While watching our children talk to their grandparents in Cornwall on Skype this evening, I got the first real sense so far that Christmas is coming. Lunatic levels of excitement were in evidence (followed by all manner of threats at bedtime to bring them back down to earth again).
This year I have been absent from just about everything aside from the Nativity plays; which I was able to attend more by luck than judgement. While it would be easy to castigate my job for removing me from the planning, preparation, and general business of making Christmas happen, I am also aware that I amrewarded for my work, and that the money earned pays to keep a roof over our head, and to make nice things happen from time to time. I managed to find half an hour to go Christmas shopping for the most important member of the household yesterday lunchtime. She told me not to buy her anything this year, but that’s not really allowed, is it. Everybody has to have something to open. Most of today has been spent tidying up, washing up, and/or washing and ironing clothes ready to go away with work again. I’m hoping I will be back before Christmas Eve, but there is a chance I might only arrive home late on the evening of Christmas Evehaving missed putting the kids to bed, reading to them, or anything else worth doing I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t happen. I’m clinging to the rather miraculous achievement of having secured the time off between Christmas and New Year. Time to play with the kids and all the stuff we have got them (that they have absolutely no idea about). It crossed my mind while talking to colleagues a week or so agothat your entire mindset changes when you have children. You can and will do pretty much anything required for them, and to help themand you invariably do it in such a way that they never know you did. Explaining such actions to anybody who is still single, or without children is pretty pointless; I don’t think anybody gets it until they are in the middle of the mayhem that a family engenders. p.s. if we’re going to be seeing you over Christmas, don’t expect a card from uswe’re trying to abide by the rather sensible rule of only sending cards to people we will not see. If you’re not going to see us, and you haven’t had a card, it’s because we’re a bit rubbish at posting things