
Are you are tired of the commercial, tacky or expensive and branded advent calendars in the shops? Try giving the kids a new activity each day – something with purpose to foster joy and kindness. Put a daily slip of paper in the relevant advent calendar pocket (or you could put it on the fridge, on the tree, in lunchboxes or under table mats etc.) for the kids to find and do – you can include chocolate treats too, with a reading from your favourite poem, book or a passage from the Bible.

These taste of pure Christmas season, with cinnamon and cardamom punching through the soft and fluffy dough. Kanelbullar are a traditional Swedish bun that can be served at any time of year, but are particularly nice to turn out at Christmas. Easy to make, if you have the patience to allow the two dough rises.

Giftedness‘ can be defined in many ways, but basically it describes individuals with a high cognitive potential. Broadly speaking, an IQ in the top 1-2% of the population (about 130+). Gifted individuals have specific emotional, sensory, social and educational needs. Understanding this is pure gold and well worth the (sometimes high) price of a report from a specialist.

Kindness isn’t about getting it right every time; rather it means treating others as best you can, with respect and fairness, regardless of how you feel about them or who they are… This doesn’t always come easily when we are tired, afraid or stressed and focused on our own needs, so it is a choice that has to be made deliberately.

Do you have baby clothes taking up space in your cupboards? Sharing them onwards for others to use is always a great first option. Then, sometimes they are just too adorable to part with, or are firm favourites associated with other memories or people.
MAKE BUNTING out of them! It is very easy, fun, attractive and you get to enjoy the nostalgia whenever you celebrate in your home.

I will impart it to my kids – all of it. I won’t rest until they understand what it can feel like to be proud of yourself, your nation, and your leader, to feel fierce satisfaction and wonder at what a nation can achieve in the face of vile ignorance and hateful leadership. Only then can they aspire to experiencing that for themselves – by making good choices about the future.
Love is love is love
It is week 2 of Advent – the week to light the candle of love.
Recently I have been involved in conversations which have steered towards others speaking openly against homosexuality and non-binary gender identification. It jars me every time and I need to speak my piece about respecting anyone’s choice to consensual adult relationships of any kind.