Diary of a Dad: Week 35 - What I Really Want for Christmas

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When you’re a kid, Christmas centres around toys, toys and more toys. That all changes as you grow up and frankly, it sucks.

If you could ask Father Christmas for stuff as an adult, things would be very different, even more so if you’re a parent!

My list wouldn’t take much for him to sort, but I’m not sure the big man would be able to bed able to fulfil all of it.

Sleep

One of the most beautiful Christmas gifts Santa could bring me would be a night (or two) of undisturbed sleep, coupled with lay ins.

The truth is, when you’re a parent, you just don’t sleep the same as you did when you didn’t have kids. It’s just different. No matter how well your kids sleep, it’s just like something switches.

I would love a couple of nights in my pre-kids mind. What a dream. The reality is that I’d most likely miss my routine and moan, but still…the chance would be amazing.

A house reset

Some days I feel like we’re on a hamster wheel. Clean, mess, clear, clean, mess, mess. Kids can make some serious jobs and bless them, it’s not (always) intentional.

The fire fighting means that other jobs take a backseat sometimes. Deep cleaning, sorting out cupboards and drawers, those kinds of things.

Now, if Santa could, I’d happily take a house reset. I mean, I feel like if we could start completely again, we’d be able to keep up with it so much better.

It’s not just the cleaning (I’m not asking for much!) but if he could do all the washing too - plus fold it and put it away, I’d be appreciative!

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Health and happiness

Cringe? Maybe. But as I’ve got older I’ve very quickly learnt that you can’t buy happiness and health is something you can never take for granted.

Given the events of the past few years, now more than ever, the idea of everyone around me enjoying themselves and being in good health is all the more important.

When I look back at last Christmas and consider all that we’d been through (and were going through) makes me so thankful things aren’t as restricted. I guess it’s funny that we got a taste of the importance of our freedom.

A diet

I’m feeling unhealthy at the moment. Life is very busy and the first thing to go is exercise and my diet.

What I could do with is a months worth of diet and exercise already done so that I feel I’ve made progress. If Santa could encapsulate that, I’d be so grateful.

It’s the same as the cleaning I guess, I just need a kickstart. That pretty much sums parenting up for me! I have all the best intentions but I don’t have the energy to see them through.

So Santa, I’m not asking for much, I’m happy with just one thing off my list and I’ve been a good boy. I’ll listen out for the bells.

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