Plying bubba with snacks in the hope of achieving a later lunchtime pretty much failed. That or the Christmas dinner lovingly prepared by Granny wasn't as tempting as the satsuma that bubba was eyeing up over in the fruit bowl. Then, as many mummies am sure found over Christmas, nap time (only achieved here by feeding or walking with sling) put pay to pudding.
2. Drink. Again, the lack of. Gosh, remember when Christmas cracker jokes were funny? Or your dad did a little Christmas dance in the garden while you fell about laughing inside (perhaps that's just us for the last one?!). I'm pretty sure alcohol and the excessive consumption of has made for many a jolly Christmas.
I hadn't expected that I would be feeding bubba for a 2nd Christmas, so my one glass of something fizzy had to be dragged out til it was warm and a bit flat. Yum. But what with the mid-lunch walk and the chasing about after lunch there seemed little chance to have a drink. Whilst there was less giggling on the part of adults, this was happily made up for by bubbas excitement at his new finger puppet hungry caterpillar book.
I guess the lack of wine was probably for the best as I would've fallen asleep on the sofa. Though maybe this would've spared me mummy duties for a little while: Will remember this plan for next year. That or just fall asleep anyway.
3. Slobbing. I think I missed this more than drink or a change to our routine. I missed watching rubbish Christmas telly after lunch, with granny just 'resting her eyes'. I can't say I missed the Queen's speech but I did miss all manner of silly Christmas capers.
As all mummies and daddies will know its all hands on deck at Christmas, even if bubba is a little young to really get what's going on. However this did not stop up trying to lounge about - with continual 'its your turn' ... 'but I did the mid-lunch nap' ... 'yes but I did the post lunch nappy' trade off. Luckily the benefit of a family Christmas is usually someone will volunteer to take the baby to look at the door handle for the 15th time since lunch.
4. Presents. Somehow you don't really care that all you got was slippers. You want to swap what you have so the baby can have more. Maybe that's just me. This even applied to sale shopping, all I wanted to know was could I just about afford Frugi clothes for bubba if they were 50% off?
We (I) did try not to go overboard with presents, I don't want to encourage excess tat consumption so early on, especially given my track record of hoarding useless unnecessary items (according to Hubby at least). We were lucky to find a nice 2nd hand elephant rocker and smart trike on our local sale boards. The 35p bubbles in the stocking were the clear hit of the morning, also proving a great nappy change distraction technique. That and a glitter ball from his Aunty, which I think the adults enjoyed throwing around just as much as bubba.
5. Travel. Is not quite as bad as it seemed at 3am the night before we set off. Ditching the car due to bubbas hatred for it, we decided on adventure by train. Two two-hour train rides with a gap in the middle for a cross-London hop. We used several distraction techniques - mainly involving food. And discovered whilst bubba loves a good ball - the bumpy train does not make for easy ball-finding. Especially as bubbas latest game is 'drop it over the side and see what happens'.
Luckily the good folk on the train showed festive cheer, helping us collect errant toys, books etc. Assume they were as keen as we were to prevent any baby meltdowns or unnecessary whining.
Travelling light, with bubba in the sling, was a challenge but happily Granny had enjoyed baby clothes shopping and we were well-stocked when we arrived. Though without his lovely fluffy nappies all the trousers seemed rather large. It does mean we can't take our presents home - but it will be like Christmas all over again when Granny & Grandad come to visit in the New Year!
