Christmas Day

This was to be a magical Christmas because we were spending it together, just us, creating our own traditions and our own Christmas.

On Christmas Eve we went out for an early dinner then stopped off at some friends for a quick hello, present swapping and glass of vino. It was an hour well spent but we paid for it when we got home. My plan for opening one present - GAP pyjamas, orange for Theo, pink for Freyja - followed by mince pies and sherry for Santa went a little awry. Theo had this face on throughout:


It was very noisy.

The next morning, the first person to wake up was me, at 6.20am. After half an hour I heard Freyja stirring and then, heartmeltingly, 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' came floating from her room.

Once downstairs, she called me in to see that Santa had been. She finished off Rudolf's carrot (strange child), then she played with Theo's Duplo and he played with her paint set.

After that the day just unfolded slowly and at our own pace. No expectations, no one else to please. I like a good family Christmas as much as the next person, but every now and again, something a little less hectic doesn't go amiss,

We didn't make any new traditions, or create a fairy tale Christmas day. We just enjoyed being together, eating nice food (a duck for us and a little poussin for the kids!), drinking quite a lot and watching our children enjoying themselves.

The children got loads of presents, of course. We bought them a children's set of chairs and a table (which we actually only got today in an early morning dash to IKEA) and Father Christmas got the paint set for Freyja and the Duplo for Theo.

And me? Adrian and I got each other a new boiler for Christmas. We were delighted when that packed in last week...