Listening to my children sing Jingle Bells over and over and over and over…

A SaltyBug touch at Christmas

I love planning my colour scheme, my menu and writing out my shopping list

Christmas Simplicity

I love to set a beautiful table and serve beautiful food, and the compliments that come with it…a happy family occasion

I also have a confession to make…While I love a gorgeous Christmas tree. I am so happy when I finally get to take ours down and put it away. It is just extra mess and clutter and I know I should not feel that way but I do. Should I apologise for it? Or am I just admitting what a lot of other people out there are feeling? The one moment I truly enjoy my tree is Christmas night, when the lights are twinkling and the presents are all set out underneath.

Gratitude Labels

Tree issues aside, I want our children to grow up loving Christmas. I desperately want to hide my own misgivings from them. For a while now, I have wanted to infuse something of my own into the Christmas tradition of our home, to bring me more connection to what this time of year represents. I finally figured out what we could do. I made little gratitude labels. I have been practicing gratitude for many years now. It helps me stay grounded, optimistic, and helps me focus on my goals. This Christmas we all got to write as many gratitude labels as we wanted to, then we hung them on the tree. BB was grateful for pasta – and you know, I wish I’d thought of that one too! FB was grateful for Peppa Pig. I was grateful for so much more – our health, our family, our gorgeous home and the opportunities we have access to. Our friends, family, chocolate, coffee and technology! The list goes on. SB was grateful for a lot of these things too, and TV.