So it’s finally here..good old December. Where have the last 11 months gone?! Like a whirlwind here we are preparing for all the festivities that December brings.
If your December is anything like ours its a month of us waiting in a chaotic queue at Tescos every weekend; why do people panic buy bread and milk? The shop closes for 24 hours it’s hardly a drama! Anyhoo its mad queues everywhere, lots of gift wrapping, decorating then moving the decorations then moving them back (and repeat), festive drinks, roaring fires, bad jokes, christmas movies and lots and lots of chocolate. It’s common practice to have a selection box for breakfast on Christmas morning, infact its frowned upon if you don’t 🙂
December brings around a lot of thought-provoking scenarios for me personally. It bring about another Christmas where we are missing family members who we would give anything to have here with us. I, myself, have one grandparent still here to join in all the festivities and who gets to see us all have a fun time creating memories with my daughter and her great-granddaughter. This is to me is priceless. I am certainly not taking away from the fact that at 33 years old im so lucky that I have a grandparent here with us but im pining for the other 3 desperately. All 3 would enjoy nothing more than getting to meet and watch Olivia grow up but it wasnt meant to be. When this time rolls around every year we always look out for the little robin red breast that brings a symbol that all 3 are still with us. This again, to me, is priceless.
December means that all the birthdays for the year are over. Everyone is that little bit older but in my family I’m not sure about the wiser bit 🙂 We had the big 1st birthday for Olivia which I still can’t believe! My father in-laws 60th birthday and my cousins 21st. Three big ones. Next year bring my dads 60th birthday and of course like any dad he “doesn’t want a fuss” he just wants to “spend it with family” bless 🙂
December also starts the Christmas festive debates like whose house should we go to, what size turkey should we get, who is the designated driver, whats the plans for boxing day ahhhhhhhhh!!!! SO.MANY.QUESTIONS. :):) I think definitely having kids makes things doubly hard. You are trying to please everyone and at the same time please yourself. Its sounds like a contradiction in terms but at some point you always offend someone without meaning too. We decided when we got married to just spend Christmas day together at home by ourselves. This was mostly down to the fact that I worked every boxing day in my retail job and had to be up at 5am. To me then christmas day was just my day off nothing exciting at all. When I changed jobs back in 2013 I then had a whole week off at christmas…I didnt know myself…I was nearly dare I say it bored! We have just kept the tradition up and stayed at home. This will suit us better going forward with Olivia as it’s not fair, in my opinion, to drag your child from A to B on the big day leaving behind all the toys as that’s all they want to play with. Ah the christmas politics.. it’s never easy!
I like to think of December as not only the final month but also the finale of our year. Its been a great one and we are very thankful for what 2015 has brough us as a family. Now is the time to kick back, open the advent calendar, crack out the Christmas mugs and enjoy the laughter that the month will bring.
Happy December to everyone!!
