Post Family Xmas Review

After having a lovely family xmas where I saw all my 3 siblings and their families as well as my hubbys siblings and their families (never been done before) we returned back to Scotland for Hogmanay.
Apart from one little strop by No3 who, whilst fighting back tears, told me he wished he'd received £100 like his big brother rather than the 2 toys he'd got and me trying to explain to him that his brother had asked for money to pay for a school trip and that a little time in his bedroom to think about things might be the answer, we all got through xmas without too many arguments.

This has definitely been one of my most favourite xmases for 2 reasons : The enjoyment I got from cuddling all my nephews and nieces and hearing all their funny chatter and the cutting back on the amount we spent. I didn't feel that we should have spent more, I didn't go around the shops desperately looking for things that people might be happy with. In fact I didn't get anything for my mum, but on discovering she had recently bought a picture, we agreed she would let me pay to get it framed for her.

One of the things I didn't like over Xmas hols was taking my No2 into Hollister to spend some xmas money in the sales. Does anyone else feel very old when they go in there? I couldn't see the sizes, hear myself think and even the changing rooms are so dark it's impossible to see the clothes properly. The queue was so long at the till I asked if we could put the clothes aside and come back in an hour, I was told no, they couldn't do that! I had to hide the clothes in the store and hope they would still be there when I got back. On leaving the store I had the same feelings of relief I get after stepping out of the car after a 6 hour journey. Not pleasant.