Friday’s Reflections

Well we have all made it to the Christmas Holidays, some of you sooner than others. I loved the final push which means that everyone gets time off including me – thank you! Well done to everyone for getting their homework done on time!

Today is the first day of the holidays, and the sad news is our area is about to go in to Tier 3. The following rules are very important to us as home schoolers to keep us safe.

you must not meet socially indoors or in most outdoor places with anybody you do not live with, or who is not in your support bubble, this includes in any private garden or at most outdoor venues.

you must not socialise in a group of more than 6 in some other outdoor public spaces, including parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, a public garden, grounds of a heritage site or castle, or a sports facility – this is called the ‘rule of 6’

Well, that is the must not’s out of the way, let us focus on what we can do over the next few weeks. There is a carol we sing at Christmas ‘Deck the Halls’ and the first verse includes the words:

Deck the halls with boughs of holly Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la 'Tis the season to be jolly Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la

And it goes on to say in the last verse

Follow me in merry measure. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la While I tell of Yule-tide treasure. Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la

If you want to sing along you can find a good version with the words here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIFqnEoctI4&vl=en

It is the season to be jolly and the way of making it jolly and merry is to find the Yule-tide treasure. Where can you find this treasure – read on!

The Best Gifts Come with Love Not a Price Tag.

Try to avoid thinking about what gifts you will get. This year has been just as tough for your parents and grandparents as it has been on you. They may not be able to afford expensive gifts or as many gifts as you would like: therefore, be grateful (not sure what that means check out the Word of the Week) for what you do get.

Think about what the best present you could give instead. These will be gifts of time, a gift of effort or a gift of altitude. Now more than ever we need those kinds of presents.

The Gift of Time

By helping out you are giving your time.

You can choose to play with younger brothers and sisters to keep them from getting bored.
Spend time talking with your grandparents be that by the telephone or video. If you are lucky enough to live with them (and I know some of you are) spend some time with them, keep them occupied.
You can offer to help with chores around the house and garden so that it does not fall on to the same person every time. This way we will keep ourselves occupied.

Gifts of Effort

You can give a gift of effort, when you put some of your time in to making something.

Going out for a walk is the only form of exercise most of us can do over the next few weeks – before Christmas go out check out all the local Christmas lights and plan the walk to see the best of them and then take the youngest members of the family out on a magical Christmas Eve light tour ending with hot chocolate and marshmallows.
Do some Christmas baking and then – really important here – do the clearing up afterwards!
Take part on our Christmas card challenge – see blog for details – again do the cleaning up afterwards.
When asked to help – do the very best job you can, take time to do it properly.
By inventing a game and playing it with your family you giving your effort.
Put on a talent show to entertain people.
Play board games.
You can take a survey of all the vegetables everybody like to eat as part of the Christmas dinner. Bring that list to our seed swop in January (however we make that happen) and plan to grow them in our up-coming Christmas dinner challenge – see the blog next year for more news on that.

Gifts of Attitude

Let’s face it – it has been tough on everyone and unlike the summer where we could hang out at the local park, the weather is not helping us do this right now. What we need is a positive attitude. We need to find that silver lining and spread the joy to the others - ourselves.

Offer to help before being asked – this goes a long way.
When asked to help - do so willingly and on the first time of asking.
When helping out - do so with a smile and with cheer.
If you are feeling a little bit grumpy with your brothers and sisters. Just go and give Mum or Dad a ‘heads up’ and spend a little time away from them. Do not let that niggle turn into a fight. You can do this!
If you see some who needs some ‘space’ and who is working very hard on not trying to get into a fight – give them some space! Try very hard not to poke them in to a negative reaction.
Want to go on the X-box, but somebody is hogging it – make a huge effort to find something else to do.
Dinner is not your favourite food – eat it anyway without a fuss.
If you are losing at a board game try really hard not to get upset.

Christmas is a time of giving, not necessarily of time of receiving. A time to give freely and without holding back. Let us find ways of giving that don’t cost money, if you need some ideas or help talk to your Study Buddies and friends.

If you are struggling with your mental health, you can text me over the Christmas period for some cheerful input.

I will finish with wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.