Decorations down. Oso has a lot to answer for.

Today I decided to get the girls help me take the Christmas decorations off the tree. I'd decided it was a good idea to involve them in it so that it wasn't a huge shock to find them all gone in the morning. A bit like saying goodbye to Christmas, really.

All went fairly well, although no surprise really that I ended up doing most of the work myself. The girls mainly wanted to play with the tinsel and shiny bead garlands, and it was lovely to see them having fun. Once everything was off the tree though, Sasha decided that she would like to put all the tinsel back on. So that's exactly what she did, with daddy's help when he got in from work. You can see the result here.

She also wrapped up 4 more presents for under the tree - that thing she's been doing repeatedly. Below is a pic of her doing it yesterday - she liked to carry them to the tree in the gift bag:

I've sussed that it's down to a Special Agent Oso episode. I thought I had taken great care in selecting which Oso episodes to let her watch - i.e. definitely not the one where he makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (although at least that would be a change from Dairylea!), or the one where he makes pancakes, flies kites or uses a skipping rope (it's winter don't you know?!). I'm hoping with the tree gone tomorrow this activity will be forgotten for a while... although I suspect only until we get to someone's birthday.

The return to school went amazingly well. Sasha was happy to go in and even told me at home that she would be happy to see her teacher that morning. I also managed to persuade her to leave Terry the Turtle in the car both days, another big achievement. Terry is her one-and-only soft toy (she's never been interested in any others, unlike her big sister who could start a shop with hers!) and he is now looking a bit past his best. She took him into school every day last term, and although she always left him in a tray by the front door (great spur of the moment routine started by her teacher there!), I think the teachers will be glad that he's no longer making it past the threshold... so far anyway.

Tamsin was also pleased to return - she was even dressed ready in her school uniform when she left her bedroom! Day 2 was a slightly slower and less enthusiastic start, but still going OK until Sasha tripped in the school room. She had a bit of a wobble but was quite brave so I dashed off and hoped for the best. It's been some much needed time for me to get the house back in order... two days down, another four to go on that score I reckon!!!