How are the celebrations in your life now different from the ones you had growing up?

A natural way to answer

Growing up, celebrations revolved around the extended family and lasted for days. Now that everyone's spread out, they're shorter and quieter. The feeling is different too — calmer, but I appreciate them more.

Key phrases to use

• keep it small — to keep an event modest, with few people“This year we decided to keep it small.”
• washing-up mountain — a huge pile of dirty dishes to be cleaned“After dinner we faced a washing-up mountain.”
• spread out — living in different, separated places“Our family is quite spread out now.”
• ruling the roost — being the person in charge, especially at home“My grandmother ruled the roost in our house.”