For the first time on the eve of Little Christmas (as it’s known in Ireland)I secretly wrapped presents for my children to surprise them with in the morning to celebrate the twelfth day of Christmas. For those who don’t know, tomorrow is the last day of Christmas, the Epiphany – the feast of the three Kings. In some countries this is the day Christmas is celebrated and presents are exchanged. This isn’t something we have celebrated with gifts before but as we’ve had such a lovely time over Christmas, I want to eek out the Christmas cheer out as long as possible (It may also be the result of semi-conscious working-mum guilt as I go back to work!).
Funnily enough they were both telling us over dinner tonight that their Polish friends get presents tomorrow as they celebrate their Christmas on the 6th January. I can’t wait to see their faces in the morning now! The presents are only small but how exciting to get presents at the end of Christmastime too! A new Walker family tradition to put on the list for next year!
It’s also almost 6 days into 2015! And as the cliche goes time for some new year resolutions! To be honest I have no idea why we make new year resolutions and it’s getting late so I’m not going to Google it! Last year I said I’d write more …. hmmmm…. let’s roll that one onto this year! I’m sure I’m not alone (please tell me I’m not!), hundreds of resolutions get made at the beginning of the year and are already broken by the end of January! The trick I guess (and I’m no expert) is to make them small and relevant – they’ll be more achievable, right?!
So as you’ve guessed, one of mine is to write more! Along with exercise more, eat healthily, take photographs every day … blah blah blah! What happened to small and relevant??? Some of those I hope to achieve sporadically throughout the year (she’s says having just shared a box of Milk Tray with the other half!), but the most important promise for the new year is the one we made as a family over dinner on Sunday. Admittedly this was a bit of an (engineered) attempt to steer family life but the kids were the ones that came up with the goods.
So the Walker household have all signed up to the following (it’s going to be tough but the emphasis is on trying to do these things and helping each other to do it too!)
Walker family promise for 2015:
- Be kind to each other
- Be happy and positive (including when we’re talking! – especially relevant for my oldest who is 11 in a week but is sometimes getting too much like a teenager than I’d like just yet!)
- Talk nicely to each other
- Be thoughtful
So a Happy New Year and Merry ‘Little Christmas’ from me.
Hopefully I’ll be back with more about me, my family, hopes, dreams, opinions and whatever else I think of to jot down over the next few months!
justkatewalker 
Nice sentiments. Looking forward to reading your musings this year!
Thanks Marion! I have good intentions – we’ll see how long it lasts! Happy new year!
I like this upbeat smiley blog, kindness is key, yet I think we all tend to forget and become self absorbed so good luck with this. Mum and I want to be kind to each other more and were talking about this yesterday, we have been trying for 43 years and still get it wrong .So we all need to keep trying. Just like the song “Pick yourself up dust yourself off and start all over again”
Thanks Dad, I think it’s good to remind ourselves to think of each other more. None of us are perfect! I have a sign at home that says something along the lines of ‘if things aren’t working out, take another shot!’. 🙂
Love your blog Kate. You are a good writer, so that resolution….??? I have to say I make the same one and still don’t do half as much as I’d like. Let’s encourage each other. And as for being kind to each other, it’s absolutely fundamental. And we must be kind to ourselves too… Here’s to the adventure that will be 2015 🙂 🙂 🙂