A usual day for us on Christmas Day, just like every other day except for a couple of things.
Firstly, there were presents to open, a mountain of which took hours to buy and wrap and seconds to destroy. Oh the joys of being a parent - you get to watch all the hardwork gone into carefully wrapping the presents go down the gurgler as mischevious monkeys tear and shred their packages apart to get to the goods inside. All this done as you watch with a mixture of pain (for the care put into wrapping not being taken in the unwrapping) and enjoyment (at the faces of your children as they discover what’s inside). A bizzare mix of emotions to be sure, but that’s all part of being a parent (??????). Pretty soon, the mountain of carefully wrapped presents has turned into a mulititude of mountains made from previously pristine christmas paper, packaging from the gifts and the gifts themselves.
The second difference to our day was the lack of ‘domestic work’. Yep, apart from putting the dryer on to dry the clothes (which it didn’t do properly the first time) I did nothing! Ok, so I did tackle the numerous mountains to rid the house of as much of the rubbish as possible, but that was only done becuase the girls could not find their presents for the mess! Apart from feeding us all, Les did no housework either. He did, however, keep up with his online work, much to my dismay (it was Christmas Day which should have meant being free of ‘work commitments’).
Yes, it was mostly a typical day for us. There were the usual tears, tantrums and fights (and that’s just from the grown ups). Meal time battles didn’t take a day of either, and we almost ended up with a food fight amongst the girls. Bath time was still as fun as ever (sarcasm? - not MUCH) with the screams of our youngest middle 2 protesting having their hair washed and all 5 protesting getting dressed again. Thank goodness for new p.j’s though, as the girls were excited about their new Dora The Explorer or Dorothy The Dinosaur jammies (bubs got Pooh Bear).
The usual bed time drink dramas were there, including #2 requiring a complete change of clothes again because she had spilt her drink (how she got it down her back, I’ll never know, though suspicion could be placed on #1). Then naturally, the sloppy kisses that leave you feeling like crying and laughing at the same time, but instead very gently ‘rub’the kisses in so as to not upset the givers. Yuck though peoples, 5 lots of sloppy kisses and I’m ready for a bath!
Ah well, it was a goodday all round and everyone enjoyed their pressies and the destruction. What more could a girl like me possibly ask for? Time to go slower that’s for sure, so that the next Christmas is actually 10 years away!!!! (Can you tell I’m not the best with the hectic ‘Silly Season’?).
Next year, I will be starting the shopping as soon as all the birthdays are done for the year, which is in August, so then there will be no excuses for me stressing out about how much I have to do in such a limited amount of time;) 