I HAVE around forty Christmas cards to write this weekend for Elsie’s nursery friends.

It’s tough being a Mum at Christmas.

I have presents to buy, too many gifts to wrap, a stocking to fill and traditions to uphold.

I have songs to sing, Christmas decorating still to do and a great big Turkey dinner to cook.

I have presents to drop off, I have tidying to do, I have endless washing and ironing piles to keep on top off and our cupboards are getting bare because I need to do the ‘big food shop’ but first I have to get Elsie ready for her Christmas party. And I mustn’t forget her Christmas jumper.

Tonight I will be spending my evening wrapping presents and sticking on bows. And I have a list of jobs, of things left to buy and stuff to do, coming out of my ears.

Next week – besides everything else – I must not forget to get her festive outfits sorted and pyjamas ready for the big event.

And I’ve still got her main present to finish off too – a vintage dolls house which still needs painting, decorating and filling with furniture. Yikes.

Yep, it’s tough being a Mum at Christmas.

There aren’t enough hours, the days are now going too quickly, I’m running on adrenaline and ready to crash and burn.

But I will do this. I will give my daughter the magical Christmas she deserves.

The dinner may get burnt, her stocking may just be a cheap one from the pound shop because I didn’t get the time to make her one (next year?!) and I may well forget where I’ve hidden some of her presents, but I will get this job done. Somehow.

I may be tired, I may be feeling more than a little stressed, I may well have about 500 things left to do on my list (and that’s putting it mildly) but I’m a Mum.

Elsie’s Mum and all of this is part of the job description.

Making things happen, making things come together is what we do. Forget Santa, it is us Mums who make the magic happen (with help from Dads too of course).

So yes it’s tough being a Mum at Christmas, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

There is too much to do and not enough time and I may well be putting myself under extra pressure by doing up a vintage dolls house with just a few days to go (help me!), but it’s no great hardship.

In fact, these parenting Christmas jobs aren’t even a chore.

Because on Christmas Day when her face lights up with joy as she rips open her presents, I will remember those magical moments and store them in my memory bank forever.

And when she screws her face up at her Christmas dinner, because she doesn’t like sprouts, one thing I know for certain, is that I will be the happiest I have ever been.

Doing all of this, making everything happen because I am a Mum and my daughter needs me, is the best Christmas present I could ever have hoped for. Indeed, being a Mum is the greatest gift I have ever received.

And so I don’t know about you, but I’m going to raise a large festive toast to the stress and the chaos and to being a Mum and all that it entails at this time of year.

And I’m going to count my very lucky stars that I even have the honour to be so stressed, so needed and in so much demand, all because I’m a Mum.

(But first I’ve got through the mountain of gift wrapping to do, naturally.)

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Happy Christmas folks! Enjoy the chaos. xxx

With love,

Kate