“Peace on earth will come to stay, When we live Christmas every day”

I washed the christmas tree in the back garden today. Yes. I just said that! Such a Dubai thing to do. Perhaps it was foolish of me to leave it on the balcony for the last 10months, gathering dust, geckos and sun damage. Whoops! I needed to wash it so Mr O wouldn’t kill me for wasting a huge amount of money on a tree that only had a job for one Christmas. It needed to be inspected! So now it has been washed and is in the garden, blending in with the other trees. Palm trees and Christmas trees are from the same family right? Either way Mr O has not spotted the tree yet. PHEW…

Rumour has it that the Elves will find out their fate this week. Will they return to the same family as last year or will they be sent to another home? We are hoping Eddie will be deployed some where else! As my beautiful friend Leona said about her Elf – “Please God let George Pippin be sent some where else. He is hard work – as I’m sure he thinks our family is!” I for one could not agree more!!

I am that Mammy that dreads “Elf on the Shelf!” I love Christmas so much. I really do but I love the gifts, food, christmas cheer (em wine), carols but I just dread that cheeky Elf. When I say Elf dread, I mean I swear to God every year that this will be the last year he enters our home. This is the year Eddie our Elf will go somewhere south. He will enjoy an long island ice teas with his other Elf pals in Bali instead of wrecking our house. This is the year that I am under no circumstances bowing down to all the Elf stress. Competing with all the Mammy’s of the world. That’s right this is the year I say NO! No Santa, you can keep your sodding Elf!

You are probably reading this thinking geez, give poor Eddie a break. I swear I am not the Grinch, nor am I ice cold! I will remind you again I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Ok, I am sure I will end up giving in to Eddie like I always do (such a push over) but for now I am standing my ground and begging Santa not to send him! I am probably just in the denial stage at the moment but it is already the 13th of November. Eddie has not been mentioned once. Not once! I will be clinging to the hope that they may have forgotten the last 4 years of their lives, and I am finally free. Free from the Elf pressure.

For the Mam’s that are succumbing to the Elf pressure. We mams have to stick together. So, I am passing along some “Mammy approved” Elf ideas that are easy to throw together and don’t involve you’re Elves wreaking you’re home or teaching you’re Little Loves to be bolder than they already are. In Aoibhie’s case; No help is needed!

We can do this Mammy’s. Em… ok so – you can do this. I am still holding out that Eddie has gone south this year . Bali is lovely…