Christmas Crackers

Ah, Christmas.  I LOVE Christmas.  So much.  I love it as much, if not more, than I did as a child.  My parents made it magical for my brother and I and so, since my husband and I had kids, we’ve spent literally HOURS coming up with little family traditions that will make it as special as possible.

We go and choose a real Christmas tree together (I ordered an artificial one year that didn’t arrive, so that’ll show me for breaking the rules).  We trim it together and I have to resist the urge to change everything around once the kids have finished clumping the baubles together and laying on lopsided tinsel.

We have Christmas elves that visit and play ‘tricks’ on the children like writing on the mirrors, having midnight feasts and throwing old socks on the tree.  Last year they came for a FULL TWO WEEKS and did all sorts of kerraaazy stuff, but this year, for some reason, they haven’t arrived yet.  Weird, I know.  We keep making excuses for them because we’re hoping that this year if they’re only here for a week or so, ‘they’ may not struggle to find ideas night after endless night like ‘they’ did last year.

We deliver everyone’s presents before Christmas Eve (except family that we’ll see on the day) so Christmas Eve is a chill fest of DVDs, indulgent food, snuggles under blankets and this year the elves will be delivering a special ‘Christmas Box’ each before they leave with new pyjamas, a new DVD and hot chocolate with marshmallows.  It is unlikely we will venture out all day, apart from taking the dog for a walk.

Christmas Day morning the kids open their stockings upstairs and then come downstairs to find Santa’s footprints in flour leading to the half eaten snack and drink, Rudolf’s chewed carrot scattered on the garden with a sprinkling of magic dust to help the reindeers fly and a pile of presents each, wrapped up but also charged up, with batteries and without awkward ‘Fort Knox’ type bindings, to make them more accessible for excited little hands.

We (my husband and I, not the kids) have Bucks Fizz shortly after our essential morning caffeine and the kids are allowed to have whatever they want for breakfast (including chocolate).  We stay in jim jams until lunchtime and then we go and get ready and I use as many sparkly new things as I can (bubble bath, body butter, perfume, new socks).

Family visit at various points in the day and we have our main meal at about 3pm, sometimes just with us but this year we’re catering for seventeen so we’re doing more of a Jacob’s Join.  If it’s just us we NEVER have turkey because my husband isn’t keen on it and he does the cooking, so who am I to argue?  Then we play games, or with new toys, or watch Christmas television (of course; who doesn’t love a bit of James Bond?).

In the evening, when the kids are in bed, we play Cluedo or Scrabble or Monopoly – it doesn’t usually matter what we play because we only do it to make fun of my Stepdad who has had a good few drinks at this point and invariably loses tracks of ‘whodunnit’ or who owes him money for what and isn’t usually speaking in English at this point, let alone spelling words of the same language.

I’m getting excited just thinking about it and a warm, fuzzy feeling is growing in my stomach (I don’t THINK it’s indigestion).  I officially can’t wait.  Happy Friday, everyone. 🙂