countdown to christmas
It was last-minute, but J managed to get me a Coke-themed advent calendar so that I would have something to open along with everyone else. Inside it are mini cans of Coke (what else), magnets, cookie cutters, and other random bits. After dinner every night all of us open a new window in our calendars, the children eagerly swooping in to eat their chocolates. It's particularly useful for teaching Bao that it will be Christmas only when all the chocolates have been eaten.This is particularly important because we got our tree up today. Now that it's up and some gifts are underneath, I can tell that it's going to take a considerable amount of willpower (and distraction) to get Bao to wait nearly three more weeks before she can tear into her presents.
This year we decided to get a proper, real tree. The last live tree we had was years and years ago in Singapore, before the children were even considered, let alone conceived. I didn't like it back then because the tree shed like mad, had to be watered constantly, and didn't even look as lush as its plastic counterpart. We have a plastic tree here which we used last year, but this year J wanted a real one, so we've been looking around. There are loads of places selling trees, but Ikea sent a flyer a couple of weeks ago that advertised their trees for 25CHF, a steal, so yesterday we all trooped down to the store, only to find out that all the trees had been sold out! The kids were disappointed, of course. This morning we went to one of the garden centres in France, where they had plenty to choose from, and came home with a 6' Nordman fir, which apparently is the species to get if you're getting your tree early, like us.
It's pretty lush and fills up its space in our living room quite nicely, so I'm happy with it. I have a very poor sense of smell so the whole pine-scented living room thing is lost on me, but J claims that he can smell it. The kids had a great time decorating it. I'm not a fan of the way tinsel looks so we don't have any of that, but we do have lots and lots of balls, and added to it all are random Christmas craft ornaments from playgroup and school that look a bit ugly ragged but I don't have the heart to reject them, although I, er, may edit the collection over the new few years. Our so-called family tradition is that each of the kids get to pick a Christmas ornament from one of the Christmas markets every year. Last year The Bun chose an intricately-beaded ball and Bao picked a small stuffed angel. The tree ends up looking quite mixed-up but I rather like it that way.
In the afternoon we went to The Bun's school Christmas fair. This is a big event in the school year, and it is organised and run exclusively by the parents, which is a nice touch, I think, to let the teachers and staff have a break for once. Everyone dresses up in silly Christmas sweaters, and the children run around with their friends while the parents chat with each other. There's lots of food like hot dogs, cotton candy, baked goods, oysters, champagne and mulled wine, and many game stalls with simple challenges so that even the youngest kids (there are many younger siblings around Bao's age) can have a shot at winning something.
I had volunteered to help run a craft stand where kids made Christmas ornaments out of pipe-cleaners and buttons, and while I was busy with that J took the kids to the Secret Shop. This is a place where only kids can enter. There is apparently an assortment of small items that all cost 5CHF each, and a volunteer will help the younger children choose something, wrap it, and label it. It makes for a nice surprise for the parents on Christmas morning. The Bun bought J and I something each using his pocket money, but he's so excited to have us guess what it is that I have to tell him not to give us his (very obvious) clues! Last year I got L'Occitane hand cream and J got a torch (which, er, was what The Bun wanted for Christmas). Bao didn't really know what was going on so she didn't buy anything, she just kept running in and out of the shop making a nuisance of herself.
What got to Bao, really, was Santa. This year she's finally got the whole Santa=Christmas=presents idea, so when we went to visit him in his little tent upstairs in the school office, she was properly awed. The Bun's approach to Santa can be described as I'm-a-sceptic-but-I'll-go-along-with-it-for-now-just-in-case, whereas Bao is young enough to take it as the literal truth. That's what so magical about Christmas for little kids like her. Last year she had the right response to meeting a strange man in a red suit and a massive beard, which was to scream and run away; but this year she stood right in front of him and earnestly answered his questions about how old she was and whether she had been a good girl. Santa said that they would have to wait for Christmas Day to see their presents, but in the meantime they both got Cadbury gift packs which they were pretty pleased about.
The kids ended up eating much more sugar than they ordinarily would be allowed but I guess it's part of the whole Christmas indulgence thing. Now that the countdown's started, there's also The Bun's Christmas play coming up, Christmas meals to concoct, and travel plans to be made. It's going to be a busy month ahead.
This year we decided to get a proper, real tree. The last live tree we had was years and years ago in Singapore, before the children were even considered, let alone conceived. I didn't like it back then because the tree shed like mad, had to be watered constantly, and didn't even look as lush as its plastic counterpart. We have a plastic tree here which we used last year, but this year J wanted a real one, so we've been looking around. There are loads of places selling trees, but Ikea sent a flyer a couple of weeks ago that advertised their trees for 25CHF, a steal, so yesterday we all trooped down to the store, only to find out that all the trees had been sold out! The kids were disappointed, of course. This morning we went to one of the garden centres in France, where they had plenty to choose from, and came home with a 6' Nordman fir, which apparently is the species to get if you're getting your tree early, like us.
It's pretty lush and fills up its space in our living room quite nicely, so I'm happy with it. I have a very poor sense of smell so the whole pine-scented living room thing is lost on me, but J claims that he can smell it. The kids had a great time decorating it. I'm not a fan of the way tinsel looks so we don't have any of that, but we do have lots and lots of balls, and added to it all are random Christmas craft ornaments from playgroup and school that look a bit ugly ragged but I don't have the heart to reject them, although I, er, may edit the collection over the new few years. Our so-called family tradition is that each of the kids get to pick a Christmas ornament from one of the Christmas markets every year. Last year The Bun chose an intricately-beaded ball and Bao picked a small stuffed angel. The tree ends up looking quite mixed-up but I rather like it that way.
In the afternoon we went to The Bun's school Christmas fair. This is a big event in the school year, and it is organised and run exclusively by the parents, which is a nice touch, I think, to let the teachers and staff have a break for once. Everyone dresses up in silly Christmas sweaters, and the children run around with their friends while the parents chat with each other. There's lots of food like hot dogs, cotton candy, baked goods, oysters, champagne and mulled wine, and many game stalls with simple challenges so that even the youngest kids (there are many younger siblings around Bao's age) can have a shot at winning something.
I had volunteered to help run a craft stand where kids made Christmas ornaments out of pipe-cleaners and buttons, and while I was busy with that J took the kids to the Secret Shop. This is a place where only kids can enter. There is apparently an assortment of small items that all cost 5CHF each, and a volunteer will help the younger children choose something, wrap it, and label it. It makes for a nice surprise for the parents on Christmas morning. The Bun bought J and I something each using his pocket money, but he's so excited to have us guess what it is that I have to tell him not to give us his (very obvious) clues! Last year I got L'Occitane hand cream and J got a torch (which, er, was what The Bun wanted for Christmas). Bao didn't really know what was going on so she didn't buy anything, she just kept running in and out of the shop making a nuisance of herself.
What got to Bao, really, was Santa. This year she's finally got the whole Santa=Christmas=presents idea, so when we went to visit him in his little tent upstairs in the school office, she was properly awed. The Bun's approach to Santa can be described as I'm-a-sceptic-but-I'll-go-along-with-it-for-now-just-in-case, whereas Bao is young enough to take it as the literal truth. That's what so magical about Christmas for little kids like her. Last year she had the right response to meeting a strange man in a red suit and a massive beard, which was to scream and run away; but this year she stood right in front of him and earnestly answered his questions about how old she was and whether she had been a good girl. Santa said that they would have to wait for Christmas Day to see their presents, but in the meantime they both got Cadbury gift packs which they were pretty pleased about.
The kids ended up eating much more sugar than they ordinarily would be allowed but I guess it's part of the whole Christmas indulgence thing. Now that the countdown's started, there's also The Bun's Christmas play coming up, Christmas meals to concoct, and travel plans to be made. It's going to be a busy month ahead.