Post-Christmas thoughts

Christmas is now over for this year, and I'm already looking at my tree pondering when I'll pack it down..! It'll be before New Years, that's for sure! (I definitely don't do this Swedish tradition with keeping it until twenty days after Christmas, oh no!)

Although I am a self-confessed Christmas nutter, I am very happy now it's all over for this year. I like routine, and I'm already looking forward to next week when school will start again and everything will go back to "normal".

So, how was our Christmas this year?
Well, as I wrote in previous posts, we have had a lovely Christmas down here in the tropics, this year too. Both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were celebrated amongst friends, with all the festive food and decorations you could wish for - and lots of presents not to forget!

But, I still had my moments when I felt a bit down during these past few days. Mostly because it didn't seem like the kids could feel the magic, and they didn't seem to appreciate Christmas in that "it's such a special day"-way I so would like them to.
F.e, after Lucas opened his presents one of the days, he just left them on the floor, threw himself on the sofa and asked to watch Cartoon Network, like it was just any other day. Both the kids threw tantrums and were moody at times, and I was just not having it, not on Christmas!
One of my friends reminded me that it's all so different now to when we were kids. We didn't have 24 hr children's TV and we only saw cartoons at the cinema so "Kalle Anka's Julafton" was really special! You couldn't get mandarins f.e, and many other foods all year around, so the Christmas food felt very seasonal and special too. Plus, the kids are probably more spoiled now, so Christmas presents are not that special anymore either...

I don't know. I just want to infuse this magical feeling into them, and I feel I failed. I'm sure they've had a lovely Christmas time, and I can only keep doing all that I'm doing around Christmas, keep creating beautiful memories for them and enforce our traditions. Maybe when they grow slightly older, they will appreciate my efforts a bit more...