This is the first year that Ethan has shown an interest in. Helped by the fact that he attends a school based nursery and has been involved in all the festive activities. They designed their own Christmas cards at school that of course as parents are encouraged to buy. We did obviously did and these are the cards we sent out. Maybe to a few people they look quickly put together but they are special to me. He was very proud of his design when I picked them up from the school. They even had the words "designed by Ethan" on the back of the card. Proud mummy moment.
I volunteered to help with a walk to the local church for the nursery to learn about the story of the nativity. I'm not a religious person (never have been) but there is something special about Christmas and the nativity. Do not get me wrong I was sat there thinking this is all hoo hah but the kids enjoyed themselves after they stopped talking about cake! They learnt about the story and what Christmas is 'about' and then they dressed up as characters from the nativity and form the scene. Ethan could not control himself he was volunteering to dress up as anyone including Mary! In the end he got the role of one of the wise men.
The nursery put a Christmas song concert on for the family last Thursday. It was 5 songs sang by the children. One was jingle bells. Ethan had been singing this song for the last month but when it came to the big day he got bored and didn't sing instead he just rang the bell. It was so funny to see.
This Christmas is going to be special not only is Ethan excited but it will also be Helana's first Christmas and both the mr and I will be at home this year. We've never been both off at this time of year, usually one of us is working Boxing Day which puts a downer on the big day itself when you know you've got work in the morning.
I am officially off maternity and instead on holiday. I return to work the 3rd of January. I feel surprisingly ok about this not nearly as nervous as I was after I returned from maternity with Ethan. I'm sure I'll find it odd to get back into a work environment once again but I'll be around friends so I'm sure I'll cope.
My job isn't looking great at the moment. I'm on a zero hour contract so they can give me any hours they like or lack of. I would like to leave but finding something to fit in around the kids isn't easy. I could put them both in full time child care but then I would be working to pay for the child care and not be any better off. The government wants mothers to return to work but it's not as easy as they make it out to be. You can get universal credit which includes a little extra to pay towards child care but what you get is hardly worth it. I looked into putting Helana in full time childcare 5 days a week and that would cost £600 a month. That's more than our mortgage! Needless to say it's unaffordable and I'm stuck where I am for the time being.
This Christmas is going to be special not only is Ethan excited but it will also be Helana's first Christmas and both the mr and I will be at home this year. We've never been both off at this time of year, usually one of us is working Boxing Day which puts a downer on the big day itself when you know you've got work in the morning.
I am officially off maternity and instead on holiday. I return to work the 3rd of January. I feel surprisingly ok about this not nearly as nervous as I was after I returned from maternity with Ethan. I'm sure I'll find it odd to get back into a work environment once again but I'll be around friends so I'm sure I'll cope.
My job isn't looking great at the moment. I'm on a zero hour contract so they can give me any hours they like or lack of. I would like to leave but finding something to fit in around the kids isn't easy. I could put them both in full time child care but then I would be working to pay for the child care and not be any better off. The government wants mothers to return to work but it's not as easy as they make it out to be. You can get universal credit which includes a little extra to pay towards child care but what you get is hardly worth it. I looked into putting Helana in full time childcare 5 days a week and that would cost £600 a month. That's more than our mortgage! Needless to say it's unaffordable and I'm stuck where I am for the time being.
No comments:
Post a Comment