It's 9pm and all the boys are in bed. Angus is asleep and the rest are trying hard. Sean had a torrid time of it last Christmas Eve, couldn't sleep with excitement, kept wakening up and eventually was very tired and emotional on the day itself as a result. He's determined not to make the same mistake twice and was insistent (the one day of the year they were all amenable) to getting plenty fresh air and exercise today to tire himself and his brothers out.
Rowan was very croaky today, having inherited the cough from Angus. We went for a walk up to Swanston Golf Club via Lothianburn on what was an overcast but fairly mild day. Once there we had hot chocolates (Americano with hot milk on the side for the lady) before making the return journey, Sharon diverting to take in the horses with the wee two while I took the big two along Caiyside, to where both the McLeods and the Valentines have recently moved. In fact, Lewis and Alex called in for Sean shortly after we got home so he went out for a cycle - more fresh air, so good!
After pumpkin soup, Sharon went to get her fringe trimmed with Rowan in tow, to pick up a parcel en route: his repaired Nintendo DSi. "We're getting near. I can sense it. It's like old friends being reunited," he pronounced as they approached the delivery office in Morningside. I meanwhile, took on a trip to Asda, which wasn't as apocalyptic as Sharon had described Costco a couple of days ago. The Mayan calendar may have been wrongly interpreted as predicting the end of civilisation, but there's nothing like a festive holiday (shops closed for one day) to signal a fundamental break down in the order of things. It didn't quite come down to people trading blows as they fought over the last brussel sprout tree, but you get the picture. I've been there before, in a frenetic, frantic and ultimately futile search for a red cabbage.
Still, we got the children fed, ready for bed and relatively calm. Sharon took Angus (wrapped up in a blanket) and Rowan outside to look up at the sky and see if there was any sight of Santa. "It's very dark," noted Sharon. "But Rudolph's red nose will light up the sky for Santa!" was Angus's reasoned response. As I finish this, it's now past midnight and Finn has been down a few times, getting increasingly upset at his inability to sleep. He has disturbed Santa at his work too, perilously so. This will be a special, and possibly unique Christmas. Angus really gets it this year and has been asking, daily, how many sleeps until Santa comes. Sean is just hanging on at the other end, so this will likely be the only time we have all four bought into the Santa belief. Here's hoping they're happy with what he brings.
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