What the holidays are really like with kids

Our 12 days of parenting these is what has changed in the holidays now that we are all parents. The question should probably be, what hasn’t, but then that’d be about a 50 word post, wouldn’t it?

Christmas Tree via Shutterstock

Everything changes when you become a parent for the first time, but holidays, like Christmas, Easter, half-term, anytime, take on a whole new meaning. Before you look at what I think to check out the other ideas in the 12 Days of Parenting blog hop from Suburban Mum and The Madhouse of Cats and Babies.

In the early days of my KiddyCharts blog, I wrote about how birthdays changed as a mum, well holidays are really no different you know, now that there are kids around to make things just that little bit more complicated….
Presents

1. Your presents are an after thought, and all you really want is time to be you, and the ability to drink coffee and go to the loo in peace
2. Your partner’s presents are almost an afterthought, but then you remember, and end up dashing to the shops on Christmas Eve and panic buying a load of crap
3. Sockings are something that you wear once a year, on date night, no chance of you getting another one this lifetime
4. Hiding presents from the kids is a military operation, and planning needs to start sometime in June
5. You mean to start shopping before December, and what actually happens is that you spend ages looking on Pinterest for amazing presents, and never actually buy anything….

Cooking

1. Champagne becomes even more important
2. Disguising sprouts becomes equally important
3. You read lots and lots of stuff on the internet about cooking the perfect turkey, then, if you are lucky, you invite someone around that you hope is going to make it for you, and then annoying they don’t, so you have to cook for 6 while entertaining a toddler and trying to stop them from putting sprouts in their ears
4. You hate Martha Stewart, and before you had kids, you didn’t even know who the hell she actually was
5. If anything goes wrong with the cooking on Christmas day, or any other important holiday occasion, you blame the kids for helping, even if they didn’t *cough*

Going Out

1. You don’t
2. What’s the name of your partner again?

Santa

1. You hate lying to your kids about the fast that Santa exists, but you do it anyway, or side step the issue brilliant for as long as you possibly can
2. Your lies get more and more elaborate, particularly when they notice that Santa uses the same wrapping paper as you, and sends his presents in boxes marked by Amazon, and everything he makes has “Made in China” written on it. Is the elf workshop in China?
3. Santa stops drinking Sherry and starts drinking beer or wine
4. You give up pretending Santa is real, and tell them the truth, and they carry on the pretence for you because you loved it when they believed in Santa, and now you are sad they don’t. Talk about role reversal….the big fellow really does exist, doesn’t he?

Clothes

1. You must buy a Christmas jumper, and have to wear it on Christmas day
2. Your entire family must have one, even the pets are not spared from looking silly
3. Everything else has to be covered in glitter, including the house; if there is part of your house with no glitter on it, it won’t last long

Decorations

1. See point three above, everything will be covered in glitter
2. Everything will also be covered in lights, including the outside of your house
3. Your tree will be covered in home-made decorations, and if you forget to put one of them up, or manage to loose one, there will be tears. First yours, and then your child’s when they realise that the angel that they made in preschool is no longer on the tree and mummy must have thrown it away…

Drinking

1. Are you sure we have enough wine?
2. No. Better get some more, right?

Cake

1. Are you sure we have enough cake?
2. 2. No. Better get some more of that too.

I could go on, but just thinking about it all means I have to go out for more wine and cake, see you all later….

Christmas tree via Shutterstock

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What has changed for you in the holidays since becoming a parent? Do let us all know….

Helen

Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!

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