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| Christmas Fun. |
Last year I took off an extra week of work before christmas and it was glorious. This year I have 0.2 hours of annual leave left and I finish for Christmas on Friday. I know other people work to Christmas Eve, and don't always get 2 weeks off work, but I am really looking forward to not being in work for a bit.
At the same time, I am really not looking forward to the 16 days of feeding my family. Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner day after day... wiping down the tables and the floors... asking if we've had too much bread and cheese... ugh.
I am also tired of every kid thing that we eat and I'm tired of eating like a toddler. Last night we had potatoes and beans for dinner, on thursday we have spaghetti and meatballs... I don't like either of these things. I don't like any of our food but I just add a bunch of chili flakes and eat it because I also don't like cooking things the kids think are "disgusting" (like anything with flavour or texture)
Anyways, I digress.
I also feel I am living all the days every day. So while it is technically Tuesday right now, I'm also aware I am super behind on getting my gifts and cards to the USA. Last night we spent an hour organizing our Christmas grocery orders (both before and after Christmas). Today is swimming, Friday is a kid party, Saturday is tennis, yesterday was a dance recital, last week was school Nativity Play (there is no separation of church and state here y'all!)
In my understanding of time it feels that all of these things are happening at once. Obviously they aren't, but I just feel so "aware" of what there is to do.
One of the apparently insurmountable tasks on my plate is to mail cards and presents to the USA. We made calendars, which we printed for family. I have had to do a proper project plan for this as follows:
- Order Holiday Cards (done)
- Order Calendar (done)
- Order Gifts (done)
- Address US holiday cards (done)
- Buy Envelopes the right size for Calendar
- Buy/Find Envelopes the right size for small gifts
- Buy/Find box big enough for envelopes and gifts
- Figure out how to mail box to the USA.
I was so ahead of schedule on this project plan... until I wasn't. The dumb barrier is that I'm working forward in box size from the components, which also need boxes, to the big box, which needs to store it all, and the fact that I have to go to the store and buy packing materials, which is IMPOSSIBLE because it's Christmas and everyone is in the store buying packing materials.
Also, yesterday it rained all day and I didn't want to walk to the store in the pouring rain.
All of this is also because I am being a bit cheap and not sending things directly from the UK because they put the price of mailing a single card up to £3.10 which is $4. Shipping would be nearly $100 so I am hoping that by combining everything and having my helpful parent elves in the USA mail from the USA it will work out a bit cheaper.
On the other side of the spectrum, we ordered New Years cards (not Christmas) so I feel like it's too early to send those in the UK. But I'm fairly sure we will quickly go from "OMG it's too early" to "Oh how is it the 25th and we haven't' sent those cards??!" in about 5 minutes.
Oh, and we need to buy stamps. Why didn't I buy stamps literally any of the 100 times I had been to the post office not in the christmas rush? Also, I can order stamps online, but I have to pay £3 shipping. I'll see if I can magically get some stamps today while purchasing above mentioned envelopes and if not it's £3.
Speaking of delivery fees, last week I got ahead of the game and bought more school uniform AND some picture frames for some posters I would like on the wall and not just in a pile near my desk. I even paid the £4 shipping to avoid going to the store with my gaggle of children. Shipping was very quick, but the frames were clearly shattered and the box had the distinctive sound of broken glass when it arrived, battered and marked FRAGILE. I ended up taking 3 of the kids to ASDA on Sunday to return the box, and as they ran through the isles asking for presents I wanted to tell every parent here "I ORDERED ONLINE TO AVOID BEING HERE! I paid £4 to avoid being here!" but I couldn't, and I also couldn't get my £4 back. I got my £18 for the broken frames back... and the posters will stay on a pile for a while.
Anyways... here are some recent photos of things to end this whiny 6:15am post!
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| Lily at her Ballet recital (after 4 classes) |
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| Clara reading her age 1-2 photo album |
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| Aubrey putting baby Jesus to bed at play group |
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When Kyria sent us a postcard from Scotland, the first thing my frugal husband noticed was the cost of the stamp! Yikes!! I am glad it’s much cheaper to mail things here, even internationally. But our postal system is kind of not financially solvent so the costs will continue to go up.
ReplyDeleteI am kind of surprised that there isn’t more separation of church and state in Wales! I grew up in a state with no religious diversity so we sang Christmas Caroles in music class but there is no way my boys will at their elementary school. But we have a very diverse student population! I think of England as being kind of secular but I suppose it goes back to the importance of the Church of England. This is all fascinating to me!
16 days at home with kids. Ahhhh! I would be breathing into a paper bag. Just kidding… our kids have cafe for most of holiday break through the after care program and our youngest is spending the week after Christmas with my parents so we will get by pretty easily. I adore my children but long stretches with them out of school is not good for us!! Especially during this time of year when it’s so cold outside so hard to be out and about!!
Eep! It's a marathon AND a sprint.
ReplyDeleteI did my share of complaining about family dinners with teenagers, but you're right, the early years are much worse. I still don't want to see another chicken nugget for as long as I live.
Parenting is exhausting at the best of times and this time of year it feels like that kicks into hyperdrive. I remember losing 10 pounds one December. The kids were sick, John was away (IN JAPAN OF ALL PLACES), our house was crumbling around us and I could not eat. Not a diet plan I recommend, but seriously so freaking stressful.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping our years of always having someone sick over Christmas are behind us. It was something like a solid decade. Covid was the first healthy year we had, actually! And for 2-3 years, we were literally at the hospital on Christmas Eve. I'm exhausted just remembering those days!
Hang in there and I am so glad you have some time off to...maybe recuperate. Not really. There is no recuperation while parenting small children!
An interesting post, Rachel!! Definitely lots of things to do. I am in a similar boat. We stopped sending Christmas cards altogether. It's just too much and not very sustainable. So we throw a Christmas Eve pot-luck, come-as-you-are, open house "party" - for the neighbors and friends. Whoever comes, comes, people eat and be merry. Also, this year, we are CATERING it, so no cooking is necessary.
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