Christmas is always going to be a hectic time. With three children, two of school age, this time of year throws up a whole host of extra things to add to the diary and desperately try to remember. The school run in the cold and rain is not fun. Add in a million and one things you need to remember before you leave the house and it is a nightmare.
I absolutely love Christmas and this time of year (you may have noticed from my blog and social media posts over the past few weeks) but I don’t love feeling like I am chasing my tail and forever trying to remember what’s next. I swear each year, the school adds on extra ‘important dates for the diary’ in December and it all gets on top of me a little.
To give you an idea of what I am up against, so far this month we have had a Christmas carol concert for each child, a special Christmas meal, two non-uniform days (one a Christmas jumper day) and a Christmas disco. Plus next week they have their Christmas parties where they get to dress up and need to take in extra snacks and then there’s the presents for the teachers and cards for their class (which is a feat in itself since GDPR kicked in and now the teacher can’t even give parents a list of first names to work from).
On top of all of this they are still getting two lots of homework, plus reading and project work. I can’t be the only parent left feeling more than a little frazzled by the time they finally break up (not until Friday, 4 days before Christmas in case you were wondering).
I understand I am fortunate to be in the position I am in, being able to work from home and able to attend all these extra events. I remember from when I was working full time how much harder it was, and that was when only one child was at school!
Having recently rewatched Bad Moms Christmas and still feeling bitter about the Christmas Carol concert I attended last week where the school hadn’t prepared for the amount of people that turned up meaning lots of us parents were stood outside unable to even catch a glimpse of our children singing their hearts out in the church, I have decided to give myself a break next year.
It just isn’t worth making yourself ill over and I would rather be able to enjoy spending time with the children once they are home with me than feeling like I have burnt myself out from trying to fit in all those key events in the lead-up.