I have seen two representations of mums at Christmas on T.V. ads this year: the Asda mum is bright, cheery, attractive, and does all the work by herself without ever misplacing her innate goodness or a hair on her head, whereas over at Morrisons the picture is far gloomier, with classic downtrodden weary dishevelled mum coping as best she can and looking like she should be on suicide watch.
I feel called upon to challenge these stereotypes.
It’s true that when our children are little we want to give them a wonderful magical Christmas, and we make the effort because our needs neatly coincide with theirs. It’s all about them.
But as they grow older, a little bit of balance creeps in, in the form of self-interest. ‘What do I want from Christmas..?’ we may start to ask ourselves. This was the time I started to cheerfully say to my children things like: ‘Let’s all make Christmas together this year! That’ll be fun!!’
You’ll know when you’ve reached this stage when your answer to the question ‘What do you want for Christmas mummy?’ is no longer ‘Oh anything darling, it doesn’t matter, it’s the thought that counts’.
Instead you’ve prepared a list in advance, given them details and options, provided them with website links and store opening times, and are prepared to offer reasonable credit terms should it be necessary.
Happy Christmas everybody!
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