The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
IT’S TIME FOR US CHRISTMAS FANS TO REALLY SHINE
Anyone else feeling a little weird? Like Christmas is over but feels like it’s still a few weeks away? Like a random Wednesday in February, but also like the days of the week don’t exist. Christmas is TOMORROW!
My wardrobe remains rammed with “hidden” Amazon boxes. Only half the presents are wrapped.
Instead of being laid for Christmas dinner our dining table looks like a crime scene,
and I am 99.9% certain I’ve forgotten something or someone. It’s all fine. It will be fine. I AM FINE.
No advent calendar for me this year. Instead, I’ve pathetically mooched round, opening all our kitchen cupboards, eating what’s inside.
But now it’s the 24th. Time to focus on the good stuff. The “swanky” Christmas treats. The stuff the kids get yelled at anytime they go near: “No! Back away from the fancy stuff, that’s for Christmas!” Christmas Eve counts right? It is tantalisingly close to the main event.
What if, and bear with me on this one, WHAT IF husbands bought presents for their own parents, instead of relying on their wives to organise it all?
Maybe if I said “skip” loudly, the mister would understand I have enough on my plate and handle it himself ? Then again, maybe not. I’ve sent gifts just to ensure my lovely in-laws get something more than a phone call from their errant son.
It took my family 15 minutes to decorate the heck out of the front of the tree this year. Nobody spilled their hot chocolate. There may even have been a wee glass of fizz. The back and sides of the tree remained resolutely undisturbed, not even the hint of a bauble. Once finished, it merely took me two hours to fix, and only then did the twitch in my eye stop.
At least it had been twitching in time to the twinkly fairy lights.
The kids are no longer at that enchanting age where they completely immerse themselves in the magic of Christmas. This both breaks my heart and lets me relax (slightly) at the same time. No more being handed an “updated” list at 5pm on Christmas Eve. A list which naturally included NOTHING I’d bought.
They used to love Christmas; they still do. Just in a completely different way. In primary school they’d spend the whole of December doing very little. Giving out some cards, taking some “Mum-made” buns to the Christmas party and recounting their Oscar-worthy Nativity performance.
All the while, parents and teachers were having nervous breakdowns and coping with the festive season like it was a second full-time job. What a brilliant time indeed!
Relax Mum, this is THE BEST TIME as Santa does EVERYTHING... aye, so he does.
I remember writing letters to Santa with our (then) enthusiastic brood.
One, an exceptionally polite sceptic, refused to voice their suspicion, just in case she didn’t get presents.
The sarcasm dripped from her voice as she informed her younger sister to state the EXACT page of the Argos catalogue so Santa would know PRECISELY what she wanted…
These days, I juggle wrapping gifts with lifts to the pub – BUT I remain undeterred.
As a Christmas fanatic, I choose from my excellent selection of jovial jumpers, dig out the Sellotape and pop Elf on the TV.
I never realised how old I was until I sat on the floor to wrap presents...
Buying gifts for the kids is tricky. I want to give them the world but also don’t want them to be entitled.
I want to spoil them a little also don’t want to give them “too much”.
I want them to feel super special but also be grateful. It’s a delicate balance. My present? Everyone home safe and sound.
No one sleeps better than a mum who has all her clan secure under her roof and her phone turned off.
Merry Christmas, all.