We did it! We actually managed the three school Christmas events this year! After so many cancellations, postponements and nativities behind closed doors, this year I actually got to sit on three different occasions to watch two nativities and a carol concert. And you can’t beat a primary school nativity. There’s the occasional child dive bombing the stage, someone discovers the microphone and so much frantic waving. Your child will turn their head away and start waving at their friend the moment you get a prime position to take a photo when the guy in front shifts slightly to the right. There’ll be someone picking their nose- last year it was Seb. Then the nursery nativity comes with even more carnage including Jesus being thrown into his manger.

We’ve also just got back from our last ever toddler group Christmas party/nativity. This was just pure chaos- good chaos though. Clara refused point blank to join the other kids on stage but chose to watch from the audience with one of her little besties. When I say chaos, I mean chaos. There was a child in the manger chilling, kids jumping off the stage, but it was just fabulous to watch. The kids had fun which is the most important bit.

I had thought that the key stage two carol concert would be slightly less chaotic, how wrong I was. Although, apart from my child air guitaring in the final performance, the parents actually caused the chaos. There was the Mum humming along so loud you could hear her over the kids, the same Mum then sat on Instagram during the performances that she wasn’t vibing with. Then the parents were invited to join in with the last song- the kids got a bit too enthusiastic and started singing too fast for the music meaning they were a line ahead, this caused most of us adults to get the giggles and we all struggled to get the song back on track before the last verse.

One Christmas plan that did go out the window though was our trip to the Bath Christmas markets which was supposed to happen on Saturday. After a hectic week the kids were knackered and weren’t on board with an early start, Clara was a bit croaky and we just didn’t want to risk another sickness drama so far from home so we changed plans and had a quiet morning and after lunch headed to Crealy. We went on some rides and watched the ice skating show which the kids were quite impressed with. Seb was then very brave and stroked a snake (the girls were cowering behind Henry refusing to come anywhere near the keepers). They also had a giant snail which stumped him a bit, he petted this one too and said it looked like a snail with a smile, we then pointed out it was a snail, a really big one. His face lit up and he replied “like a Daddy snail.”

The kids gave us some laughs when we checked our Euromillions ticket to find sadly we hadn’t won £200 million, we asked them what they would’ve bought if we had won. Polly opted for some horses from the toy shop, when I pointed out she could buy real horses with that kind of money her face lit up and she said yes please! Seb said he would get a big Christmas tree and a toy Thomas. Clara then outdid them all and asked for a ‘pretend house’ (dolls house) and a rainbow. Not sure how she’d get her hands on a rainbow but she was so serious about this that when we did get to Crealy and they wrote out another letter to Santa she made it top of her list. I might have to get creative with a little extra present to go in her stocking in the next few days.

As I say, it’s been another hectic week or so. I see a lot of posts on social media about how hard this time of year can be and it made me think how true this is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s my favourite time of year but it can be very overwhelming at times. There’s the seven different days they need to wear a Christmas jumper (different child and different reason each time). The child changing their mind over a present at the last moment. The three different locations and time slots for nativities and carol concerts. A playdate here and a party there. 600 extra Brownie events and another party for good measure. The poorly relative in hospital. The two parcels of presents you weren’t expecting. Working out when to give presents to each person as when will you see them again before the big day. The two million emails from the school. An extra present here. Another card there. Throw some more magic around for the kids. The cost of everything, including realising that the December pay check needs to last the 300 weeks of January. Flicking all the lights off after half an hour when you get a flashback of the last electric bill. A sickness bug here. Another cold there. A work do here. Another work do there. The excitable children, overstimulated and going into meltdown at the drop of a hat. A nativity outfit here. Another Christmas jumper day there. The party food for the class parties. Tinsel bits fucking everywhere. Missing the last bin collection and realising your big black bin is now full till Boxing Day. The lost gloves then twelve turn up at once. A bit more magic. Running out of sellotape mid wrapping.

But despite all this, still feeling forever grateful for it all. It really is the most magical time of year but we are also allowed to say it’s one of the most hectic times of year and although my heart has burst with joy many times over the last week or so, I have also cried three times too. This is why I have learnt over the years to say ‘no’ to some things as it really does become too much. It also means that the things you do say ‘yes’ to are more appreciated as they are the things you really do want to do. On that note, this probably is Merry Christmas from me. Thanks to anyone and everyone who’s taken the time to read any of my wild ramblings this year- it still baffles me that anyone reads them to be honest! And if anyone has any ideas on how I can get my hands on a rainbow then please drop me a message 😉

So, I’ve slacked off on the writing front again. In my defence this time of year is pretty hectic, but I have a spare half hour this morning so I’m just going to do a little post to get the ball back rolling again on the blog front.

The reason it’s been a bit more hectic than usual is thanks to the incessant sickness bugs that still keep being bought into the house- these have ranged from flu bugs to full blown sickness bugs and we currently have a child on the sofa asleep with the 4th different bug in 6 weeks. I’m hoping she sleeps the last of it off ready for her nativity in the morning as she’s been practising ‘Little Donkey’ on repeat for the last couple of weeks (sadly these are the only two words she can remember in the song!) but I’m not holding out much hope with the luck we’ve had- fingers crossed.

Christmas has officially landed in the house and the decorations have been up for a couple of weeks now, with more things being added every few days. It also means there’s usually a Christmas film playing on the TV. One of the favourites this year is actually Home Alone- they love watching both of them, although this has led to Seb calling us all ‘filthy animals!’ It did also lead to an amusing conversation when we asked the kids what they would actually do if they found themselves in Kevin’s situation, the big two both agreed it would be bad and they listed off the friend’s houses they’d go to instead.

Some other little TV related anecdotes include Polly whilst watching Harry Potter stating- “So, in 4 years my letter will come.” And another Polly classic when catching up with this week’s Strictly, they love watching the judge’s scoring and like to predict what number each judge will hold up. This week one of our favourite’s was scoring 10’s across the board and it was just Anton to go, Polly then shouted out- “Come on Anton sneak a little 10 out, they need it!”

She also gave me a laugh on Friday morning when we walked to school, the gritters had been out the night before which she had noticed when she commented- “look it definitely is cold as they’ve been out to lay the breadcrumbs.”

Seb has also given us a few laughs as he’s re-christened a Christmas legend. The other day I asked him which Christmas jumper he wanted to wear and he declared- ‘the Bruno one.’ Completely baffled I turned back to the dinosaur jumper and the Rudolph jumper in front of me trying to work out which one he meant, he then clarified- “the Bruno the red nose reindeer one.” And yes this name seems to have stuck.

Obviously, this time of year means the battle of the Christmas adverts. Our verdict this year is we quite like the racoon one (Lidl) and honestly the Tesco one made both Henry and I actually genuinely smile. It’s a very simple concept and just makes you feel a bit warm and fuzzy without trying to hard.

The change in weather over the last week did prompt Henry to take the kids on a little snow hunt the other day. I was at work and Henry had taken the car to take them to an after school party but then found he had an hour or so to kill before picking me up. So he took them up onto Dartmoor for a play in the snow. The girls had great fun by the looks of it whilst Seb stayed put in the car.

I will try and get another post in before the end of the year but with my track record it’s not looking likely. More fingers crossed!