I've been reflecting on just how much we managed to pack in to the two and a bit weeks the kids have just had off school. Christmas is one of my favourite times of year, and I love all the traditions that we have with the kids. The fun started long before the school holidays of course, with the annual kerfuffle that ensues when putting up the tree. We have a large number of eclectic baubles, and it makes me happy every year to see them all again when we open the Christmas boxes. There are a couple that date from when I was a child, including this rather wonky, very much homemade, felt star that my late mum made when I was a baby.
December also saw the reappearance of our Advent Calendar chest, which is still a huge hit in our house, with the children trying to persuade me for weeks in advance to tell them what was going to be in the drawers. I didn't give in though, as of course the surprise is part of the excitement. For the last 2 years all the kids have had Lego advent calendars, but this time the 6yo and 9yo had very definitely moved on from Lego and so I spent a long time trying to find an alternative that I could get them which would easily split into 24 separate packages. I eventually came up trumps with a Shopkins Happy Places set for the 9yo, and a Sylvanian Families set for the 6yo. I wanted to get something different for the 11yo too, but stay with the Lego theme, and ideally spend less money. So, as inspired by this blog from Savor the Days, I bought him a Lego set that I could break apart and put into 24 groups of bricks.
Having assembled all the right things, my partner and I spent a happy hour or so on 30th November splitting the various sets out into 24 equal piles and then wrapping the 72 individual presents. For each child we kept the instructions/leaflets aside, and told them they could have them when they worked out what the set was that they had been given. This was most difficult for the 11yo, as of course he then couldn't start building the exact set without his instructions. He was allowed one guess a day, and finally worked out which set he had received on 12th December.
So, on to the holiday itself, which started in style with a trip to the Tower of London to go ice-skating. I honestly don't think I have ever ice-skated with such a beautiful backdrop before, and the weather was perfect. This was the first time the 11yo had skated without a polar bear or penguin to support him, and he did really well. The 9yo and 6yo also skated better this time than ever before - so in 2019 I'm hoping to find an ice rink near us that we can go to before the Christmas ones start again in November.
Above all this holiday was about travel and family. This year we were due to be on our own for Christmas day, with the kids all being at their other mums' houses on the day itself. As they were all up North, and with trains being patchy at best over Christmas, we opted to stay in Manchester for a couple of days, so that we could drive various children to various places and not have to come all the way back to Kent in between. We had a lovely time, including going to the cinema and eating out. And then we picked the kids up on Boxing Day and took them home ready to have their second Christmas at our house. All of this driving felt more fun because my partner had bought me a somewhat tongue-in-cheek early Christmas present and dressed the car up as Rudolph. Let me tell you, we got many a funny look while we were driving along, but it did make the car very easy to spot in busy car parks!
After the kids' second Christmas we then all got into the car again and travelled up to Norfolk to stay with my brother, in preparation for the largest gathering of our extended family for years, in honour of my Dad's 70th birthday party. Beforehand I had the happy task of collating old photos, one of which was sent by my stepmother, and showed all of us cousins at a family Christmas in Spain in 1993. As the 70th birthday party was exactly 25 years later, to the day, we decided to recreate the photo. I think you'll agree that the years have been kind to us all:
My father has two siblings, who each have 2 children, and between the cousins we have 10 children - including partners as well this made for a gathering of 26 people for dinner and for coffee at my brother's house the next day. The children range in age from 6 to 14, and to my delight they all got on well together, playing board games, making youtube memes, doing colouring, dashing about my brother's house playing hide and seek and 'cops and robbers' and (for those with phones already) exchanging phone numbers. A great time was had by all, and we have vowed not to leave it so long before we all get together again.
We stayed on with my brother for a while after the party, which allowed plenty of time for more fun and games. My father taught both the 9yo and the 6yo to play Whist, and we also played a number of board games with all the kids, including Catan* and Cranium Junior.* And then, when the kids had gone to bed one night, the adults all played Scrabble,* which is one of my favourite games of all time.
The Christmas things have now all been packed away, the kids went back to school and home education today, and I am back to work tomorrow, with just the memories of another rather lovely school holiday to look back on.
Lovely memories xx
Posted by: lynn | 08/01/2019 at 08:43 AM