Christmas and Post – Christmas Festivities

Christmas was quiet and a blast all at the same time. The normally temperate weather suddenly turned chill and both the kids had that I’m going to get sick any moment look. Piglet’s cheeks were flushed and eyes watery, while Snubnose started wheezing.

We decided to keep Christmas day quiet and at home. I made up some steaming hot dal for Piglet and Snubnose to tuck into, and we snuggled up under the blankets to watch The Polar Express.

I didn’t do Santa Claus this year, Piglet had an overdose of presents from his birthday, plus we had already done a Christmas party where Santa gave both of them presents.

I also thought Snubnose had outgrown the Santa thing. I realized to my dismay that I was way wrong. She hadn’t outgrown Santa, and she was quite upset not to have received anything at all. I pacified her ruffled feathers and told her that Santa won’t be able to go through the whole world in one night, and so both their presents might take a bit longer. I finally scrambled and got something 🙂 .

Piglet couldn’t care less. He is really not that into presents and surprises and stuff. In fact, he has yet to even open half his gifts. He’s quite happy playing with just the one or two that he’s opened. I am pleasantly surprised by Piglet’s self-restraint in this case 🙂 .

I know Christmas is an odd time to be on a budget, but we celebrated two major festivals – Diwali and Dussehra, then spent a bomb on a family trip to Dubai, and another mini-bomb on Piglet’s birthday, all this in the past two months! Plus, Snubnose’s birthday is coming up in February, which I need to save up for. The expenses and new stuff for the two have been so out of control crazy that I thought Snubnose wouldn’t mind too much about Christmas 🙁 .

The day after Christmas was also pleasantly quiet. I worked from home, and both the littles behaved allowing me to get a lot of work done in record time so that we could make a visit to my father-in-law who is admitted in hospital late in the evening. It’s nothing serious. He’s taking some Ayurvedic treatments to ease his back pain, and he admitted himself into hospital to avoid the drive back and forth from home every day.

The weekend things went a couple of notches higher. We met some friends in Herbs and Spices restaurant in Whitefield to celebrate their daughter’s birthday. Not many photos taken as we were too busy having the greatest time – chugging bottles of wine, and eating the most delicious food.

The atmosphere is also lovely – it’s an old house converted into a restaurant, and I love such places. Lots of space between tables, excellent food and wine, and huge grounds that really echo how Whitefield must have been many years ago.

For the first time, I saw Piglet actually interested in outside food. He’s a very fussy eater and when we go to restaurants, we make sure to feed him properly before or make sure it’s an Italian restaurant where he”ll have his favorite spaghetti.

The buffet at Herbs and Spices (it was a catered private party) had no spaghetti, and so we were resigned to Piglet not eating anything until we got home. But no, he managed to surprise us eating some of the pasta, a ton of the spinach croquettes, and a heaping slab of cake.

K and I were literally high-fiving in happiness, wondering if Piglet had turned a corner in his food experimentation.

Alas no! The next day we went to the Limelight coffee shop in The Royal Orchid Hotel – one of our regular hangouts primarily because of the extensive lawn area that allows kids to run free.

We’ve been there too many times to count – to attend wedding parties, birthday parties, and on this occasion, it was a big get-together with friends with small children.

The food is average, but the paucity of open spaces in Bangalore and the reasonable buffet prices mean we keep coming back to Limelight.

Unfortunately, here too there was no spaghetti, and Piglet would just not be tempted to try anything but the dessert. He nibbled at the cake, and picked out and ate the gems embedded within it, but that was it. He preferred to eat the bananas I had brought along than the food. Finally, his lunch consisted of four bananas and cake. Sigh 🙁 .

Snubnose had a whale of a time. She made friends with the chef who was in charge of pizzas. He let her try her hand at rolling the dough and making the pizza. She had a blast, and she spent so much time there that I suspect she was making the pizzas not just for herself but for all the people in the restaurant!

Post-lunch, we spent some time on the lawns chatting and taking photos with friends. Here are a few of the family only shots we took.

The nice thing I like about Piglet? He was probably hungry and sleepy (he drank some milk and was out like a light the moment we were in the car driving back home), but he never affected the party in any way. No temper tantrums, no mamma home, nada. Energetic, yes, mischievous, yes, but as long as there are no crowds and jostling, Piglet can be counted on to be amiable. He even posed happily for photos with us.

Later after she joined us, we tried for another photo op but K and Piglet rushed off in different directions, and so I settled for a solo of Snubnose.

Oh well! There will always be occasions for photo-ops, so am not too bothered about it.

So that was our Christmas weekend people! Quiet and festive in equal parts. My dad’s visiting us over New Year and am eagerly looking forward to meeting him after a long time. Other than that, we have no New Year Eve plans.

As I grow older, my enthusiasm for NYE parties have waned, and these days I am pretty satisfied with a day-time celebration and maybe a couple of late night drinks or two before I call it a night.

How about you? What did you do this Christmas, and what are your new year celebrations plans? And have you started making resolutions yet? I think making new year resolutions is also something that’s going to go by the wayside this year. What’s the point? I never keep them.

Ending this long, rambly post with a heartfelt thank you for a great 2014, and wishing you all a great 2015 filled with Love, laughter, and happiness. May you achieve everything you desire.