Ringing In The Festive Season (or, Our House is Full of Sugar, Presents and Christmas Movies 24/7)

This year, Christmas is a bit different. Since Version 1.0 can understand what’s happening a bit better, and seems to be fully aware of all the little traditions that are developing, we have found ourselves getting a bit more into the holiday season a bit earlier (which means Hubby is mildly less Grinch-like and drinks more). Our tree went up the first weekend of December, and all our presents were bought and wrapped and under the tree over a week ago. Version 1.0’s been marvelling at the spectacles of lights and decorations, merriment and laughter that envelopes every store we visit, and drips from her Christmas books that she reads every night.

We have so far managed to avoid Christmas music for the most part, but we allowed the Christmas movies to come out after December 1st. We didn’t bank on her being so enthralled with them and now The Polar Express is on at least three times a day, and it is peppered with viewings of other holiday favourites such as Rudolph, Frosty and The “Ginch”. Yes, she asks for it by name. The Ginch.

The other holiday pleasure that seems to have swept through our house has been a sharp increase in the presence of holiday treats… sugar. Sugar, sugar, sugar. Version 1.0 demanded her first hot chocolate thanks to The Polar Express. We’ve received gifts of baking, have made gifts of baking, and today decorated a rather lopsided gingerbread house. (Here’s the hilarious irony: I felt so guilty about exposing my kid to so much sugar, I bought sugar-free candies to decorate with…. but couldn’t find the sugar-free icing sugar for the icing). As could be predicted, she ate handfuls of candies (not kidding, she actually spit out ten jelly beans at one point when she realised her mouth was too full) and licked most of the icing off the tray. She placed a few marshmallows (also, not sugar-free) and plunked down a few gumdrops for the most part, it was straight from the dish to her mouth.

With all this indulgence – sugar everywhere, presents galore and non-stop Christmas theatre – I’m frightened that we’re going to have a New Year crash when we all of a sudden we go back to normal and everything is exceedingly boring again. I suppose it’s helpful that her birthday is early February, so we can wean her off the spoiled child high. However, I suspect it’s going to be a long January.

Any advice on how to bring my kid down from the month of heaven? How do I distract her from the chaos that surrounds her while we take down the tree and put The Ginch away for another year (Hubby often wonders why that keeps happening to him)?