A Quick Reminder
With a sense of deja vu I feel the need to post a quick reminder to all the non house parents out there (and to reassure everyone like me it's ok, everything will be ok) that, all though you may be lucky enough to have time off work, you are now entering someone else's office. I know, I know, I've posted about this before, but a summer break is a lot different than Christmas.
A quick calculation tells this stay at home parent that his world is about to turned upside down in 2 sleeps. Now for you mathematicians out there, you're right, that still several sleeps short of Christmas day, but for you stay at homers who feel my pain (stock up with Baileys, NOW!) it's about to be holiday time. You know it's coming, you think you've planned everything, all eventualities should be dealt with and yet.......
Christmas is a different holiday to all the others and not just for the obvious reasons. Yes there's the stress of money, yes there's the stress of the "right" gifts, yes there's the stress of the day itself (wake up time, breakfast, Christmas dinner, TV, how much Prosecco is too much) it can be a very stressful day. But unlike other stressful occasions in your life this one can be filled with outrageous amounts of joy and happiness (see, no such thing as too much Prosecco). From ridiculous cracker jokes to Granddads using their expertise putting together whatever wonderful "needs building before you can use it" gift Santa left for the kids to watching Grandmothers trying not to break wind in front of anyone, Christmas can be an endless stream of Youtube clips in the making. But I ask you, dear reader, to spare a thought for the stay at home parent.
For 50 weeks of the year we look after you, and by you I mean everything. We do it because it's our job, we do it because we love you, we do it because we love our children and when we get thanked it means, well, everything. At Easter we get thanked for the impromptu egg hunt we created and the bonnets we helped make. During the summer we get thanked for all the driving and day trips and ice cream. During half term breaks we're appreciated for the amount of money we're responsible for saving and stopping the kids from killing each other. And then there is Christmas.
We know Christmas is a team effort, in fact we are very thankful that it is. Without the wonderful wife Christmas at the Castle just wouldn't be (thinking of a word, oh yeah) wonderful. I still say if ever I were on death row, and if you read the previous post that's a real possibility, my final meal of choice would be the wonderful wife's Christmas dinner, 'tis just perfection on a plate. Without the help of little Elves and their wrapping skills I just wouldn't get it done on time. Without the Grandparents and their festive spirit the day would be a little bit flat. But, and you knew there'd be a but, we feel a little under appreciated at Christmas. The help everyone provides takes away from the fact that we the house parent are still doing our daily job and them some.
So please spare an extra thought this Christmas for the person whose office you've just invaded. We don't ask for a lot in return, just a thank you, an extra hug and maybe a top up on that glass of Presecco. Merry Christmas to you all.
A quick calculation tells this stay at home parent that his world is about to turned upside down in 2 sleeps. Now for you mathematicians out there, you're right, that still several sleeps short of Christmas day, but for you stay at homers who feel my pain (stock up with Baileys, NOW!) it's about to be holiday time. You know it's coming, you think you've planned everything, all eventualities should be dealt with and yet.......
Christmas is a different holiday to all the others and not just for the obvious reasons. Yes there's the stress of money, yes there's the stress of the "right" gifts, yes there's the stress of the day itself (wake up time, breakfast, Christmas dinner, TV, how much Prosecco is too much) it can be a very stressful day. But unlike other stressful occasions in your life this one can be filled with outrageous amounts of joy and happiness (see, no such thing as too much Prosecco). From ridiculous cracker jokes to Granddads using their expertise putting together whatever wonderful "needs building before you can use it" gift Santa left for the kids to watching Grandmothers trying not to break wind in front of anyone, Christmas can be an endless stream of Youtube clips in the making. But I ask you, dear reader, to spare a thought for the stay at home parent.
For 50 weeks of the year we look after you, and by you I mean everything. We do it because it's our job, we do it because we love you, we do it because we love our children and when we get thanked it means, well, everything. At Easter we get thanked for the impromptu egg hunt we created and the bonnets we helped make. During the summer we get thanked for all the driving and day trips and ice cream. During half term breaks we're appreciated for the amount of money we're responsible for saving and stopping the kids from killing each other. And then there is Christmas.
We know Christmas is a team effort, in fact we are very thankful that it is. Without the wonderful wife Christmas at the Castle just wouldn't be (thinking of a word, oh yeah) wonderful. I still say if ever I were on death row, and if you read the previous post that's a real possibility, my final meal of choice would be the wonderful wife's Christmas dinner, 'tis just perfection on a plate. Without the help of little Elves and their wrapping skills I just wouldn't get it done on time. Without the Grandparents and their festive spirit the day would be a little bit flat. But, and you knew there'd be a but, we feel a little under appreciated at Christmas. The help everyone provides takes away from the fact that we the house parent are still doing our daily job and them some.
So please spare an extra thought this Christmas for the person whose office you've just invaded. We don't ask for a lot in return, just a thank you, an extra hug and maybe a top up on that glass of Presecco. Merry Christmas to you all.
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