I love Christmas.
I am one of these people who can play over and over Christmas songs while baking gingerbread men and who drinks enough Eggnog lattes from Starbucks to sustain the whole industry!
Christmas is by far my favourite time of the year and it has always been. When I think of it, I think of cold winter's nights watching TV with the tree lights flashing at the corner of my eyes. I taste oranges and chocolate and I love decorating the house or write Christmas cards.
This year for the first year, Elliott is learning all about the fun of Christmas, so when we received an invitation to attend the press preview of Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, I jumped up and down, did a little dance and sent a message back saying "You bet we'll be there!!".
Mistake #1: DO NOT under any circumstances tell a toddler, not 3 yet, that he will go and see Father Christmas in London in a few days. Toddler does not understand what few days mean. Toddler will throw a tantrum right there and then and hate you for raising his expectations and not going through with it.
The day finally arrived and off we went on the train to London Victoria. The boys were very excited and the train journey would have probably been sufficient to feed their curiosity and excitement.
Mistake #2: Never think that traveling on a train with 2 children under 3 will be a piece of cake.
...Hang on let me pause and laugh at your naivety... Ok I have composed myself.
Right 2 children under 3 on a train is as close as a nightmare situation can be. First the buggy weighs nearly 50 kgs with both of them in, the weight of the buggy itself and all the extra stuff. So you just about avoid a situation where the guard helping you suffers from work related injuries for life.
Then the 2 toddlers decide that out of the buggy, life is much more fun. You risk it and you end up in hell! One is trying to get out at all stations and while you are busy keeping an eye on him the other one is screaming because he wants to run free. So you finally decide to strap the younger one to the buggy which is when he makes sure you understand how unhappy he is, as well as all the other passengers in the same breath.
All you can do then is pretend you are on your own and avoid looking at whoever else is around you or you can just go and sit as far as possible from the buggy and ignore them when they call you mummy...
We finally arrived at Victoria to meet reinforcement troop! Craig was there waiting ready to take his share of responsibilities.
We made our way to Hyde Park and the amazement was really intense. Elliott's eyes were not big enough and is mouth couldn't close anymore. Victor was shrieking with excitement and waving at the reindeer at reception singing cheesy songs (the reindeer, not Victor).
We have been to Winter Wonderland before and I can say that this year is far far better than a couple of years ago! It is amazing and so much bigger.
The Circus is the first attraction we went to. The boys adored it and it was their first time in a circus. Victor was fascinated with one hand in the popcorn and his eyes transfixed to the stage!
Mistake #3: DO NOT offer salty popcorn to children thinking they won't like it. Children DO like it and will not share with you! Victor probably had more salt in one hour than he has ever had in his whole life! Very bad parenting practice I agree, but we did not want to attract too much attention by removing his hand out of the box. We were sitting right at the front and do you know what these clowns do to people they pick on?!
It was a fabulous evening and god yeah I recommend this place! The entrance is free, but in every places like this one food and entertainment are very pricey. But you can also decide to just wonder around, buy sweets and let the Christmas spirit fills you.
One song that kept playing over and over again was this one, and it is full of this spirit. Cheesy as hell and you've guessed it, one of my all time favourite...
Photo Credit Brockvicky
