We Believe In Father Christmas!

December has arrived, and with it the flourishes of sparkle and glitter that I can't help gravitate toward. This year I felt like I needed to get the decorations up early. Leo is 6 and excited doesn't seem a strong enough word to describe how he feels about the festive season this year, and after a few weekend's full of Christmas fun I thought that there was no time like the present to get the tree out from it's long slumber.

Pickering's Gin Baubles are sitting pride of place at the top of our Christmas Tree this year! RRP £30.00

I can't help feeling that the magic Leo feels at Christmas is going to be snatched away in the next couple of years, and I know that is what ultimately lit the fire in my Christmas Spirit. I know it's cliche but seeing how excited Leo gets about the magic, about Father Christmas and about his scout Elf, I can't help wanting to bottle it up and keep it alive for as long as I possibly can. I am sure that I am not alone in reliving the childhood magic of Christmas through my child, and it is true when they say that Christmas is at it's most magical when you see it through the eyes of your child.

Home Bargains Christmas Range 2017

This week I faced my very first Father Christmas question that threatened his very existence. I was shocked as I hadn't expected it, and quite honestly it was not something that I thought would be questioned at the mere age of 6 years old. But there it was, the statement to end all statements. A child at school had told him that Father Christmas wasn't real and it was in fact the parent's who put the presents under the tree. Isn't it sad that at 6 years old there is a child in the same year as Leo that has had the magic snatched away from him for whatever reason? Not only that though, he was now systematically trying to steal the magic away for as many children in his class as he could.

I looked Leo in the eyes, I told him how sad it was that this little boy didn't believe in the magic and Santa Claus. I told him that maybe this particular child's parents had to buy his presents and put them under the tree Christmas morning, maybe this child was on Santa's naughty list, and of course Santa only comes to those who truly believe.

Maybe this was harsh, but I will not stand there and watch the magic drain out of my 6 year old's Christmas, no way no how. Thankfully we have Emmanuel our Scout Elf around to help with the magic of Christmas, and Leo's faith has not been rocked in the slightest.

If you have children who no longer believe in the man in Red, please explain to them that there are children who still do, and it is not fair to rob them of that. When the time comes that Leo knows the truth, then I will sit down with him and have a real heart to heart, I will remind him of all the magic and excitement he experienced when he did believe, and I will make sure that he knows, and I will make sure that he understands how important it is not to take those same experiences and memories away from any other child.

Leo said to me that night 'Mummy of course Santa is real, his elves make some very expensive presents and we couldn't afford all those!'. That made me beam inside, you see even though Leo believes in Father Christmas and his magical workshop, and he doesn't know that it is Mummy and Daddy spoiling him rotten, he has a beautiful appreciation for absolutely everything that he receives. People have said to me before that they wouldn't say that all of the toy haul comes from the North Pole, because they worry that they won't get the appreciation for the gifts. Personally for me, I would rather keep that magical fire stoked and watch as Leo's eyes widen and sparkle with each gift he unwraps. There is so much time ahead for Leo to know who is really behind the present giving, and for me it is enough recognition to see how happy he is on Christmas morning.

With Christmas Spirit on our side Leo and I popped the tree up and fluffed up it's snowy white  branches, up and up it went until finally it stood tall in all of it's splendor.

My little believer and I.

Home Bargains Christmas Range 2017

 I strung the lights and then Leo lovingly placed each bauble, before we finally completed our most colourful tree yet with a Christmas star right at the very top. Were all about colours, it's not about having the most perfect colour co-ordinated tree, it's about having fun and putting our own spin on it.

Leo has written his letter to the man in Red, and for the first time ever has wanted to write it and send it off to him. Together we sat down and I helped him get out what he wanted to say, and then he put it all down on paper himself. For anyone who has been following Leo's journey over the years, you will know just how far he has come, and I quite honestly could not be any prouder of him if I tried. He is quite simply coming along in leaps and bounds, and he deserves the most amazing Christmas. 

He hasn't really asked for a lot this year, he would be happy with a new game for his Switch collection, but I know that if he unwrapped a new 3DS XL on December 25th he would be absolutely over the moon. Being the thoughtful soul that he is, Leo even tried to downgrade the XL claim in preference of the smaller version because he didn't think he could ask for a new case too.

 If you have a look at the bottom of his list you will see that he has asked for 2 Amiibo's, Link and Princess Peach. The Princess Peach he has asked for, he doesn't want for himself, he want's her for me. My heart melted when he told me this, so I may have gone a little crazy with the Amiibo purchases...


We are really making the most of what this Christmas has to offer, with each year that passes we are teetering on the edge of a discovery that will take away so much sparkle of the festive season. I know it is not all about believing in Father Christmas, magic and gifts, but that combined with the magical ways we spend time together as a family, for instance our annual trip on the Santa Express each Christmas eve,  it will really impact the way we celebrate Christmas once the ugly truth comes out.

I for one am willing to protect the most innocent of white lies for as long as I physically can, and I am going to make the very most of the time we have left. So this year we have decorated to the nines, gone a little crazy with gifts (if you can't spoil them at Christmas, when can you eh?), and we are counting down the days until Christmas Eve.

Our mischievous little elf will be sticking around and causing trouble, and we will be making sure that this is the most magical Christmas to date!

Christmas 2014

As Christmas morning arrived Leo awoke. It was still early when I heard the plodding of his size 11 feet coming along the landing. He had awoken and made his way straight to my room, completely missing the stocking full of presents hung on the inside of his bedroom door. It didn't take Leo long to clamber into bed and ask for the Lego Movie to be popped on the television, but it was a nice quiet half hour as we all came around and woke up slowly. Eventually I fetched the stocking of gifts so that Leo could sit quietly in bed and open them, to my surprise it became apparent that he wasn’t in the mood for presents quite yet.

Once we had all managed to keep our eyes open we made our way downstairs, only to come face to face with an abundance of Christmas presents. Santa really had been in the night! The excitement bubbled in Leo and he raced towards the Christmas Tree to find a present to open, but as Daddy was not yet downstairs, Leo was informed he had to be patient and wait a little bit longer to open his gifts. Of course informing a 3 year old to ‘wait’ when it comes to opening presents went down like a lead balloon… And somewhere between then and Daddy making his arrival in the living room we had lost Leo to a rather bad mood. Even when instructed that he could now begin opening his gifts, Leo was not interested, he did not want to play ball. Leo strode over to the lounge door and said ‘I don’t like you! I slam the door!’ and proceeded to do just that, before having a cry on the stairs… It wasn’t exactly the morning of excitement I had in mind!

I happened to know of one special gift that Santa had brought for Leo, a gift that he had set up on the landing all ready for one very lucky little boy, and at this point it seemed like the only way to put a smile back on his face again. Taking him in my arms I carried Leo back up the stairs to where there was a rather big present, I began to help him remove the wrapping paper until we revealed Leo’s shiny new train table! Of course as soon as he saw the tracks lay in wait, he couldn’t un-wrap the rest quickly enough.

This was where Leo spent the first few hours of Christmas, and I suddenly remembered why we had wanted to wait until later to show him where Santa had left this present… Once Leo’s mood had made a complete U-turn and those dark grey clouds had cleared from over his head, we knew it was safe to head back downstairs and begin opening some more of Santa’s gifts.

The morning quickly dissolved into the afternoon and as usual Christmas was running on full speed ahead. Presents were slowly opened and then played with before moving on to anything else, which of course is why it took Leo a good few days to open all of his gifts, but it was so lovely to see him enjoying and appreciating each of his new possessions.

With such a busy morning behind us we were all really pleased to sit down for Christmas lunch, Roast Turkey and all the trimmings, Pigs in Blankets, Roast Potatoes and Stuffing. A feast fit for a king, Leo had been talking about Christmas Dinner for weeks on the run up to the big day, but I knew he was going to take one look at it and refuse to eat it… I was right. He did. So while the rest of the family tucked into a delicious lunch… Leo decided he would sit and eat Brioche before discovering a love for Cheese and biscuits and feasted away on many of those!

We pulled crackers…Leo almost went flying on more than one occasion, but he spent the entire time chuckling away. He even wore his cracker hat with the rest of us before quickly running away back to his train table at the end of the meal.

The evening was spent over at Leo’s Granddad’s partners house, where even more gifts were bestowed upon him, more food was consumed and Mummy may have had one or two glasses of bubbly! With the moon high in the sky and Christmas day coming to an end, we let some fireworks off into the night sky to see a final dazzle of glitter before Christmas was over.

Leo received some lovely gifts and I am still trying to sort through his toy boxes in order to make room. His favourite gifts by far were his Nintendo 2DS which is proving a luxury on car trips and meals out in order to keep him entertained, and of course the Train Table that is getting daily play action.

Another Christmas has shone like a shooting star and twinkled away for another year, but seeing Leo enjoy the magic and listen out for Santa Clause was such a beautiful experience, and this is just the very tip of the magic to come.

The Polar Express 2014

Each year we take a trip on the Polar Express, each year since Leo was a baby in arms. It has become an annual family tradition that we look forward to, and in turn it is now an occasion that Leo himself looks forward to and enjoys with us.

On Christmas Eve we arrived at the train station and found ourselves greeted by the rolling steam as the steam train got ready to depart the station for the North Pole. Leo gallivanted down to the platform, skipping with excitement as he went. He had been talking about the Polar Express for weeks, and watching it on DVD equally as much… In fact he had been watching it since last Christmas!

The Polar Express looked incredibly Christmassy decked out in tinsel and if you didn’t know you were heading to the North Pole before embarking, you would soon find out due to the festive cheer and decorations on board.  We took our seats and Leo chatted excitedly about the train and the impending journey, he talked about Santa Clause and maybe getting a present from the man in red himself. The Polar Express began to move forward slowly and more steam began to rumble alongside us, we began to pick up speed and before long we had left the station completely behind as we ploughed across open country and on to the North Pole.

Surprisingly the journey to the North Pole doesn’t take as long as you perhaps might expect, and very soon we were chugging through the magic tunnel that acts as the short cut between Worcestershire and the North Pole! Once out the other side we could see that the night was drawing in and the sun was beginning to set, fairy lights were beginning to glow and in the distance we could just make out the ‘North Pole’ Sign.

We had arrived.

Lead by one exciting 3 year old we made our way to meet Santa himself, manoeuvring around the crowds of the North Pole and meeting many a Elf along the way. Santa soon called for Leo to come in and say hello, and this year unlike previous years, Leo couldn’t wait to run on over and give him a hug, given half the chance I am sure he would have hopped on his lap for a cuddle. They had a lovely chat about what Leo would like for Christmas and Santa gave Leo instructions on how to tidy all of his belongings away in order for Santa to be able to make his delivery without falling over!

I could see from my perch by the door just how special this entire experience was for Leo, chatting away with Santa as if they were the best of friends, Leo’s eyes twinkling the entire time, and then Santa bestowed Leo with a gift and told him that he would be popping by later on Christmas Eve with the rest of his presents for being so well behaved.

We indulged with a hot drink and a mince pie each before making our way back on board the Polar Express, night time had truly arrived by now and the magic of the night was more alive than ever. The train steamed back to Cheltenham where we made our way home, ready for a night of Christmas TV and a takeaway feast.

Next year without a shadow of a doubt, we will be back on board the Polar Express with Leo, we are not about to start missing it now!