Number one priority this Christmas – staying sane.
So you can imagine how much I was looking forward to taking number one daughter to late night shopping in Milton Keynes on Friday. But, she was desperate to see a friend who couldn’t make it at any other time over the weekend and I gracefully agreed (actually I think I was quite nice about it).
Well, what do you think happened? First shock, the free parking places behind John Lewis have been replaced by ‘premium parking spaces’ at the festive rate of £1.20 per hour. No wonder the car park was relatively empty at 6.15pm. Then, as I went to feed the meter, muttering mild expletives, guess what I read on the machine? – Charges apply 7.00am to 6.00pm, Monday to Saturday – yippee!
Children duly met up and so it was off to browse the gift section in John Lewis (too far to go home and back). What a surprise; loads of excellent ideas for the hoards of nieces and nephews. I couldn’t quite bring myself to buy anything, but I made notes about everything I saw and the price, so I could double check with himself and daughters that my choices were suitable.
So, Friday evening went off well.
Saturday; managed to stay sane despite taking number two daughter to her school’s Christmas Fayre. (Oh how I hate those things). I managed to ‘do my bit’, then leave her there for a few minutes while I went into town and shopped.
I thought that this year I would make my Christmas cards, but having scoured the high street for blank cards, I couldn’t find any for less than the price of charity cards from the British Heart Foundation charity shop. So I decided to save myself the effort and support a good cause instead and stocked up with a nice selection.
Went home and made some sausage rolls – essential Christmas food in our house.
Sunday: Get this – managed somehow to persuade husband to drop me off outside John Lewis, while I went in and bought all the items I’d ear-marked on Friday night. So glad we did – it was far busier, but think supermarket sweep and you’ll have a good impression of me grabbing all the pieces we’d decided to buy. I was in and out in less than half an hour with around ninety percent of the gifts for the hoards.
I love John Lewis.
Was so happy (not something I’d have thought I’d see myself saying about Christmas shopping), that I went home and cooked a proper Sunday Roast – and guess what else – the Yorkshire Puddings didn’t stick to the pan.
So, according to my Advent Calendar, there are 20 days to go – so far, so good.
Sanity Score: 8/10.
Dreaming In Stitches 
Doing well by the sounds of it! Well done 🙂 You are further ahead than me.
I did rather amaze myself, but the danger is that I lull myself into a false sense of security – there are still quite a lot of things that need doing…
Phew! I feel breathless just reading your post! Yes, you are well ahead of me also. At least we got the Christmas tree down from the roofspace…..decorating it seems like a task for the teenagers this year!
I like that idea. For a couple of years I’ve let the girls loose on our tree, then gone over it again when they’ve gone to bed, spreading things out a bit, but I guess they’re old enough now make a good job of it.
I love john lewis too!