I love this time of year.   My 3 munckins love this time of year.   Number 2 on the list of ‘Eternally Repeated Questions’, coming right behind ‘are we nearly there yet?’, ‘when can we put up the Christmas tree’, finally receives a positive answer, and that question goes bed for another year (well, 10 months perhaps!).  Everyone happy.

Excitement consumes the kids and they charge about the house, ignoring the true art of, and precision required to decorate the house for Christmas.  [looonnnngggg sigh].

Boxes of decorations were wrestled out from behind the Hallow’een decorations which were not-so-carefully thrown in the storage cupboard amongst DH’s golf clubs, and suitcases from last year’s summer holidays.  Amidst a stream of repetitive instructions from me ‘not to touch this, not to touch that, that is ceramic, that might break’, the kids ripped open the boxes and unwrapped all the decorations, decided which were theirs, and which weren’t, and busily went about decorating my tree, ahem the family tree.

Over the past few years a family Christmas tradition has emerged.  The kids get to have their own Christmas tree in their room (minus the fairy lights!).  They choose the decorations and decorate it the way they wish!  Awwwww…isn’t that nice?  Well, Mummy came up with that suggestion in the hope that they would leave the decorating of her, ahem,  family tree, to me……

Seriously, the first year DS1 and DD took on the role of assistant decorators, I noticed there was no logic to the placement of the decorations or colour co-ordination!!!!!! (all that time painting and colouring at nursery and still no clue?????).  BUT worst of all is the concentration of the ‘bobbles’ as the kids call them, and the tinsel (something which would never make Mummy’s Christmas tree cut!), around the midriff of the tree, and perhaps a little higher – picture them on their ‘tippee toes’ and reaching for the stars to hang ‘bobbles’ on them!  The only thing is that when this tradition was born,  DS1 and DD shared a room, and DS2 was not old enough to understand/care/decorate, and I only had 2 designer disasters to deal with.

But now, they each have a room…….and I only have 3 trees!

My lovely DS1 and DD decided to move in together for the Christmas season so they would both enjoy the 9 foot tree in what used to be DS1’s room.  Yay…finally….an entente cordiale about something.  As for DS2, he has his 1 foot high baby tree…..laden down with 3 foot of tinsel……it doesn’t take much to make a 5 year old happy!

So, as the kids made their Christmas nests, I busied myself with removing their decorations from my tree, and replacing them quickly as I possibly could with my  decorations.

Proud (and sweating a little!),  I stood back to admire my tree.  ‘Not bad’ I thought.  The Christmas spirit is awakening.

‘Mummy, when are you going to put on the fairy lights?’ asked a puzzled DD from her vantage point of the sofa behind me.

I took a closer look at the tree.  Every branch of the tree was home to a hanging decoration.  How could I have forgotten to put on the fairy lights before I put on the gazillion Christmas decorations?  Rookie/schoolbooy error.  Filled with dread at the thought of removing each and every one to make way for sparkly, fairy lights, I stood silently, contemplating my next move.

Shhhhh, am still thinking……