Presents from the heart

IN our house we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a fat man in a red suit.

I say we, well you know what I mean. La Gidg still firmly believes in the fella which is just as well as no one wants to be caught out as a liar do they?

And that is what we do as parents, we lie to our children about some benevolent guy who gives them presents if they have been good.  I´ve got to say if I take it apart too much I start to upset myself.  Life isn´t like that is it? It´s not always the good people that get rewarded.

I´ve been switching off the news a lot recently, I just can´t bear to watch what has happened in China and Connecticut, in Syria and Pakistan.  There are plenty of parents around the world who won´t be able to celebrate Christmas with their little ones, plenty who probably don´t want to even mention the word.

So, to shake off my doom and gloom and try to get into the swing of things I went to a clever website called: www.portablenorthpole.com where you can get a free and customised video for your child from Father Christmas.

You visit the site and type in a few details like your child´s name and their age, and if they have been naughty or nice, and a video is prepared for you which is a ´personal´ message from Santa where he talks directly to your little one.

It was a lovely surprise for her and it brought a tear to my eye to watch my daughter’s face as she watched Santa telling her that she had been good enough to make it onto the Nice List. (Although I already knew that).

There was a moment when I almost spilt the Father Christmas beans though, when La Gidg enquired as to what I may have got her for Christmas this year and then complained that ‘only’ Father Christmas had got her presents last year.

There followed a stony silence from me and a raised eyebrow whilst I tried desperately to think of a response.  “Well then where was MY present from you?”  Touché.

There has been some feverish and secretive colouring in going on so perhaps I will be presented with something come Christmas Day.  But truly Christmas gifts aren´t material things are they, they are precious things which we can only hold in our hearts.  That is what we have to try to remember as the world changes and turns in such violent and unexpected ways.

Count your blessings, pull your loved ones close to you, and tell them that you love them.  Merry Christmas from us, V, O and LG x  

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