The 12 days of a Covid Christmas

So, Christmas was a little bit different this year but, I must admit, I didn’t hate it - at all! In fact, seeing my MIL on Christmas Eve and my mother/stepfather for a bit on Boxing Day made Christmas Day itself kind of enjoyable! Yeah, yeah, I am probably one of the few who prefer it this way, but I never was one to follow the crowd!

So, here’s the breakdown of what we did because a couple of people have asked.

Day 1 - Daycare closed. My MIL lives alone so she was exceptionally allowed to join our family bubble for a bit. We ordered Chinese food for lunch, giving us leftovers for days, and the LO opened some of her gifts to keep her entertained as well. Otherwise, a pretty quiet day.

Day 2 - Christmas day! Presents first thing in the morning, of course. A walk outside, between rain showers, with some friends in the neighborhood and their dogs. And, aside from that we spent the day alone, just the 3 of us. For dinner, because I was so calm and not frazzled, I made the most amazingly perfect roast beef dinner and the puffiest, highest, Yorkshire puddings ever!! My Nana would have been so proud of my British Christmas, and my pictures even had a couple of compliments from friends who are real professionally trained chefs! I grew up on this for the holidays and I have missed it because my Italian in-laws always have lobster, pasta, and a bunch of other “non-holiday (to me)” foods so this was extra special.

Day 3 - Gift exchange with my mother and stepfather, outside in the freezing cold, ice covered park, with some tea and cookies. The LO fell and slipped in the parking lot, but otherwise it was a nice, quick and socially distanced, visit. Oh, and it was the cheapest Boxing Day ever! I didn’t buy a single thing, not even online. Unfortunately, I also had to confiscate one gift from Santa in punishment that day and felt awful about it, but she had many more to occupy herself with.

Day 4 – Mom fail. I made a mistake and did not book the pool time I thought I had so, after letting the LO down, we had a lazy day at home. It wasn’t until after dinner that I said she could have her confiscated gift back and then I totally forgot to give it to her. Mom fail #2.

Day 5 – Pool today! I even managed to get reservations for all 3 of us this time so we went as a family. And, I remembered to give her back her toy! Yay me!

Day 6 – My MIL joined us again, for no particular reason. And I had a follow up appointment with my chiropractor followed by checking in on work because, why not?

Day 7 – Halleluiah! The LO got a spot in daycare for the day today! DH had a massage booked in the afternoon and mine was scheduled right after his in hopes of clearing up my back issues once and for all. Unfortunately, due to a mini snowstorm and miscommunication, we were late picking her up from daycare for the first time in 5 years! I felt horrible! But she seemed fine with it, mostly. Oops.

Day 8 – Another lazy day and some grocery shopping for tomorrow's surprise excursion. 

Day 9 – A trip to Omega Parc! About 1.5 hours away, this is a Safari Parc you can drive through and feed animals right from your car. The perfect socially distanced activity and we went through 3 bags of carrots! By the end of it, still technically in the park, she was already asking when we would be coming back. I think she liked it, our little budding veterinarian!

Day 10 - First time tobogganing, with her new sled, on a small hill near our house. Verdict? We need a bigger hill. We baked cookies, put away the Christmas tree, and that’s about it.

Day 11 – We found a bigger hill, so, second time tobogganing followed by a lazy day.

Day 12 – The LO woke up in a plain old rotten mood and spent pretty much the whole day this way. And, lucky me, DH was working so I was the only punching bag around. Thankfully I had booked swimming again, and coordinated with a friend and her son, so it was a one-hour reprieve from Ms. Moody.

And yesterday… back to daycare! For how long? Who knows with this pandemic, but at least for now I get 4 days of peace and quiet… for the most part, DH is still working from home!