Monday, December 5, 2011

Another Christmas Book, Another Christmas Thing To Do!

Today is a school day (Matilda) / childcare day (Kelvin) / work day (Trev) / rest day (Liam and me) so our Christmas countdown activity was appropriately easy.  It instructed us to drop our presents under the Wishing Tree.  Which is what we did on our way home from dinner at Granma's.

But on the way to Kmart we passed a group of Salvation Army horn players tooting carols in the street.  We used to live in the area and this was always one of my favourite things in the lead-up to Christmas.  So I swerved to the kerb and hauled the kids out and we listened to a few carols and then requested Jingle Bells and then I found myself squatting on a busy street corner with a child on each knee singing carols out loud and although the weather doesn't feel like Christmas it's beginning to feel like Christmas!!

My kids have never really been toy shopping with me before - it has always been easier to do it on our own.  However, this year I decided to let them choose something each for a child the same age and gender as themselves and they were really good!
Octonauts Book & Kwazii Kitten playset for a boy who's 3.
A fairy Barbie with an extra outfit for a girl who's 5
And I chose a Fisher Price toyset for a 6 month old boy and added in some nappies, wipes and scented nappy bags and then we headed off to put our gifts under the tree.

And then fortune had it that our book for today was 25 December Lane by Helen Ward.  This book was give to Matilda by my Mum - for her first Christmas as a big sister.  Helen Ward has also dedicated this book to a Matilda and it's about a little girl who's searching for the perfect gift for a special little brother celebrating his first Christmas.  My mum has written Kelvin's name on the last illustration, along with his birthdate and I can see this becoming a book to treasure.

25 December Lane

2 comments:

ms.composure said...

aw such a gr8 idea. that is what my mom use to let us do.

http://infinitelifefitness.com
http://mscomposure.blogspot.com

Sarah said...

We did the same toy shopping / placing under wishing tree thing last Friday. I was also anticipating lots of "I want this I want that!" So I had a little chat to the kids in the carpark before we went in, and it worked like a charm. The whole experience was great. Ina chose a play hairdressing kit (hmm, maybe because she'd just had her hair cut) and Griff chose a Duplo motorbike set. I chose some Belgian chockies and a copy of Women's Weekly for a mum.

The book (loaded with all that family meaning) sounds wonderful.