FROM THE NORM TO THE MARGIN

Quickly an idea.

I have always loved parties. It's a time when we can escape from reality for all to see without feeling embarrassed.My mum is a very practical person. We always celebrated Christmas, Carnival, Easter, All Saints, birthdays, holidays. She sent out many invitations, prepared delicious meals while working. We always had impressive dinner parties and loved the noisy and happy atmosphere.

 I don't know by whom we started adding decoration to these events. Certainly not by my mother. I think it was my sister's energy, willpower and all the books she gobbled up. In every area of my life, I find it hard not to go overboard.

Before I had children, even as a student, I decorated my home at every opportunity. It was as if I wanted to remember those happy moments I had experienced as a child. When I had my five chicks, I took them with me in this movement that quickly became a tradition. New Year's Day: dancing, board games, a buffet prepared together all day, evening clothes and make-up. Galette des rois and chandeleur. Carnival: mask on the front door, costumes, pancakes and more rarely bugnes. Easter: decorated tree, as well as the main room, mass and family meal with egg hunt (tough for the older children). Fourteenth of July: meal, fireworks and, depending on the age of the children, bal musette. Summer reunions with cousins for walks. All Saints' Day with Halloween: homemade decorations, cemetery tours, costumes, candy, horror video thread when the last ones are teenagers. Christmas: family reunion in the broadest sense of the word, decorations from the beginning of December with songs for the month, advent calendar, search for the ideal gift, mass (I go more and more alone), chocolates, meals (to loosen the belt), board games. 

But this year is different. Here it is hot, the dominant religion is Hinduism and we are far from the rest of the family. The beginning of December is approaching and we have no decorations as we are "travelling light".

My daughter doesn't really want to celebrate Christmas. My son has suggested that we meet in an Asian country for the end of the year and I am very keen to spend it with him. It's been three years since we spent the holidays without my son. I know that in France the family will not leave my daughters and grandson alone and that is a comfort. But as for us, I want my last daughter to have a proper holiday season. I need to think and come up with something. Quickly. I'll probably turn to Instagram or Pinterest. I swear by paper and human contact, but I'm turning more and more to the internet and social networks. I even got confused when I broke my laptop by falling with it. I crossed my fingers that it would be repairable (my photos and some papers are on it and how my children could contact me). I rushed to get the screen changed. A real junkie.

Oh dear, woe is me. I'm doing everything I used to blame my kids for when they first got a mobile. 

Getting back to the festive season, I'm looking forward to all ideas. HELP ME!!!!!How can I ensure that my youngest daughter has as warm a Christmas as her siblings did when we were in France and still living together?

I want her eyes to sparkle as much as they did on the morning of the twenty-fifth when she rushed to find out if Santa had eaten the biscuits she had put out before she went to bed by the tree. And that's even before she saw who had the highest mound of presents. I want to see her face light up like it did when she looked at the elves' footprints in the gold dust they left behind as they helped place the presents. I also want all my children to have their hearts swell with emotion when they see the letter that "Santa" wrote to them telling them how proud he is of them, how much he loves them and how much potential he sees in them. Well, let's get to work. Only one month left!