Not quite the weekend we had planned!
Our eldest daughter Annie woke up Saturday with tonsils the size of golf balls and a raging temperature. No annual family visit to the Christmas Nativity production then. Well, not for all of us anyway! This happens to be my favourite yearly event, and during the season of advent this is the one activity that makes me feel that Christmas is really on the way!
The Christmas production takes place over two floors in a church building, meaning there are disabled access issues. Having a foster child in a wheelchair brings many limitations to our family – and this is just one of them! My husband Charlie was therefore nominated to take Lauren, our second daughter and Alice, our disabled foster child, as he would be needed to carry Alice up the stairs.
This has been something I have had to take a step back from over the last few months. As Alice is getting heavier, I am trying to do less lifting as my back really cannot take it – even when that means I have to miss out on my favourite Christmas event! Though it is better than having a sore back over Christmas I guess. I think that Charlie was secretly hoping he would get to stay home – a bit of man-cave time! No such luck for him – and in any case he will be getting his cave time in the afternoon when he is due to go out to a football match. I however would be staying in all day and cabin fever for me would begin to set in…this clip from Muppet Treasure Island comes to mind! ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHNJPsCDSqo )
Charlie went off with the two girls, with a shopping list in hand, not bargaining on what the girls had added to the list – a trip to Pets at Home to buy Christmas gifts for their guinea pigs! Oh how I wish I could have seen his face as he went to the till with popcorn treats, a play tube and an edible tiki hut! The day was somewhat salvaged when Charlie picked up some chips on the way home.
On a day like this one – when carefully made plans are unmade, far too much TV is watched and the fridge is raided on an hourly basis – sharing chips around the table as a family can prove to be the best medicine of all?
A Family Less Ordinary
