Christmas is here…

posted by saltybug.com 30/12/2014 0 comments

What I love about Christmas….

The feeling I get when I go shopping and am immersed in the electric atmosphere. There is an excited anticipation. People are happy, even though they are stressed and busy

I love buying and giving gifts to people. LOVE IT….

I LOVE spoiling my children with awesome toys that I get to play with too!!

Christmas carols – I adore Christmas music – the old, the new – all of it

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 love the calm and peaceful feeling that is Christmas eve, Christmas night and Boxing Day

I love the clean out I have each year, taking our old toys (which are still in excellent working order), and giving them to shelters, foster care and other places where people less fortunate than us can benefit

It is great to remind myself of the things that make me smile and feel good at Christmas

because I am not one of those people who are all jolly, happy and excited at this time of year. I need to work on it.

Everyone has their own story about family, the relationships, the highs, lows and in-between times. I choose not to dwell on the past, rather focus on the here and now. Having said that there is a melancholy that comes over me at this time of year and I try really hard to shake it but it is a battle I am still fighting.

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.

So, what is my message here?

Embrace the kindness that this time of year spirits

I understand the sadness that some people feel; however use your energy in a productive way

Focus on what you have around you now. Then dream of the future you want to live, the new year brings the opportunity to start working towards that future.

Find time to nurture your spirit, be kind to yourself, forgive yourself – you are enough (a message to all mummies out there…)