Christmas is done!

I'm all Christmassed out now. I love Christmas but, I can't help sounding like my dad now, once it's done, it's done.  All I want now is to get back to normal.  I want my living room to look like a living room and not like some outlet for Toys R Us / Santa's grotto.

I have de-tinseled the room and relegated numerous toys to the bedrooms.  The tree is the last man standing and that can stay for just a few more days.  As for the rest it's packed away until next year. 

We all have an idea of Christmas, probably brainwashed into us off the TV, of a perfect family Christmas, everyone together getting along.  Visions of mums, dads and kids all playing games  and having fun.. Yeah right.  I think the reality is so different.

I haven't had time to play games.  I have been too busy trying to eject toys from their packaging.  Why oh why do they have to use so much packaging on a simple doll.  She was held in with plastic ties wraps.  Then her hair was actually stitched  into the box and there was near on 100 little elastic bands holding everything in place. The just of the time was spent inserting batteries, sticking on stickers and following the clear as mud instructions on how to put the toys together.  You need a degree to work some of that lot out.  By the time you have finished the kids are bored of waiting and have moved onto another toy and are not longer interested.  Arghhh.

Then there is the constant arguing.  The kids are fighting over the toys or fighting over what to watch on TV.  They are bored.  BORED!!!  They have so many new toys that they don't know what to play with.  All my kids have done is whinged and twittered.

Perfect family Christmas, more like Christmas nightmares...