I love Christmas, its such a wonderful time of year. The excitement is overwhelming… the festive events, the food, the gifts, the decorations. I feel like through my life I’ve been through so many stages of what it is or should look like. Obviously as a child it was immense. My favourite memories are waking my mum up, then me and my gorgeous younger sister Sophie and brother Sam would run down stairs to wait at the living room door for mum to put her glasses, dressing gown and slippers on. (it always felt like we were waiting 3 hours when in fact it was 12 seconds!) I cannot even describe that feeling when she opened the door and seeing what was behind it. Pure joy. The late teenage years, like most of us, included very late nights out, always a very hungover Christmas day with a brilliant start of mum waking us girls up at the crack of dawn because your little brother wanted to go downstairs to see if Father Christmas had been! The sadness and tears at 16 as my boyfriend Steven left to go to Thailand for 3 weeks on Christmas day morning!!!!! Oh my word the world was ending, 3 weeks!!! He was been ‘forced’ to go on this luxury holiday of a life time!! How would we cope! …side note* Steven is now my husband and I’m sure he would love a 3 week break in Thailand right now!! Oh the irony… :-P Intertwined in these times though and as I grew I was so very aware that not everyone was so lucky to experience this level of joy at this festive time. I am now 33 years old with two beautiful children. I feel like I am almost starting my Christmas journey right from the beginning again. To be getting the same excitement I had as a child but now in my mums shoes. Well this is the interesting part, the light bulb moment. I see Christmas now from the ‘adult’ side of the curtain. The struggle my mum will of gone through as a single parent, the worry, the stress. But it never showed and in fact a memory that always makes me smile is at a very young age asking my mum for canned goods out the cupboard to take to school for the Christmas hampers, for in my words ‘all the poor mummy’s who don’t have help to feed their children.’ My mum made our environment so safe and nurturing we never even realised we were one of them families… and she ALWAYS gave us the canned goods. I think we all have a responsibility to our fellow humans to help one another. Look around you, who could you help this Christmas, it could be the smallest act of kindness. Educate your children from young, that it’s always the act of gift giving rather than receiving that will bring more joy. We as a family don’t go overboard at Christmas and never have as that was never what was or is important. Reassess this Christmas, what really is your heart’s highest desire... more material possessions or peace of mind, love and joy. What I never said at the beginning of this blog was, it never ever mattered what toys were behind the living room door as my mum opened it. It was that it was bursting with love. Pure unconditional love. No amount of money will ever buy that. Thank you for teaching me that mummy. Your daughter Faye x x x