Playing Christmas Catch-up

Mr P doesn’t quite grasp the concept of Christmas...It’s like living with our own very badly behaved Christmas elf.

Muddling through

Thank goodness for Twixmas

Mr P has no sense of urgency and no sense of the social niceties and expectations that come with this time of year. All I can say is thank goodness for Twixmas, because that’s when most of our cards and gifts are going to land on the doorsteps of our friends and loved ones! We will muddle through at our own pace, and have gentle fun along the way, but unfortunately for us, our resident Parkinson's elf won’t be going back into a box in the attic once the festive season is over.

We have had a slew of interventions from Mr P in recent weeks, resulting in disrupted nights, hectic days, extra domestic duties plus a lot of daily physiotherapy. It’s amazing how it all adds up and eats into the days that should be a time for preparation and excitement. Extra hospital appointments and home visits from community OTs and physios, the need to purchase specialist furniture because I can no longer help Euan out of chairs and bed without sustaining chronic injuries. The daily physio (it merits a second mention). The constant need to be on the ‘qui vive’ for Mr P in so many ways, to make sure he doesn’t get the better of my lovely man with all his elvish tricks. So, in a year when the whole country has gone early with Christmas, we have been scurrying along behind playing a bizarre game of catch-up.

It’s like living with our own very badly behaved Christmas elf!

Deep denial and dodgy dates

For the longest time I was in festive denial, refusing to notice the first tinselly inklings of December, grumpily switching off the radio if it dared to play anything Christmassy. In my head, right until last week, it was still five weeks till Christmas, plenty of time to do the sewing and creating I was intending by way of making gifts. The joke is, I bought all my Christmas cards from PUK in August when they first came out, and I purchased sheets of Christmas stamps online in November, full of soft focus visions of being well ahead of myself this year!! But no. I will be sending our cards on the last possible day for posting, all with laggardly 2nd class stamps that will guarantee a very Twixmas delivery now.

The situation wasn’t helped by the Royal Mail website suffering the shock and surprise of folk actually wanting to buy their stamps. Three days after accepting my very timely order (yes, I felt quite smug), they emailed with an apology: they had run out, due to unexpected demand. Now, even those of us living the up-heaved, chaotic and unpredictable life that comes with Mr P know that Christmas happens along, every year, on 25th December, and folk send lots of cards and presents through the post. What did the Royal Mail think would be happening this year?

The cards will be written at a leisurely, missed-the-post-pace, possibly with a little glass of something to help things along

The stamps eventually arrived, but way too late for my rose-tinted window of card-writing calm. However, I am no longer fretting. The cards will be written this weekend, at a leisurely, missed-the-post-pace, possibly with a little glass of something to help things along - and I have allowed myself a bit of a chuckle: if the Royal Mail could be in cloud cuckoo land about Christmas hoving into view, maybe I am actually on trend? And, if my tomatoes are anything to go by, late is very definitely the new early - clearly they are playing catch-up too. Anyone else expecting their first tomato crop this week??

Even the tomatoes are playing catch-up!

Euan doesn’t like Christmas at the best of times, but this year has seen him in a complete tail spin, unable to adjust to the strange and restricting circumstances. I think Mr P has been whispering nasty spiteful taunts in his ears just to wind him up. And the fact that we can’t easily go to the shops (I’m vulnerable) has puzzled Euan and foxed any plans he might have had to get me a card. He can no longer drive, and he can no longer walk as far as the town and he feels hamstrung. For now I’ve introduced him to the lovely online world of card shops and thank goodness for our smile.amazon Prime account (supporting Parkinson’s, of course). But once Christmas is over and town is quieter, I think it's time to work out routes and routines with our electric buggy, in order to help Euan regain his much-missed freedom.

Small mercies

I am mildly amused to find I have also missed the boat for ordering festive food and there is now a strong chance that we will be eating two day old chicken soup on Christmas Day, but that’s fine, it’s the perfect year to be all at sea - no guests to cater for, just the two of us (and Mr P of course) snugged up at home, liberated from the tyranny of producing Christmas lunch and all the trimmings to a military timetable and Mary Berry standards.

There is a strong chance that we will be eating two day old chicken soup on Christmas Day

At least I've managed to wrestle a tree down from the attic and deck it out in all its finery, and that feels hugely satisfying. We will have cosy fun and gentle times as best we can with just the three of us here - and hope that Mr P gives us a bit of a festive break from his elvish tricks. We will see local friends for garden huddles around the chiminea and walks on the beach. We will have lovely Zooms with family and far-flung friends. Some days we will stay in our pyjamas all day, eat nothing but chocolate and ice cream (I have managed to secure these essentials at least - thank you Renaldo's home delivery!) and maybe finally learn how to use the new TV. And we will remind ourselves how precious this time is.

Some days we will stay in our pyjamas all day and eat nothing but chocolate and ice cream

So. It seems Christmas really is coming. But in the end, I really don’t think anyone is going to mind a card coming late or us still decorating the house at New Year - and maybe a few folk will be just a bit impressed that we have managed any of this at all!!

Now, where did I put last year’s Advent calendar? I think I might have one or two doors to open...