Christmas and I. Our love hate relationship.

I LOVE Christmas. I love the spirit of it, the kids excitement and the village in which I live all beautifully twinkling with decorations. There are a thousand and one things I associate with Christmas and they make me warm and gooey inside but if I am being totally honest…. I mostly love the food. Moist turkey slithers with Lincolnshire sausages wrapped up in a crispy bacon blanket, the crisp on the outside soft on the inside roasties cooked in goose fat just how my gran used to make them (she’d be so proud as mum never managed to do anything but burn them!!) the thick, meaty gravy that drowns the whole plate and the sweet and sickly delights that come after the main feast itself. Oh yes. I LOVE Christmas. Until the day after Boxing Day when the family go home, the alcohol has dried up and the nibbles are stale.

The mess! There’s wrapping paper pieces that escaped the bin bag behind the sofa, under the tree, in the dogs beds and probably jamming up the hoover that i will still be finding come april, not to mention bits of the tree sticking in the carpets. Toys. Everywhere there are toys. The hallway, living room and kids bedrooms look like the aftermath of an explosion at ToysRUs. I’m not even kidding.

The turkey! Not only is it taking up a whole shelf in the fridge and i find my eyes rolling every time i open the fridge door at the thought of having to eat it. I cant fit in another turkey sandwich. I don’t want to look at another turkey sandwich ever again. (Until next year when i look forward to it the whole month of December – i buy a turkey big enough to feed 10 just to feed 5 so there are leftovers for sandwiches!!!!!)

The decs! Sick of looking at the Christmas tree and its annoying twinkling lights, I’m irritated by the neighbours bright, multi coloured multi setting lights flashing through my windows when I’m trying to watch TV or sleep at night and if I have to tell my 2 year old off once more for taking baubles off the tree and throwing them at his sister I’ll be asking Santa to come back and pick him up for a year of elf labour in the North Pole to teach him a lesson.

And breathe…..

So come the evening of the 27th I feel much better. Turkey is now a slow cooker job curry and no longer squatting in the fridge, the decorations are back in the loft, my Gtech fairy and her buddy Pledge have been out to visit and the house looks refreshingly tidy and clean again. The toys? Well I stuffed them in the toy cupboard for now. Out of sight out of mind. Shhhh.

Oh yes I love Christmas. But once its been and gone I love to get back to normality. Bah Humbug!!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and I wish you all the best for the coming New Year xx