rover is what will make my Christmas memorable.

2018 has been a challenging and busy year for me. For this reason, I plan to reward myself for finishing the year on a high by going to Zanzibar for the holiday.

Clement Kopweh, a husband, lawyer and social worker, says that he loves pleasing his wife during the holiday season. “This Christmas I’m taking her to a secluded place where we can spend quality time together. I will give her anything she desires,” he says.

Pastor Aidan Mbulininge, says the culture of giving and receiving gifts during Christmas reminds us of Jesus Christ as a present to the world. He calls upon Christians to give gifts to the poor as part of doing good deeds during this festive season.