muppinstuff

I guess I am a Christmas kind of person

Well, I've wrapped all the presents. The family presents are under the tree in a tottery pile and another pillowcase of gifts from the fat man is lurking in my wardrobe. Tomorrow night we're having Christmas eve drinks here. This was initially an idea of Gerard's after I said no to having Christmas lunch at our place (kitchen too small to eat and prepare food in plus only one day off work before Christmas day equals recipe for me being a stresshead) and then he abandoned it, thinking no one would be interested. But somehow we invited one set of neighbours and then another. So it's starting to look like a party after all. No cooking though, just nibbles and drinks. And crazy, excited children. 

Last weekend, I had a conversation with a friend about Christmas and they're not doing Christmas this year, not even in an alternative way.Although I can see her point of view and it's such a personal thing that I wouldn't even dream of trying to convince her to change her mind, I'm surprised at how confronting I found the whole idea of opting out of Christmas altogether. It's been running through my mind all week at work, superimposed with the photos here. (Christmas 1972, I would have been eight. We lived in Ringwood in a street that I'm not sure exists anymore. I love that photo of Betty and me under the tree in our new nighties. And how cool was my mum?).  Of course like many people, I skipped a couple of years as a young adult but now that I'm a parent, I find myself wanting to recreate the Christmases that I had as a child. Christmases that I loved and found terribly exciting and now I'm getting to relive that. We were very lucky to have parents that made Christmas fun without being too overwhelming and there was always a big (in my child's mind) pile of presents that we would rip into. Some were practical things like towels and nighties or new dresses made by my mum. I loved those new dresses and there are many photos of Christmases past where Betty and I are wearing our new dresses.  

Then there were the big Christmas lunches. With the sense of ritual and dare I say, obligation. Perhaps also a side serve of tension at times. Especially as we got older and definitely around the time my parents separated. There was one truly awful Christmas that year and I think I refused to see them together for a few years, but it's all good now. I loved those lunches as a child and I still do now. Especially towards the end when the presents have all been handed out and I relax into it all. And this year I've enjoyed the preparation more than I have for the last couple of years. I'm less tense, more settled into this house. And yeah, I'm starting to accept/understand my role in this family as far as Christmas goes. Sometimes I think we get too worried that we'll overdo it, but I think that hasn't happened so far. In fact I'm quite looking forward to being there when Grace opens her presents and having lunch at Mum's. Tomorrow I just have some food shopping and prep to do and then it's relaxo all the way. Yay.

So anyway, that's me for a couple of days. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all who read here! See you on the other side.

sometimes the only place to look is up

This is going to be quick as I have an appointment with a comfy chair, Keanu Reeves and River Phonenix. G's coming too and there's a possibility we'll get stuck into the port and cooking chocolate somewhere along the way.

Today has been unremarkable except that I have been to Norflands to score a booster seat and Dora the Explorer suitcase on wheels, because I promised she could have one for our fast approaching Queensland trip. We managed to get out of there without buying more than a couple of extra things, although for some reason I relented and let Grace select a Dora the Explorer handbag as well. We never watch Dora on TV but she loooves Dora the Explorer. Indeed apart from the odd viewing on youtube and the occasional video from the library, Graces's knowlege of all things Dora is from merchandising and the cultural soup kids swim in. As long as we don't have to read tedious Dora books too often (from the library - where she gets free reign), I'm kind of OK with it on a limited level. I guess. Maybe I'll regret it later. Eh, who knows?  

 
The ringing in my ears stopped the moment we left the shopping centre and I had a very brief Nana nap on our return.

Later I popped out with Grace to return a stroller and get some milk for the macaroni cauliflower cheese I was planning to make for dinner and somehow ended up taking four children down the shops to buy a treat. Of course, my child was the one that had the tantrum on the way home and I had to call G for back up.

Oh, and somehow I still managed to make cauliflower macaroni cheese for dinner and not burn the white sauce. It was pretty delicious and I had to stop G from eating the whole lot, because it's tomorrow's lunch as well. Sheesh. I'm going to take that as a compliment.