Why I'm tearing up the rule book this Christmas and focussing on the word FUN

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To me, Christmas is all about family. It shouldn't be about the food, the alcohol or gifts (well maybe a little) and it's so easy to get sucked into some kind of Christmas vortex where before you know it you've spent £400 on an M&S food order and can't get moved in your conservatory thanks to all of the cardboard boxes (thanks Amazon Prime). Our terraced house is too small to host the big family Christmas I've always dreamed of so last year I booked a house through Sykes cottages for us to host a big Christmas get together in 2017. The house I picked is just a 30 minute drive up the road from us so close enough for visitors yet far enough away for us to feel like we're away whilst providing us with all of the space we need to entertain. Our Christmas house features it's own hot tub, a wood burning stove, plenty of car parking, a huge living area with four sofas and an extra long dining table plus lots of bedrooms for those guests who wish to sleep over. Perfect for a big family get together!

The way things have turned out though, it's actually going to be just Steve, myself and the kids celebrating together this year and for the first time in my life we won't be seeing any other family on Christmas day. It will feel strange but if anything this has made me more determined to give the kids their best Christmas yet by tearing up the rulebook and focussing on one thing only - FUN. For one year only, we're going to lock ourselves away, forget about tradition and just ensure that the kids have the best day ever. Here are a few of my ideas for making Christmas fun but I'd love to hear your suggestions too.

Christmas Eve Party

We're the kind of family who send the kids to bed pretty early on Christmas Eve. It's always been our tradition that they'll have a bath with a Christmas bath bomb, receive new PJs, sprinkle their reindeer dust then head up to bed at around 7pm. Steve and I will then crack open the champagne and enjoy a nice meal together. This year though we've decided to let the kids stay up a little later and we're going to have a party instead. There will be music, dancing, party poppers, sparklers, I'm buying 'fake' wine for the kids (and champagne for us of course) and we're going to have a dip in the hot tub too. I can't wait! 

PJs all day

We have always been the type of family who dresses up on Christmas day - new sparkly dresses and smart outfits all round. This year though the rulebook will be torn up and we're staying in our Christmas PJs all day. With nobody to get dressed up for it kind of makes sense to us. I will be splashing out on new festive PJs for us all especially for the day so let me know if you spot any nice ones! It will feel so nice to actually be comfy all day. 

Fun games, challenges and tricks

Above everything, I really want the kids to have lots of fun. I'll be banning electronics and we're going to spend the day playing games, building LEGO sets and watching TV. It's a bit of a ritual that we always have bacon sandwiches for breakfast on Christmas day - the boys love them but Heidi's not keen so I've bought her some gummy bacon from Hawkin's Bazaar which I know she's going to love! It's supposed to look and taste like bacon but it's not actual bacon! I can't wait to see what it's like. 

I've also bought the kids whoopee cushions, slime, playdough.....all the things I don't normally let them do, I'm just going to go with it! We're going to play this creepy crawlie challenge together which I think may actually be the highlight of our day! I am praying I won't receive a nasty flavour! Hawkin's Bazaar has loads of ideas on their website to help make Christmas day the best day ever - there's 'make your own bug pizza', Brexit loo roll, Poo lollies and even beard baubles! 

No Christmas dinner

I do love a Christmas dinner I really do but by the time Christmas day hits I've probably already eaten 5-6 turkey dinners throughout December. The kids aren't keen on being forced to sit at the table for a couple of hours and eat sprouts either - they'd much rather be playing. I'm also not keen on Steve spending hours in the kitchen to cook us a 3 course feast. So this year we're skipping Christmas lunch and just going to have a buffet instead and graze all day. We're still cooking a turkey crown, roast potatoes and pigs in blankets but there will be sausage rolls, cakes, crisps and basically lots of picky food for us to help ourselves to throughout the day. 

No bedtime

We usually send the kids to bed straight after Doctor Who. I usually need time to recover after a full-on day. But as Christmas is going to be a chilled affair this year we're just going to let the kids stay up as late as they want to - I really want them to enjoy every last second!

Do you ever cast the rulebook aside and just do what you want on Christmas Day? It certainly feels liberating! Let me know in the comments......

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