Aaarrrgghhhh Christmas!!!!!

[gerbilgirl]

Anyone else wishing Christmas would hurry up and be here?

This is our third Christmas together and each year the struggle in the build up to it is so hard!!

Our 6 year old is very vocal about how she is feeling which is great and is really taking on board ways we are giving her to help, so although is finding the build up hard is managing it better this year.

Our 10 year old on the other hand is in complete regression mode and just wants to be in her room not engaging with anyone unless she is able to be in control of them.

Come Friday they will be fine and really enjoy the day and each year it gets a bit easier but just wish this bit wasn't so hard on them.

I know I won't be the only one feeling like this at the moment but how I wish it wasn't like this for them!!!

How do you all make it through?

[quote Jellycatspyjamas]@SimonJT never mind alcohol, you’ve bigger fish to fry 😂[/quote]
I’ve exposed my son to perverted pigs, oh the horror

have Minority Report on in the background and I’d forgotten how utterly delicious Tom Cruise was/is.

I’ve watched two Mission Impossible’s tonight - same thoughts here.

Pervy pigs
I snorted so loud then that I woke the dog!

I was thinking I needed a name change at some point, very tempted by 'pervypigs'

@Stinkyjellycat

It sounds as though primary schools will stay open but the government’s tendency to change their mind at the last minute doesn’t fill me with confidence.

On another note... I have Minority Report on in the background and I’d forgotten how utterly delicious Tom Cruise was/is. He’s an adopter so it’s not entirely unrelated to this thread

I hate Tom Cruise.

I’m doing a puzzle of maths equations, I haven’t thrown any pieces across the room yet.

I hate maths so I’m in awe that you’ve not thrown it halfway across the room yet.

@Jellycatspyjamas
Oooh I love him in the third one where he has long hair. MN needs a swooning emoji

Tom Cruise is annoyingly attractive, I feel bad for fancying him a little bit considering all the Scientology stuff😅

I'm really happy that DS liked his main xmas gift which was a trampoline! (Mini one for indoors). His face when he saw it was so cute and he's been bouncing on it, making his toys bounce on it and conducting experiments with bouncy balls on it ever since.

@Moominmammaatsea we've had Belgian waffles and beer this evening! Nice way for the adults to round off fun in the snow

@Jellycatspyjamas

I hate maths so I’m in awe that you’ve not thrown it halfway across the room yet.

I love maths, not only is my job essentially maths I also like doing maths for fun.

@Moominmammaatsea

We had some wine in the bath (not the small person obviously) earlier in the evening while I read a book to my partner. We made our own bubbles.

Mini SJT has been asleep since 7, this is lovely, but I fear what time he will get up tomorrow.

My DH is amazing with numbers and my DS is following in his footsteps, my strengths lie elsewhere (I failed my maths higher so badly they didn’t even put it on the certificate).

We had cider and and Indian takeaway tonight after the little people had an uncharacteristic early night.

Well this is our second Christmas as a family and it's going much better than I expected. At 3 and a half, he's the perfect age for the magic and was so excited about Santa. We did the usual reindeer food, snacks for Santa etc on Christmas Eve and he was so in to it. He even coped ok with opening his presents, although we have spread them over a few days. The change in routine has been tough and we can tell he's been disregulated at times so we've tried to keep things very low key. I worry about January and how he'll manage with yet more change - he's qualified for a nursery place as classed as a 'vulnerable child' in Scotland but even though he'll still be able to go to nursery, it will be different with very few children and staff changes. But he's much more resilient than he used to be so maybe he'll surprise me.

I look back on last Christmas and see how far we've come. It's all just a blur, I really don't remember anything. I actually think I've blocked those traumatic early months out of my head. It wasn't a happy time. Life is still hard but we've had glimmers of a 'normal' family life this holiday and it's given me some hope for the future. Now if covid could just fuck off...

Merry Christmas to all, you wonderful bunch.

Wowzers. Sounds like @calmandhappy has been on the White Lightning again 😮🥃

@poppet31 lovely to hear from you! I have spent this Christmas looking back too...and realising how far our kids have come in only 2.5 years!! It’s all on them, they just amaze me. They have taken everything in their stride, we now have two happy, confident, sassy little monkeys at school and they are a joy to be around (most of the time). It was a stressful build up to Xmas, but now we have a few chill out days with nothing planned (apart from finishing off chocolate and teaching the kids to roller skate - think little bambi’s on ice). It was noticeable this year how much more we know about them, and so we’re able to get them gifts that were more appropriate. Eldest is flying at school and littlest is making some lovely friends at school (despite COVID).

I am very grateful to you rowdy lot on this board, like any parents we are just trying to find our way and do our best. Happy new year to everyone.

Our 3rd Christmas with our little people and far and away the best one yet. 1st Christmas we had only been together a few months and everything was still terrifying for everyone (we adopted 3 together).

2nd Christmas was incredibly hard work despite keeping routine in place and being as low key as possible. A whole lot of self sabotaging going on and clearly not feeling that they 'deserved' a nice Christmas.

A whole new ball game this year, we still stuck to routine and kept low key but we introduced talking about Christmas a wee bit earlier to the house. Kept repeating that they were wonderful children and Santa could see their good hearts so they would most certainly get the presents they had put on their letters to the Big Man. We help with letters to keep expectations manageable. We've learned a lot from the previous 2 Christmases and had a much better understanding of how to help them navigate this time of year.

Now don't get me wrong we've still had the anxiety and a few meltdowns but it's been so much better and we've been able to enjoy our wee folk enjoying themselves.

It's no doubt helped that everything has HAD to be low key this year. While school still go Christmas Mental for most of December it's been kept to just their own class group. It's also helped that my step mum hasn't been able to tell them that "Santa is watching you" every 10 minutes.

Like others have said we waited a very long time for a family Christmas and while it's far from Hallmark perfection it's absolutely and utterly perfect to us.

As an aside, I don't post very often (usually too knackered) but when I have I've been given great advice and support. Back in the early days especially it was invaluable. I try to come back to the adoption board fairly regularly just to read and I always learn something new and useful when I do. A since thanks and Merry Christmas to all those experienced adopters who give up their time to give advice, support and just generally be a shoulder to cry on. I raise my lovely new gin glass, that my little people bought me for Christmas, to you all.

It's given me a warm glow reading all the happy and caring moments everyone's achieved - testament to days, weeks, years of dripping in the therapeutic parenting and slowly slowly building security.

@poppet31 particularly amazing to read your update, you had such an exceptionally hard start and you dug deep and kept going. I am so bloody impressed.

Somehow this was our 6th Christmas together The best bits were: absolutely no stress about Santa / whether she would get presents. She expected them and didn't have any worries about "deserving" them. Loads of silliness, hat wearing, and watching films. Seeing her love being with her toddler cousin for a few hours on Christmas Day.

Pray for me - I've rashly promised to play Let's Dance with her later I feel it could take a veeeery long time for me to work out how to connect the console to the TV...

Bittersweet for us - DD1 is stuck overseas for various reasons, so our first xmas separated since 2009... but both DDs generally happy and in a good place. DD2 and I in lockdown with my mother, so the 3 of us did the traditional xmas lunch. DD2 is now 13 so I had time to put out the presents, walk the dog and prep the veg before she emerged from her bedroom!

Hang on in folks, have that glass of whatever floats your boat. It is the day in, day out meeting your childs needs predictably that gradually sinks in.

This has brightened my day and made me reflect on our own time. Everyone sounds so happy and bursting with pride about their families and the little moments (maybe it’s the alcohol?!)

We are doing really well. After a really hard few years, Christmas has been amazing! We’ve spent so much time building Lego, winter walks and playing board games etc. It’s been so relaxed and I feel like we’ve gotten there (wherever there is, I don’t know).

Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year! May we all be happy, healthy and continue to value the little moments of joy

Have only just woken up from my Christmas booze haze and missed all of this todo (only joking). I really thought the board would be quiet and missed it all.

Our third Christmas and it has been smoother and calmer than previous yeara, we haven't got family close by so if we aren't seeing them then this period is filled with meals with friends who arent elsewhere, which hasn't happened for anyone. We hunkered down and kept it very low-key since school and nursery broke up. He, via nursery, has been interested in the Christmas songs and Santa Claus but still no real understanding except now knows how to rip the paper off the presents. We think this year will see more of it make sense to him.

Like others, the days since have been better, been weaning him off the chocolate advent gifts and screen and he has wanted to play with his books and toys more amongst the daily park visit which we all need to burn off the energy.

As key workers including a teacher, going to need his nursery being open to give us a reprieve and help settle him into a routine again.