Casa de Munson continues to be a plague house this week. Bryan shook off his illness during the course of the week, but I inherited his sickness and enhanced it. I have felt awful all week – not man flu awful, but genuinely rough. It’s been a very long and discombobulating week. As I write this, I’m starting to – touch wood – feel better. Long may that continue.
Bryan helped his grandparents with their Christmas decorations the other day, and I wondered if he might be inclined to bring the date of our decorations forward. He’s standing firm, however; Friday 20th December is going to be our date. Fine by me; I’ve never been one for decorating too early, and I’m quite content with it being this close to Christmas.
We’ve actually got two Christmas trees – we inherited one, and it’s just as good as the one I originally got years ago. We’re going to use both trees (as we’ve got them); I offered Bryan the chance to have one in his room, but he looked at me like I was utterly mad. So we’re going to have one in the front room and one in the hall.
I’ve seen homes that are inundated with Christmas decorations – with every single surface decorated to within an inch of its life. Bryan and I prefer a more understated approach to our Christmas decorations; more subtle than Santa’s Grotto, but more than just a gentle waft of a single paperchain.
We had a significant milestone this week; we measured ourselves and discovered that Bryan is now officially taller than me. It might only be 2cm, but that’s an entire mountain range of difference when you examine Bryan’s excitement at this discovery. It was always going to happen, given Bryan’s meteoric climb over the past five years, but the moment your child officially becomes taller than you is a milestone. Especially when that child is still only thirteen years old.
The tale of two pantos is nearly upon us. Bryan’s first appearance in the Sarah Thorne panto is this Sunday and, if excitement could be bottled and then sold, I would be a very rich man. The three groups have worked very hard to prepare, as have the rest of the cast; it’s been lovely to catch up with old friends as Bryan has been rehearsing over at the theatre.
He’ll have family and friends there this Sunday (including me), and on another date as well; he’ll be able to show off his skills and hard work, and I’ll be the first (but not only) one cheering him on.
The other panto experience we have planned is our annual trip to the Marlowe Theatre to see their panto. We’ve done this every year since we became a family, and I’ll continue doing it for as long as Bryan is happy to go (in fact, I’ve already got next year’s tickets booked).
We always try and sit in the front row, but we’ve had to compromise a little this year. I made the mistake of booking it next Friday, but he now has dance lessons on a Friday. By the time I realised that, spaces were limited on other performances. However, it always pays to ask for advice, as I spoke to a lovely member of staff on the phone and she was able to get our tickets moved to a different performance and on the “slips” – the small rows of seats on either side of the main stalls. These are still near the front, and give us just a good a view as our original seats.
We make a day of it in Canterbury; we go out for lunch, have a wander round the Christmas market, visit the library, and end up at the theatre in plenty of time for the show. Can’t wait.
Under two weeks to go, people …
