Christmas Is Coming ......

And I am getting fat.  (I keep meaning to go on a diet but that's another story!)

Every year, I try to stay in denial about Christmas for as long as I possibly can, but it appears that I can deny it no longer.

It might be something to do with the fact that Christmas cards have been in the shops since August, or that the supermarket over the top adverts are gracing our TV's at every opportunity, or even the school newsletters which are full of requests for money and Christmas gifts.

But mostly its due to my husband who has been muttering all week that we need to start doing something about Christmas.

I'm not sure where the "we" comes in, I think loosely translated it means me because I'm usually the one who ends up doing 95% of the preparation. My husband is one of six and I am one of three, and although we dont buy for the adults, we do buy for the children, some of whom have children of their own. 

It's not that I mind, just that its such a mamoth task, the whole thing daunts me and I my instinct is to bury my head in the sand until such a time that I have to lift it out again.

That time has come.  Today I bought my first two presents and now the need to get organised has become insistent.

I feel a list coming on, I simply can't do it all without it!

Ba Humbug!

 

Another Celebration

Whilst everyone else is celebrating the return to normal after the festivities, we are entering into a new zone of celebration.  Eight years ago today I gave birth to my youngest child.  I always feel sorry for him having his birthday  at this time of year, at a time when everyone is jaded from a party atmosphere. And whilst I am usually fed it with it myself, I always do my best to try and make it special for him. It's not his fault he was born at this time of year but it could have been worse, he was due on Christmas Eve and I keep joking that if he was, I was going to call him Jesus - it is a joke!

At the moment he loves school so the fact that his birthday always seem to fall on the first day back isn't too traumatic, but I'm sure there will come a time.  This year we've held back some of the best presents for today, so the smile on his face when he opened them was well worth the wait. We've been out with his Nanna for a birthday tea, and at the weekend he's having a sleepover with some friends and a cinema trip followed by a bit of a party with some of our friends, and then next weekend another party tea with family hosted by Grandma.

I hope I've done him proud, he certainly seems happy, but as every year,  I will be glad when life can truly get back to normal?

What about you, are you sad or glad at the return to routine?