It seems to have crept up on me. It is almost here...Freya is very excited, the other children are pretty cool about it, Charlie has no idea, and I had my annual Christmas meltdown yesterday!
In my attempt to stay focused and organised, writing lists, checking them twice...I suddenly start to feel overwhelmed, become stressed and wish Christmas didn't exist. It's awful, because Christmas is all about joy, celebrating the birth of Christ, remember those we love, being thankful for all we have, and being generous. That's why I hate the way I get so stressed and become cranky and certainly not generous! Luckily for me I have Michael, who understands me so well, recognises what is going on and talks me down...Thank goodness for him!
So, now I have a renewed view of it all.I will not get stressed about cleaning the house. I will not get stressed about having lots of perfect food. I will not stress about each child having exactly the same amount and types of presents.
Instead, I will put my feet up when I start to feel stressed, take a breath, have a cup of tea, watch a movie, play with my naughty, beautiful,amazing toddler.
I will make simple,fresh food with love for the family and in-laws;
I will be thankful for all the excitement that surrounds Christmas, and ignore the hype (that's gonna be hard!);
I find it so hard to believe that 2009 and is almost gone. It has flown for me. When you have a baby, time seems to become more obvious - it drags when we are having a tough day, but it flies when you realise all the milestones he has reached. The difference in one year is unbelievable. My smiling,gurgling baby is now a walking,running,expressive,screaming,shouting, talking toddler. He has just started clearly saying"no","more","mum","don't".
"So this is Christmas and what have we done?"(Thankyou, John Lennon) Quite a lot actually, been very busy. Beans are 5 foot high, tomatoes colouring up (skinks stealing them again), zuchinni plants just coming up, lettuces beautiful and ready for Christmas lunch, crunchy carrots ready to eat, Michael's potatoes looking good, and strawberries colouring up, ready for the birds to steal.
On top of that, we managed to have a couple of lovely holidays - to Broome and Darwin, then to Rottnest in October.
I'm looking forward to the summer break at home, to enjoy our glorious beach and our wonderful family!
