On The Second Day of Christmas

We ended up starting our 2nd of December crafts on the night of the 1st of December.

Small was really struggling – he is a bit poorly and was tired but couldn’t sleep, so he got very upset – and he needed the distraction, so out came the paper chain kit. We had some upsetting conversations about being unhappy and wanting to be ‘normal’. It’s very hard to hear your six year old say that he feels sad all the time, but I tried to empathise and validate his feelings whilst reminding him that his dad and I love him unconditionally.

This year he has the coordination and fine motor control to form the chains himself and he took great delight in hanging them on the tree. He calmed down a lot and fell asleep next to me.

After  a little sleep overnight I broke out the coloured paper and double sided tape and we made more decorations. I saw something similar on Pinterest but I didn’t follow any instructions, just cut strips of paper into different lengths and stuck them together.

What Christmas decorations do you like to make with your children?

Christmas Traditions

One of the things I always wanted to do when I had children was start our own Christmas traditions and last year I began this by sewing 25 little numbered stockings out of felt. I hung them on ribbon and each night I snuck downstairs and put something into the next day’s stocking. Sometimes it was a craft kit to make Christmas decorations, sometimes a recipe, sometimes a clue to an outing and sometimes just a packet of sweets.

This year I am doing the same thing, although I have cut out the sweets and found more activities to fill the gaps because last year Small preferred the craft kits and cues for activities to the sweets anyway.

I have a rough list of what will fill the advent stockings this year including a Santa train ride, lots of crafts, baking, and a special trip to London with Small’s Granny. A few things, like the Santa train and the London trip, do cost money but mostly it is inexpensive because I buy craft supplies etc anyway. All I’ve done is to go with a Christmas theme when looking for things that Small might enjoy.

Tonight we brought in our Christmas tree while Small slept, got the decorations ready, and put one decoration and a note in the first advent stocking. I’m really looking forward to seeing his delight tomorrow!