The Eve of Christmas Eve.....

So here we are ..... the Eve of Christmas Eve as my girls keep telling me! It has been a busy month. Try as I might to not get drawn into all the over-commercialised Christmas hype, December is still hectic. A lot of it is filled with lovely things, like Nativities and Christmas crafts,and reading our little books about the Christmas story from our Advent Calendar. Some of it though is stressful, like trying to juggle our limited budget to be able to afford presents for 6 children. Some of it is fun, yet also time consuming like baking and sewing and making up hampers of homemade and bargain gifts for my sister and other family members!

A hamper of all things pink and girly for my 4 year old niece!

A hamper of pampering goodies for my sister

7 hand sewn sock monkeys! These have taken me ages, but I am pleased with how they have turned out - considering I am a novice with a needle!

Painting our salt dough decorations!

I always set out with such good intentions of all the wonderful things I will do. Then a lot of it falls by the wayside and I feel guilty, like a failure of mother.But I shouldn't. I do my best. It isn't easy, I have 6 children,including three 5 and under. I need to accept that I do my best and that is good enough!At this time of year more than any other I NEED to let go of my perfectionism, and accept that things may go wrong- but that is OK. The children just want a happy stress free Mum for Christmas- not perfectly co-ordinated decorations,or perfect homemade stuffing. We have done lots. We have had fun. That's what matters!

So today I am stopping! I am not doing anymore rushing round. I have a few bits still to do - they may or may not happen. But for now am going to chill with my family and work on being a calm relaxed Mummy for Christmas!