We waved Christmas as we knew it good bye

Our trip to Italy turned out to be a little more extended than we thought, what we came to do could not be done in a few days and really we needed to be here for a month or so. So we waved goodbye to our Christmas and decided to stay in Italy for the indefinite future to get ourselves set up. 

We had a few more incredible meals, we continued to live life as we would have before Alessia was born. We went for dinner late at night and Alessia  slept in her buggy, I would just feed her to sleep. I got to talk, relax and have a drink. I really enjoyed our evening's and appreciated every last second of the time I had. 

 We went to Salerno to visit the Christmas lights, which we had done last year with Alessias great grandmother. It really hit home as to how important it is to enjoy the moment as every second thing are changing. It was really sad to be in the same spot doing the same thing, but the same people not to be still around. As i looked at Alessia's grand uncle walk around the Christmas lights I could see the sadness behind his eyes and the pain of loosing his mother. 

We enjoyed deep fried zucchini flowers and my favorite Cannoli's. I appear to be a creature of habit and every visit I go to the same places to get the same things.  

We were invited out on a number of occasions for dinner. I watched Alessia run around with her cousin neither could communicate verbally, but both enjoyed each other's company. Alessia learned Italian and explored the whole town inside out. On all our trips I've brought very few toys and she constantly entertains herself with things around her. It was incredible to watch as she becomes immersed  in her surroundings and is completely at one with herself and in the moment. To see her excitement as we go to the supermarket and when she spots the shopping trolley. She will then start picking things up and putting them in. 

With Alessia there is no rushing we are taking our time enjoying the second. She has slowed me down so much I don't rush, I don't worry about the little things I let her be. It's ok to drop food on your clothes or eat with your hands, it's ok to jump in puddles, and explore  supermarket shelves, it's ok to just be. Do what feels right without her constantly hearing no no no. I want Alessia to keep that spirit to jump for joy at the simple things in life and not worrying about the rat race and what others do or think. At the last moment, I decided Christmas is too special to me. So we would head home, as Christmas without my family is not Christmas at all. Instead, I would return in the New Year. So we made the trip From Cava to Dublin, the short 12 hour journey. With the visions of our Christmas traditions and Alessia being incredibly good I enjoyed the ride 

Alessia took plane number 20 in 18 months and was only getting better and better with every journey.

FREEFUN CAVA NAPLES ITALY AMALFI

My first Lie

 After many false promises on the last plane home from India, that there would be no more planes till at least January. I soon learned I had infact told my first lie, as we were off again. 

Luckily I have been blessed with a child that loves to fly and to travel. It took us 12 hours from Dublin to Naples and Alessia appeared to enjoy the ride. She Literally couldn't be better.

But I have learned that if I am relaxed and not stressed. Constantly engaging with her explaining what is going on and ensuring her two most important needs are met, food and sleep. Alessia is happy and I am inturn happy.

 

Arriving in Rome was like heaven, the sun beating down and the warm air, oh summer we had missed you. Unfortunately, I appear never to learn from my mistakes and forgot the ordeal and the length of time it takes for the bus to come and then bring us to the train station so we quickly realized we were going to miss our train. With 15 minutes to go we decided to try and change tickets online, we tried And failed three times and were just about to give up when we realized it was in fact the settings on my phone who were to blame. With minutes to spare, we changed our tickets And saved ourselves 120 euro. All the time staying relaxed and not worrying and enjoying the ride. We then ate a terrible Italian lunch while waiting for our train and vowed never to eat by termini station again. 

Our last time in Naples was to say our fair wells to alessias great grand mother so it wasn't the happiest of visits. As the train approach Salerno I could see the Christmas lights that tourists came in the thousands every year to visit. And Alessia had been the dream child. 

Arriving in Cava was not like before, the house was dark and there wasn't a smell of cooking.  It was evident that the house and those that lived in it had, had a hard year and Alessia's grand mother's presence was greatly missed. 

Alessia has spotted some carnival rides, so I took her to visit them. The streets are only for pedestrian and full of shops so Alessia was in her element running up and down into every shop to explore. I loved Italy the feel the smells the people. And Christmas here was so romantic.  It looked like Alessia loved it too.

The greatest gift of all

For me Christmas is the most magical and exciting time of the year. This year it is especially exciting, with Alessia. As I get to do all those wonderful things that you often forget to do or won't do without children.  Like going to see Santa, seeing the Christmas windows, and visiting the moving animal crib and so forth. It's extra special as Alessia is walking and talking and kind of gets that there is something going on. I love everything about it, especially the lights, the music and general festive feeling. 
There are so Many things I'm Looking forward to doing. All of them so simple and innocent. Like going to the turning on of the lights in my home town. Having my family down for Christmas breakfast. Having a drink with friends. Buying Alessia a stocking she can have for years to come. Spending time as a family and having our annual Christmas sing song. All of which cost little but make you feel so Good.

Though it's also a time people can feel overwhelmed and anxious and worried. Are they buying enough do they have enough, I hear lists of toys that children are getting. I understand it's so hard not to indulge and spoil your children. But I think it's such a special time, and getting over the top amount of presents I feel can actually take away from what Christmas is really about.

For me, I hope to teach Alessia how to enjoy the little things. To be in the moment, to have a love for music, walking in the cold all wrapped up, looking at the lights, playing Christmas songs in our kitchen and singing along, making lovely food, enjoying the smells and all the time you get to spend with your family.

If I can teach her how to enjoy the moment, it's a gift she can carry with her, for her whole life. Material possessions are great, but without, learning to appreciate the simple things in life, no amount of material wealth can make her happy. 

Christmas for me is about that feeling I get in my stomach from the end of November till mid January. It stemmed from my childhood. The memories I have of putting up our Christmas tree, we would put our Disney carol video on and get the decorations out. We all decorated it, the lights would always be broken and my grandfather would always come to fix them. Or how every year I would search for the same pair of socks of my mum's to use for my stocking I didn't want anything else this was tradition. Or the trip to my grandparents house to put their tree up, and the Christmas dinner we would have in their house a few days before Christmas.





 I don't remember every toy I got, or how much my parents spend on me, none of that mattered. It was the Christmas spirit they gave me, the love for life, the joy and happiness. So this year for Alessia of course I'll get her something off Santa. So she will have the experience of opening a present, I'm sure this present will not be around in a few years and will be long forgotten. But what I do hope she will remember and what will stay with her is the time I spend with her. Bringing her to the lights, carol services, putting up my parents' tree, and going to see Santa. I want to teach her how to feel Christmas rather than buy it. In hope that this gift will seep into every other part of her life. 

FREEFUN DUBLIN SKERRIES CHRISTMAS