True to my word, Christmas was a little subdued this year. Despite our very intentional planning and plotting for a low-key day, rather than enjoying the subsequent peace and quiet, it was surprisingly boring here at home on Christmas Day. I definitely won’t ever deliberately aim for a quiet Christmas again as it did feel incredibly lonely spending the day without the wider family around. Christmas just isn’t the same when you’re not surrounded by noisy children, on your second glass of wine by 11am, and you struggle to see the true colour of your carpet for all the glitter, discarded sellotape and biscuit crumbs by the time you drag your weary behind to bed.
To add to the miserable atmosphere, Dexter woke up grumpy, I spent half the day bent over the toilet (none-too-pleased to see my morning sickness had returned), and Craig was quickly reminded just how woeful Christmas television actually is. Craig and I didn’t buy for each other this year so it felt very strange not having anything to unwrap, and poor Dexter worked out pretty quickly that any unwrapping only revealed PJs, jeans and tees, and not any new toys to add to his ever-growing pile.
The single highlight was unveiling his wigwam play tent at 9am. Rather than handing him the box to unwrap, we set it up the night before in the living room for him to enjoy. Given you need a lot of room to set this bad boy up I’m still patting myself on the back for this one. Not only would this be a real struggle to achieve with a uncontrollably curious tot around, it was comedy gold watching Craig do it drunk!
Well it’s been an undeniable hit and I’m so so so grateful to the guys at Garden Games Ltd for sending it to us. They heard a panicking mummy’s distress-call on Twitter and came to the rescue with the one present that actually managed to cut through Dexter’s moodiness and reveal those adorable milk teeth we all know and love.
Wigwams and play tents are one of those enduring success stories that every mum & dad should have in their armory,and for under £55 on Amazon this particular one won’t break the bank either. Not only has it provided the perfect den for Dexter to flick through his favourite monthly read Practical Parenting (I prefer to not regard this as some kind of hint to us), it also hides all those pesky toys and books that are other wise so hard-to-home - I’ve often worried these will end up causing Mr OCD (aka Craig) to have a mental breakdown before he gets to witness the birth of his daughter.
It’s HUGE - standing 1.5 metres tall and spreads out up to 1.4 metres (depending on how you spread out the poles) meaning there’s plenty of room for a bean bag or big comfy cushion inside. We’ve also popped a few favourite board books inside so Dexter has plenty to keep him happy in his little hideaway. Its traditional Indian design makes it ideal for both mini madams and monsters, but also looks inoffensive in rooms with muted colour schemes. Not only this, but it also has a thick water-resistant calico cotton canvas meaning you can pop it out in the garden come the summer months.
It’s currently providing a lovely den in my living room but will eventually live in Dexter’s new bedroom giving him somewhere new to hide when mummy brandishes the scary change bag, or tries to strip him down for a bath!
Dexter absolutely loves it so I’d like to personally thank Garden Games from the bottom of my heart - you guys saved Christmas.
I was not asked to write this post, the wigwam was a gift - but I’m so chuffed to bits with it I simply had to share this.
