And so this is Christmas...

When I opened yesterday’s gift of another beautiful day, I planned to do some Christmas shopping and some pottering around the house. I was delighted to find as the day progressed that my gift had a different plan for me. A day full of spontaneity and surprises shared with my beautiful children...

My teething monster Elliott woke at the usual hour of sparrows fart, only to be put back to bed at 7:30am because he was utterly exhausted (as was I!!) He took a three hour nap (longest nap ever...why wont he ever do that when I actually want him too?!?) during which time Sophie and I spent some quality time together. It is not often we get to play with the porcelain tea set or do a floor puzzle without a certain little someone running interference on it. We also found a letter in the letterbox from Santa! Sophie was absolutely thrilled and it has taken pride of place on the fridge.

Once Elliott woke, we headed to the shops for some Christmas shopping. I got all the way to Capalaba only to realise that I had left the nappy bag at home with my purse in it! So we turned around and headed home to collect it. Surprisingly, I was unperturbed by this and happily headed back to Capalaba for take 2 of our morning out. We shopped away but as the time went on, Sophie was getting over it. She was starting to be cheeky and ratty to the extent that not even the bribery of a doughnut at the end of the shop for good behaviour could snap her out of it. Then, in the toy aisle of Kmart, we bumped into one of her beloved Kindy teachers, Miss Bernie. Sophie and Miss Bernie embraced warmly and had a good chat and giggle. It was the “pick me up” Sophie needed because after that, she was a delight to shop with. Then, walking through the shopping centre, we came across Santa! Sophie was beside herself so we lined up to have a chat to him. Our turn arrived just as the anticipation was getting all too much for Sophie...she had told me about 28 times what she was going to talk to Santa about! She raced over to Santa, jumped on his lap and chatted away like old friends (side note – the Santa at Capalaba Park is wonderful. Fake beard but an absolute treasure talking to the children with genuine interest and enthusiasm). After Sophie’s turn we headed off to complete our shopping and she made sure every human we came across new she had seen Santa. Her description is priceless...

“I got to see Santa! Mrs Santa...Mum, what's that lady's name again..? Oh yeah, that's right...Mrs Claus put my painting on the fridge because I got a letter from Santa today. I was talking to Santa and I was just shivering I was so excited”. Cute!

To top off our Christmassy day...wait a minute, another side note – the word “Christmassy” did not come up as incorrectly spelt during spell check...what the?!?!?! Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, that’s right. To top off our Christmassy day, after dinner and bath time, I took the kids (and Toby the dog) for a walk to see the Christmas lights in our local area. It was just gorgeous as the kids pointed and giggled at the light displays and we spent some time together, just the 3 of us, with no chores to do, no routine to get through, no tasks to complete. It was time spent together enjoying the moment, enjoying every last drop of the gift of the day we’d be given. Just wonderful J