It’s that time of year…tinsel and tassels, baubles and balls, angels and well… lots of flashing lights!  I’m a bit of a traditionalist (one of the rare occasions in my life) when it comes to the colours on the tree – green, red with a little splash or gold or silver here and there.  There are a few (ahem!) Santa’s in varying levels of rotundness placed strategically around my kitchen…and hall…and living room!  I do have one stipulation however, there can be no Snowmen (or women) with carrot noses within 100 yards of me or my home!  I mean it…I’m completely serious!  Snowmen (or women) should only have “…a big top hat and a button nose and two eyes made out of coal…” as the lovely tune Frosty the Snowman goes.  Carrot’s are not noses…and when they are used as noses, they just look evil!  Hey… we all have quirks – that’s one of mine!

Isn’t it interesting though, how this sparkly, shiny, gift wrapped ‘season of joy’ brings out different sides to people?  Some people LOVE it, embrace it and immerse themselves in everything Christmas once December arrives.  Others are indifferent to whether it’s on the way, whether it comes or goes.  Then there are people who appear to hate this positivity laden, family-soaked, food and booze engorged period like a visit to the Dentist for root canal!  We all have varied experiences of the holiday season and indeed some of us don’t celebrate at all – whether by choice or religious orientation for example.  I consider myself very lucky to have had a childhood with mainly positive Christmas memories.  There were 6 kids to keep happy and fed so that was no easy thing for my parents and it’s beyond me how they did it.  My Dad told me about one Christmas during a really difficult time in the building trade (He was a builder having followed his own father to England to work in his early teens).  The weather was really awful and he was putting a roof on a house.  He had to get the job done to get paid, £10 an hour which was a fraction of his worth but it was work and he needed to earn.  The roof was so slippy that his boots wouldn’t grip and he kept sliding down the tiles as he worked on them so he took off his shoes and socks and worked in his bare feet to get the job done.  That was a tough, lean Christmas as he remembers it.  We, as kids, never knew.  We never knew the stress, the pressure, the demands that it placed on Mam and Dad.  So in that sense, they did a fantastic job.  Mind you, we didn’t write lists or letters for Santa in our house.  It really was a big surprise when you arrived down to the sitting room on Christmas morning to find what was waiting for you.  And we were never disappointed.

This is a wonderful time of year in many ways… but it’s also a really hard time for so many people.  Now more than ever, there is so much pressure on us as – the adults (and no…unfortunately there are no adultier adults to deal with this shit), the parents – to produce the goods!  I have to remind myself, over and over again, that it’s also my job to manage the expectations too!!  At the moment, it’s a tough time in this household – I’m the sole earner as my husband has been off work due to serious back surgeries that haven’t been successful.  This has impacted our lives as a family in many ways and at this time of year, the financial effect is clearer than ever.  What I do, though, when I start to worry about not fulfilling my boys expectations is think back to my childhood.  I barely remember a few of the gifts I received but more so I remember the feelings.  Feelings of warmth, happiness, love, fun, laughter – that’s why I still go home to my parent’s every Christmas Day for Christmas dinner because as long as I have them – I want my parent’s to feel those feelings now.  #CircleofLife  Those are the memories that I am making sure my children have – nothing lasts as long or feels as good as being happy in yourself.  So my point is…try not to stress and focus on the people instead xxx

Okay, it was never part of my blog concept that I would be talking so much about family so coming up soon… feminism, patriarchy and dealing with over-intimate bosses/workmates!  #ThisismyWorkspaceThatisyourWorkspace

Chat soon 🙂