Don’t eat the Baubles-Christmas as a parent! 

Day 3 in the Christmas countdown! Welcome to those of you that have made it over from Julie’s post on  Picking Up Toys and of course to my regular readers! Thank you all for joining in our festive blog hop where we have lots of prizes to be won!

(Full details can be found on Mummieswaiting and all entries to be completed via the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.)

 Writing today’s post has brought back some wonderful memories of my DDD (Dearest Darling Daddy) and eating Christmas pudding for breakfast! I miss him dearly especially as he was such a big kid when it came to the festive season! I have learnt over the years that Noël is made extra special by the people around you and I hope as a parent that I can make It just as special for my children as Dad made it for me. 

As a child, we are drawn in to the magic and sparkle of Christmas, those sleepless nights hoping to spy St Nick laying gifts under the tree, lots of chocolate from the grandparents, the excitement of the advent calendar before breakfast,  big meals and lots of family games with cousins. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year! (Sing it!) 

 

 
Now, looking at Yuletide as an adult, and ultimately as a parent, it still has lots of magic, but it’s a different kind of sparkle. Although the toddler is still too young to really get what Christmas is all about, and the teenager has only this summer really admitted that there maybe it isn’t a man in a big red suit that brings her gifts, it still seems to have regained the sparkle that was lost before having children. 

It’s no longer just discussions of “what are you buying for Nan”, what are you doing for New Year’s Eve ( as a parent, staying in! Because it’s expensive in pubs, I can’t be bothered with a house party, and I still need to get up with the toddler!) It’s also no longer a week of being drunk and disorderly before falling asleep in the Finest duck that your Daddy dearest has lovingly slaved over!(we don’t like Turkey!) 

Now It is stories of Santa, pictures taken in hastily built Grottos and lots of broken baubles on the tree! It is glitter and an overwhelming amount of presents to hide round the house (and to wrap, give me strength!) it is planning an itinerary half way round the uk of which grandparents to visit so that everyone can see the toddler opening gifts. It is agreeing with the rest of the family that gifts are “kids only” to try and keep costs down (and so we can actually all fit in the car!) it is stressing over Christmas dinner and wishing you’d decided to slope off to Grandma’s, (even though now, grandma is getting on and needs help in the kitchen! It’s only fair!) or better still, book the local pub for Your festive lunch! It is all the magic of Christmas as a child, with the added stress of being able to hold it all together whilst sticking to sensible amounts of port and lemonade, (that would be a bottle or 3 then!) and not breaking down in tears because of the god awful mess all the magic creates! 
The festive season is a completely different ball game as a parent, it is a little (lot!) more stressful, but mostly it is a wonderful time spent with family and getting excited for your children and their experience of it all! I hope that my children will have fond memories of Christmas before they are too old for all the wonderment! 
I’m sure I’m not the only mama that feels excited and stressed all at once! Why not pop on over to Mummies Waiting  and her lovely post about being a parent during the festive season, you can also gain further entries into the grand prize draw. 

Ps; our rafflecopter code is Long 

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