@Viv0321
Thanks everyone I just want to make it special before it’s too late. I also forgot about ice skating and winterwonderlands.
There are lots of ways to make Christmas special,
*@Viv0321*, which shouldn’t make you worry so much. Easy-to-achieve annual rituals like decorating the tree together, making and decorating biscuits, hot chocolate and a cheesy Christmas film on Christmas Eve - when our dses wee younger, we used to have a party on Christmas Eve (not possible this year, I know) to wear them out, and then when everyone had gone, we would light candles, put out the lights, and read “T’was The Night Before Christmas” together, and sing a Carol or two, to help them calm down before bed.
@Viv0321 - what your children will remember is you - the things they do with you, the little things - they will not look back at their childhoods and complain about the lack of garden centre Christmas experiences - I promise.
And it is not unusual to worry about stuff like this. When our dses were small, we couldn’t afford foreign holidays - even self catering UK holidays were rare - and over the years, I worried that I had let the children down because we had never taken them to Disneyworld/Disneyland Paris. I don’t know why my worries focussed on that particular destination, but they did.
The boys are all grown up now, and recently I asked them if they felt we had failed as parents because they had never met Mickey Mouse, and they said absolutely not. In fact they thought I was funny for asking.
So, in short - do the things you can, and try not to worry about the rest. It will all be fine, and you are doing a great job as a mum, regardless of any lack of Santa experiences or snow clad chalets, I promise.