An Unexpected Day Off
Our eldest daughter went nuclear again this morning (on top of being sick)the end result of which was me calling in to work, and staying home for the day with her. I picked the short straw because it would have caused more havoc for my other half to be off work than me. I'm not going to go into the reasons why Miss 14 is off school, because that's her story to tell one day (I'm going to try and get her started with a blog, because I think it will do her good).
So. I'm off work. I'm not sure if everybody is the same, but I tend to wish I had free time, and then when I have it, fill it with something or other that I hadn't planned on. Today was Christmas decorations.
As soon as the other children had gone to school, and my other half to work, I started tidying and cleaning the housemoving from room to room putting things away, clearing up, sweeping floors, washing work-tops, and generally trying to get to a fairly good place before pinning lights, tinsel, and whatever-else up.
This year we had held out until 2 weeks before Christmas before getting any decorations out of the loft. We tend to rail against those that put them up weeks in advance, because it kind of makes Christmas less special if it goes on for weeks on end. At the moment the lounge is festooned with the boxes of bits and pieces we have amassed over the years, and there is talk about going shopping to get even more. I think, given how busy we have all been recently, we might go a bit mad this year with the house, and try to spend some quality time at home together, rather than run here, there, and everywhere to please everybody else. That being said, we will of course visit both of our parents during our time off, but other than that we're keeping the calendar wide open.
I put Miss 14 in charge of building the artificial Christmas tree. It's the one I bought when I had my own place, the year before I met W. We have had “real” trees for the last several years, but I don't think it really makes much difference to the childrenonce they have heaped fifty thousand baubles on it, you won't be able to see it anyway. I expect tonight the rest of the house will be hit with the Christmas wand, and decorated in the way only the children know how. We deliberately let them do it, and try not to “fix” things if we can help it. Yes, it looks a bit mad at times, but it means they feel like they're involved.
While unpacking various things from the boxes this morning I found the fairies the girls made when they were in the infants at schoolmade from paper plates, glitter, and glue. They will no doubt be treasured for years to come.
I can't help wondering if this will be the last year when our children still believe. Miss 10 is on the fence this year, but Miss 9 still believes completely and utterly. She believes so strongly you almost begin to believe yourselfeven though you're involved in making the magic happen. Seeing your children stop believing feels like the end of their childhood in many waysor at least the beginning of the end, and that feels tremendously sad.