Ooooh It's Santa

One of the many great things I am enjoying about having kids is revisiting my own childhood. Sweeties, dolls, teddies, noddy, tricycles, wellies, puddles, jaffa cakes, oh and Santa. I think I was more excited than either Phoebe, Scarlet or Dan yesterday when we went to visit the big man in his grotto. The girls were both pretty upset at the sight of an old bloke dressed up in red with a gruff voice and a bottle of whiskey by his side, but for me it was fab. Obviously, I wasnt gonna get up on his knee and get a prez like in the old days, but just sitting in his grotto alongside a load of kids who all believed he was the genuine article, brought back the magic of christmas in so many ways. I can distinctly remember as a child looking out a misty window into the night sky expecting to see santa - I really believed I was going to see him, sleigh and all. Obviously, thinking about it now, my timing was all wrong. I would have been gazing up at the night sky at approximately 7pm - I now know that there was no way I was gonna get a glimpse before at least midnight. What was I thinking? This year, Im not gonna start looking until at least 11pm - probably sometime after the second bottle of wine!

From a more grown up perspective, however, I'm also starting to realise that the 'magic' of christmas comes with a price tag. It cost me just over £20 for the girls and I to see santa. OMG the old bloke is probably off to the Maldives for his holiday next year :o)