97 days until Christmas.

Every year our Post Office here has a sign that announces the days until Christmas, sooooo it was with great excitement that the youngest sweeties spied the Christmas sign at the Post Office the other day.

There are a couple of funny stories regarding the PO's Christmas sign that I just have to tell you and they both feature the very youngest Sweetie - every family has one. The charming, scatterbrained, intelligent, nerdy, loving, happy one. I was allowing the boys to ride to school, it combined well with keeping fit and economising with the car, and giving them a sense of independence, and really, I needed a bit of excitement as I wasn't getting out enough. I used to be the sweep - I would come along 15 minutes later and pick up anything and all the bodies that were littered on the path.

This day I arrive at school and check that they are there and no sign of the charming one, and as the bell had just rung as I arrived, I leapt back on my bicycle to scour the town. The boys had been fascinated with the air pump at the garage, so off I hoon to see the charming one pedalling towards me so serenely along the main street, with a big grin on his face. Not being one to wipe the smile off his face I asked where he had been, well it was that he had to find out how many days until Christmas so he had to wait until the PO opened and put their Christmas sign out. Later that day, I was waiting for the boys to come home and getting ready to go and find them. Remember that I had threatened them with untold horrors that they weren't to dawdle, and only one turns up. Argggh. Off I go and there is the charming one with that look again. This time it was because he had to go back to the PO, on his way home from school, to check to see if the number was still the same. I tell you the days are just packed. To alleviate any further difficulties arising with the days before Christmas, the Charming one reckons that there are 364 days before Christmas by the way, and we were in the car, I would detour past the PO to keep the countdown happening and cut down on the charming one going AWOL. I reckon that it saved a few grey hairs. Bugger the independence and the economising.