Little White Lies.

There's a small thing happening in 7 days, a tiny weeny holiday that can bite you on the bum if your not ready. Its called Christmas and only occurs once a year.

My kids think that because they are "grown up" they must not believe in anything remotely kiddish or magical and God forbid that they actually admit that they secretly still love all the surprises that flood our home at Christmas.

Here are my top Christmas rituals that I will carry on with until there is nobody to carry it on for (which is highly unlikely as I dont think The Whirlwind will ever leave home)


1. The Christmas cuddly toys come down from the loft and spend 1 month and 1 month only on the kids beds. They include a giant Santa, Reindeer and a Snowman and on the 1st of December The Husband gentle passes flings them down to the kids waiting arms. As much as they pretend to groan that they have to have them, each night when I go in to check all is well they are firmly placed on their beds. And if I move one of them away it is always back in the morning.

2. All of the Christmas DVDs are dug from the depths of the cupboard and placed in a basket ready for Sunday afternoon film and stuff your face time. We have managed it every Sunday so far and have wondered at how the kids still love them rather than the usual dross they watch.










3. Hot Chocolate becomes a daily drink when they get home from school and is usually placed in any old mug but on the 1st December it all changes. Gone are the Ikea cups and out come the Christmas mugs for all to see.









4. The tree goes up on the 1st and is decorated with love and affection by mainly.....well......Me. We have one decoration that I have had since I was little and the kids now love her too. She is a battered,smelly, dirty sort of hedgehog angel which I would imagine looked really cute when first purchased. It now looks a bit like its been in a road traffic accident and run over 100 times, but do we care...No, we do not and each year we all say hello to her and place the old lady of our decorations carefully on the tree. Unfortunaely we have to place her up high as The Dog has taken a particular dislike to her and we fear for her safety.




5. On Christmas Eve we have an old tradition that I have been doing since the kids were tiny. We got them an angel each and each year they place them out in the porch and shut the door. At about 8pm we would tell them to go and check if they were still there. As they open the door the usual squeals of delight comes from them as they realise that they have gone. We tell them that they have flown off to The North Pole to get Santa and that they had better get to sleep as quick as they can.................Now, this worked well for about 12 years and I swear to you we had 2 kids fast asleep by 8.30 every Christmas. Then The Daughter became a Teenager and got wise to the fact that Dad always disappears for a bit and then as if by magic the angels have gone. Try as we might to convince her she was having none of it so we had to come clean. This did however have its advantages as she promised not to tell The Whirlwind and we enrolled her into our secret ditch the angel club.


6. On Christmas morning we always have waffles, this is coursety of the best machine I have ever purchased and we only use it on the 25-26th December. The smell of toasted waffles wafting upstairs in enough to make your mouth water and it certainly makes everyone hungry. I of course wont be having any as I want to remain slim and gorgeous...............Ha ha, as if......I will be having about 4 helpings washed down with Bucks Fizz. Blow the diet until New Year.

7. At 7pm on Christmas Day it is traditional in our house to receive a brand new pair of PJ's and have the option to wear them. This of course doesn't take much persuading as we all run upstairs and slip them on ready for the evenings entertainment. I must stress that we only do this if we are alone and not if we have company....Well not unless they bring their PJ's too.






8. This year I am beginning a new tradition of playing a certain game that we all love but have never owned...Cluedo. We will ditch Monopoly which in my mind in the most mind numbingly, boring, monotonous game I have ever played. Instead we will solve the biggest Who Dunnit mystery of all time. I am insisting that we all talk like the character we play and remember to call each other the appropriate name at all times or a forfeit will incur. Just need to make sure The Husband gets Miss Peacock.......Now that will be funny.







So, there we go The 40 Year Old Domestic Goddess top traditions. I am sure we all have different ones and that as parents we all go to extraordinary lengths to keep them going for our kids. As much as my 2 claim they are bigger, older and wiser now I bet if I stopped doing all of the above they would be devastated. I would also imagine that as they get older we will add to the list and possibly take some away but one things for sure...........numbers 4,6,7 and 8 wont be going anywhere.

Happy Christmas To You All
Love
Me
xxxxx