The magic of Father Christmas

The fantasy and magic of Christmas time! I believe in adding fantasy and magic to the lives of our kids! They love the stories of a Christmas Father, with reindeer, and bringing the presents from the North Pole.

(On that note: How cute is the Portable North Pole videos from Father Christmas that you can personalize each year? For free! (Although there are cooler options when you upgrade.) There are also the birthday video that comes once a year!) We watch them every year!

I can remember my own excitement as a little kid at Christmas time!

I do not want to take this special time away from her. Little Miss has already told us that she knows that it is us who brings the presents! She is nearly 8 years, and it seems this year is the turning point! Some kids at school have also voiced their opinions... But she still gets excited about putting up the Christmas Tree, and musing about her presents!

I saw a video of a pastor in America shouting to kids at a mall that Father Christmas is not real! *Sigh*

I do not think of it as telling lies, but as adding excitement and fun into her life. She will be able to separate the myths from the truths in years to come! How boring would life be without these family traditions?

(It is also not difficult at all to add religion into the mix when you explain the reason why we are celebrating this time!)

I was reminded about the seriousness of her beliefs in a Tooth Mouse when she dislodged one of her final teeth last week. She immediately went to put the tooth in a shoe and kept on checking up on it through the evening. The Tooth Mouse was very tardy, because when she checked up the next morning, the tooth was still there! The Tooth Mouse had a lot of explaining to do (in a letter) about helping Father Christmas at this time of year...

I personally love the magic of Christmas time!
This is the best week of the year building up to Christmas Day!

Enjoy!
Peace!
Happy families!

List to Father Christmas

Little Miss made a list to Father Christmas tonight.
It is her first written list to him that she has done herself!

1. Kisses

2. Hugs

3. Ball

4. Doll's House

5. Cushion

6. Book

7. Mask

8.. Doll's coach

9. TV

10. Love

11. Rollerblades

Do you know where I can email the list to? (Our postal services will definitely not deliver it to the North Pole.)

Is the Easter Bunny and Father Christmas for real?

We had to dodge a number of questions this weekend:

 - Is Father Christmas for real when the parents buy the presents?
- The Easter Bunny got the chocolates from the shop? How is that possible?
- The Easter Bunny left the same chocolates that we have been eating this week?

 I don't know for how long we will still be able to dodge these...

At what age did your little ones figured it out?
It is kinda sad that we are nearing the end of the childhood fantasies!

Merry Christmas!

Two days to go before Christmas

Little Hoot Christmas

Two days to go...

We are counting the sleeps!

I am going to be off at work, and it is going to be family time!


How cute is this Little Hoot?
The Little Hoots team  used a Little Hoot from the app to make this Christmas decoration.
If we had better postal services, I would have loved to order it!

Father Christmas lost his head

We went to check out the Bavarian Winter Christmas Festival at Silverstar Casino and Hotel on Saturday. It was on for the whole weekend.

One of the main reasons why we went, is because I saw advertised that there would be a Father Christmas. I know Little Missy would have loved to see him now in the middle of the year.

There was food... (And cheeses)

And lots of German beers...

And music....

And funny rides...

And a birthday girl!

But we could not find the Christmas Father!

I went and asked when he was coming.

I was told that he had "lost his head" the previous evening!

I don't know what that means? 

Maybe too many German beers?

We were not that impressed with the whole festival. 

Something to do with lots of drunk people...

Maybe it is better at night when you can see the Christmas Lights?

And maybe it is better when Father Christmas is around? 

Before he lost his head?

Wordless Wednesday #103 - Pappa-razzi

The best present ever from Father Christmas

We thought that this year would be different. She is nearly 3 and the promise of a Father Christmas with presents made her very excited before the time...

But when the Toddler's name was called, she refused and screamed again! (I did not even get a photo with her near Father Christmas, because she was clinging to me and pulling me in the other direction!)

Shame, even Father Christmas asked me if it's the beard...

Maybe next year?

But she loves her present from Father Christmas. It is the perfect gift for a little princess!
The Toddler has been walking around all weekend with the dress-up shoes and her tiara.

With the the friends waiting for Father Christmas

The previous year's posts about Father Christmas:

The red beardy man a a crying toddler

The red beardy man

The Red Beardy Man and a crying toddler

A year later, and the toddlers enjoy looking at Father Christmas from afar! Try putting them on his lap, and not one of the two year olds were impressed. Mieka kicked her legs and gave her shriek at the day care's Christmas Tree on Friday.
Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your email find you!

It's totally okay! We don't want our kids sitting on the laps of strange looking old men, do we?

Related post of the previous year:
The Red Beardy Man

The Red Beardy Man

We are in this time of the year again. It is Mieka’s first Christmas coming up. They had a Father Christmas at the crèche last Friday. We missed it, of course, one of the many firsts we missed already… (Stop the whining, Karen.) She was not impressed and cried when she saw the Red Beardy Man. There are a lot of children who are not impressed with the Red Beardy Man. We suspected beforehand that she would not be impressed, because she cried when we showed her Ronald McDonald at McD’s.
These Red Men are scary! Babies do not like them! Now we have to desensitize our children to start liking them? But we all do it!
Why do we bother? Maybe it is the connection with presents which do it in the end? Somewhere they start to react with glee and anticipation when they see the Red Beardy Man. Maybe because we remember how much we used to enjoy Christmas time with a Father Christmas and presents. In the time before our bubbles got burst and we learnt that it is actually our parents who gave us the presents. Why can’t we say from the beginning the presents are coming from us? We lie for years about things like Father Christmas and the tooth fairy.
I’m a sucker for traditions and fun, so I know we will also be doing the tree and the presents for Mieka. Strange the things we learn our children… Am I just being neurotic and over thinking, or is the X-mas gloom of the period getting to me already?