Well it has been a hectic 2 weeks leading up to Christmas but it was worth it for the kids and I am glad it’s over. Christmas is a big deal in our family, especially with 7 grandchildren and of course I am the one who gets to put on Christmas every year, yayyyy NOT. As I get older I find I am getting less bothered but I push myself to give the family a nice Christmas. Old Grinchma (me) came to visit but I had to kick her butt to the curb so I could keep going lol!
Lets talk about the expense for just 2 seconds…..I get that this is the biggest time of the year to make the most money but holy shit does EVERYTHING have to be so damn expensive! A lot of people have had their worst year ever this year and simply cannot afford to pay the prices we see at Christmas. Food is ridiculous in this country, bloody expensive, fruit is expensive just because it’s ‘Christmas fruit’, $20 a kilo for cherries this year and my hubby loves cherries so we bought a small handful, stone fruit was way too expensive so I didn’t even bother with it, I mean this is just awful for people who don’t have spare money to spend. Kids presents, harsh, not a lot under $20 these days, electronics are huge, I mean you can’t even buy a box of lego under $20 without really shopping around and chasing specials.
Our eldest daughter who absolutely loves Christmas woke up to a sick child, head in bucket with a high temp. Devastated she had to stay home with her hubby and other kids, so she didn’t infect the oldies that were here and our youngest daughter who has an auto immune disease and can’t afford to get sick. They did get to visit later in the afternoon once everyone had gone home so that was good.
So the lessons taken from this year…
*start shopping early in the year – even though I started around August it still probably wasn’t enough time to snag good specials etc.
*Buy food where you can and freeze it before the inflated prices go on, for eg your meats can be bought and frozen, frozen fruit, sponges for trifles etc can all be frozen.
*don’t buy bit expensive toys for younger kids they don’t understand value and just want heaps of crap to unwrap.
*keep some money aside for boxing day sales to start on next years presents.
The biggest lesson I learned this year is don’t begrudge Christmas, don’t grump around the house because you have so much work to do and you are tired and sore, where possible give your family a beautiful day, it’s just one day, and if you are lucky enough to have a family that wants to be around you be blessed not stressed. I am always stressed and tired and pissed off because I feel like I get shafted with all the work and expense, but really its about the kids and family and its a lesson well learned this year.
So, Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you had a wonderful day or having a wonderful day wherever you are in the world, and don’t forget it’s just one day.
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