A new year? Ditch the Brasso.

(www.mcmillanhotels.co.uk)

Approaching midnight on 31st December,

the year is looking a fair bit tarnished and dusty.

I know that for most of us

there are glimpses of beauty and the brilliance that were there at 12:01 am 

on the previous 1st January.

But instead of reaching for the dusters and the bicarb

to try and clean it up a bit as we have done through the year,

we get to gently push the jaded, fading year to one side.

We can look back when we want to,

pick it up, inspect the end product,

but meanwhile focus on the shiny, brand new year,

dust-free and full of potential.

2013 had a lot of positives for us

but some of the lows were very low.

Mostly first world problems

(probably the most [over] used catch phrase in 2013 for this family)

but significant all the same.

Aside from severe food poisoning for me

and the effects on the family of a prolongued and very ugly business break-up,

the kids seemed to take the worst of it.

A broken arm, Queen Bees, negligent teachers,

bullies, unresolved emotional issues,...

probably to be expected with 3 kids over the course of a year.

You take it on the chin 

and hope/resolve/pray that the new year 

will bring an easier year for the young ones.

But when middle child lost a tooth on Christmas Eve,

 presenting it to a worn-out parent (that would be me) at the end of a year limping towards its use-by date,

my knee-jerk reaction was to announce 

that the Tooth Fairy took Christmas Eve (and Good Friday-

a pre-emptive strike seemed like a good idea at the time) as  a day off.

Obviously, I reasoned with said child,
 the risk of getting trampled by the big guy or his reindeer was just too great.

(My brain was pounding along...

seriously-the tooth fairy?-on Christmas Eve?- as well?-

hard enough to get those stockings onto the ends of their beds with their jangly bells-

yes, seemed like a good idea to sew them on at the time-

but we aren't home-where is the food colouring in this place?-

why does our tooth fairy magically change the colour of the water in the glass?-

reckon that idea was started at the start of a year, not the end-
if I tread on Lego in the dark, it'll be ugly-

tired, so tired- surely the Tooth Fairy can catch up tomorrow...)

Other parent, high on the prospect of a new, self-improvement project,

quietly announced after the kids had gone to bed 

that there was enough magic for both Santa and the Tooth Fairy 

to come on the same night.

One mummy duly chastised.

OK, so I'm not going to get that "Parenting of the Year" award anytime soon.

But I am going to try my best to keep this new year absolutely luminescent

for as long as I can.

Keep it dusted frequently and with enthusiasm.

Even sprinkle it with fairy dust every now and then.

That is, once I have gotten rid of the head lice and the gastro that partied in this shiny new year
with us.

(www.sharpendullsworld.blogspot.com)