Christmas day Futers style

Well, we had a lovely Christmas day for the most part. It started at 2.30am when Toby woke up, found the stocking at the foot of his bed and shouted "Mommy! Daddy! Santa's come!!". Toby, Jason and I got up and Toby checked out all of his presents. Rosie very sensibly slept through this part of the day. J has a cold so he went back to bed and Tobes and I stayed up until 4am trying out his Superman bike, turning the Transformer into a car and then back into a robot half a dozen times, dressing Polly Pocket up in each of her outfits (that's my boy) and opening and examining the contents of every box.

We went back to sleep at four then got up again around nine with Rosie. It was all a bit over Rosie's head. She has a stomach virus and is not a happy little girl at the moment. She did love the tea set Toby gave her and her dolly that opens and closes her eyes. I was surprised that Rosie is already able to play make-believe but she was giving her dolly sips of 'tea' and bites of 'cake'. Very sweet.

While Rosie napped and J and Tobes went out to try the new bike I started preparing lunch. I don't know why I bother with such a big meal but I do like to do the whole traditional thing. Today we had turkey, stuffing, sausages, cranberry sauce, gravy, honey roasted parsnips and carrots, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts and cauliflower cheese. I just can't imagine not doing the whole thing. This year I made the cauliflower cheese with an amazing goats cheese we got at the farmers market. It was lovely. I make a ton of food because the leftovers are almost as good as the meal. I make a turkey pie and bubble & squeak with the leftover veg. So yummy.

So I got the meal ready, just over an hour later than planned, and even managed to shower before we sat down at the table. Toby decided he didn't want to eat anything and would rather go watch a DVD on his own in the living room. Rosie was cranky and grumbling because of her stomach virus. J and I were doing our best to enjoy the meal. I had put Rosie in my lap to calm her and just when I thought I was going to get to actually taste some of the food I had spent the previous few hours preparing Rosie threw up all over me, herself and my plate.

Much, much later I did manage to sit down and enjoy a plate of food without any regurgitated additions. It was worth the wait.

You know, there are families who all sit down together at lunchtime on Christmas day. They're all clean and dressed in their Sunday best, have good conversation and eat well. No one goes off to watch A Muppet Christmas. No one declares the food to be 'a bit yucky'. And no one throws up on the plates. What a strange family they must be.