Let it snow....only if I'm staying home!

The last fortnight has brought home-based Christmas prep (and failure!) a visit to Santa, real snow to the North East, festive books and more...

As I write this, I am painfully conscious of how far away I am from my goal of the last post I created. My aim was to be finished (including wrapping) all of my Christmas gifting…Well, that hasn’t happened!! In typical “Is-it-just-my-kids?!” style, the modest Christmas lists made carefully in November (with realistic gifts!) have now spiralled into impossibly expensive, unnecessary and often ridiculous gifts. LLH (aged 13) has listed so many designer cosmetics brands even I (a self-proclaimed beauty addict) haven’t heard of. One of the gifts she’s asked for is a Charlotte Tilbury toning essence, RRP £15/£30. Wow! For a toning essence you wipe off your face?? Anyway, I foolishly decided to treat her and it arrived. At first I laughed in disbelief. Then I nearly cried. For a whole £15 the toner was the size of my pinky finger. I kid you not. Then LLD (aged 8) randomly decided he wanted a VR Headset added to his list. Added.

Bear in mind these come in roughly at a whopping £200+….

Anyway, I’ve tried my best to manage their expectations, explaining to LLD that Santa can’t bring everything. With LLH I was slightly more upfront - with a conversation along the lines of you’re-being-ridiculous-asking-for-designer-makeup-brands-when-you’re 13-uears-old-and-youve-never-tried-it-before-and basing-your-whole-wishlist-from-a tiktok influencer-who-is-full-of-shite. You know, one of those conversations?

My resolve is already wavering when I look at what I have so far for their “sacks.” Ha, sacks! (insert sarcastic laugh) They both barely have enough to fill a shopping bag never mind a sack. Everything is so expensive these days, and boy do my two have expensive tastes! By the time I’ve bought LLD a game for his Nintendo, a book he wants and a plush toy, I’ve already spent over £40… And see above for the size of LLH’s gifts…So, I’ve compromised and secured two modest sized gift bags which will replace their sacks of years gone by. I’m hoping they won’t be disappointed by the absence of their traditional sacks…

Saying that, I am sorted for other family members and have some truly beautiful gifts that I’m sure the recipients will be delighted with!

Last weekend, LLD and I visited a fabulous Santa at our local garden centre, Redfox Nursery. We walked through a lovely little set-up of Santa’s workshop before meeting the big man himself. I actually gasped when I saw him! He was the typical image of how I always saw Santa as a child! A great, greyish-white real beard, twinkling eyes, and a warm demeanour. He spent ages chatting to LLD about his love of cryptids (a story for another day) and mysteriously knew many facts about this topic. LLD was enthralled and it was gorgeous to experience. After the visit, LLD chose a toy from a “workshop” and then we headed to the cafe for a well-deserved gingerbread latte for me and a cold milk and gingerbread man for LLD. All in all it felt magical and special, which is all you want from a Santa visit.

A few snaps of Santa’s workshop (I’ve tried not to include spoilers if anyone is planning to visit!) and the tasty gingerbread latte :)

Our Christmas decorations in the home are complete, although every year I go through a cycle of doom-comparison, looking eagerly on Instagram at jaw-dropping, aesthetically pleasing festive interiors and comparing them to my bedraggled mixture of hand-me-downs, questionably home-made tree decorations and a hodge-podge of other things I’ve picked up. I’m comforting myself with the following quote:

Well, @roastmalone, that’s certainly the case in our house! Right on cue for my festive-joy-vomit mix of decor, we have had snow!! Oh, it was blissful to wake up one freezing weekday morning and creep downstairs, pull back the blinds, and see the whole street blanketed in perfect white fluff. Soft flurries twirled by the window as I clasped my hot morning cuppa in cold hands and cosy pyjamas, noting some fellow early-rising neighbours with lights on in their homes. (Is it just me that is comforted by this on the dark mornings? Like you’re less alone in being up when it’s so dark and cold.) My little glow of pleasure was punctured abruptly when it was time for my morning school-run and commute. As always, England is incredibly ill-equipped to deal with the white stuff, and our part of the country comes to a hysterical standstill. After a white-knuckle journey to work on ungritted roads, I prayed for the snow to make a speedy exit. The only sliver of joy was that the children I work with and my own absolutely loved the snow, something which is sadly lost to me sometimes as a practical, commuting parent.

With Christmas literally creeping up on us, it’s time for one of my favourite parts of the festive season and that is Christmassy books! I have the following to work my way through: some publications are new, some are re-reads from the past, some are silly/childlike, some sentimental, some helpful, and some gruesome. (Happy Christmas!)

A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig - , Christmas Crimes at Puzzel Manor by Simon Brett, Calm Christmas by Beth Kempton, Skipping Christmas by John Grisham, The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall and Murder on the Christmas Express by Benedict Brown, The 12 Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani, Mrs Pepperpot’s Christmas, A Cornish Christmas Murder by Fiona Leitch and A Chic Christmas by Fiona Ferris.

Let me know if you’re reading any festive stories or self-help books and if you recommend them!

I’m looking forward to this weekend. Working in a school at this time of year is fun, draining, rewarding, exhausting and covered in glitter! All school staff are suffering from various ailments (in my case, a sore throat and sniffles) and I am craving the quiet of my small home and the treat of a glass of fizz on Saturday evening.

I hope your Christmas prep is going a bit better than mine! Does anyone else have children with silly lists??