Some Reality Checks This Christmas

Posted in Being Mammy, Being Me, parenting, Uncategorized by Maria Rushe - Blogger and Writer

Christmas.

I LOVE it! I love everything about it.

I love the sparkle, the sounds, the smells, the smiles.

I love the kindness. I love how it brings out the best in so many people.

I love the glitter, the happy and the magic…

But what I don’t love, is the pressure placed on us by the interweb to create magical, Christmas card worthy Hallmark moments.

It’s started already; Instagranny and Bookface are full of pictures of beautiful trees and perfect living rooms. None of us posted the mess of them being put up though did we!? Myself included. Of course not. We want to show the world our best smile don’t we? We want to give the general idea that we’ve gont our sh*t together.

MY Christmas Eve shall be fablis and perfect…for me.

If I were to follow the Instatrends and post it all online, here’s how it might look to the outside world…

There would be some last minute, calm and fun shopping in town, a family breakfast with my siblings and all of our minions, a quick visit to the grandparents’ homes and then home, where Mammy will wear her apron and help the girls make homemade cookies for Santa, create perfect Belgian hot chocolate for them before snuggling up to watch a movie. Then, I prep all of the veg etc for Christmas dinner. Then, as Daddy bathes the girls and gets them ready for bedtime, Mammy shall pour a little drop of mulled wine and begin creating the turkey. We shall have some hearty homemade soup for tea and Mammy shall double check her lists to ensure that all is done. In a whirlwind of excitement, the girls shall leave out their fablis homemade cookies, a carrot and some milk for Santa. They’ll sprinkle reindeer food on the steps and go to bed, happy and excited.

Then, Daddy shall pop a bottle of bubbles, we’ll finish wrapping presents and then we’ll cozy up on the sofa and wait for Santa.

REALITY CHECK

The last minute shopping will not be calm and fun, unless you have someone to sit in the car with minions while you pop in and out of shops. Shopping on Christmas Eve is my idea of Hell. It is worth than soft play. Just saying.

Family breakfast WILL be fun, but it will most likely also be filled with nyaming and crying, with things like “She’s sitting on meeee”, “He got more berries” and “Stop that nonsense now!”. The adults will eat breakfast, pretending to have jovial conversation, but really just throwing random and disconnected statements at each other between bouncing the kids and interrupting each other to throw “What pet?” or “Get down off that chair”s around.

Visiting – Yes, but the over excited and wound up kiddies will be needing a sleep by then and there is a high chance of tantrums forecast once a Grandparent enters the room. Add sugar before wrestling kids into car. Perfect!

Bake cookies: Buy a box of cookie mix. Add an egg and there you go. Mary Poppins indeed.

My favourite!

Hot chocolate: Not Belgian. Not fancy. Straight from the coffee machine pods. Plop in the marshmallows and she’s happy out..

Sure why not?

Movie: In my head it’s Miracle on 34th Street, in reality it’ll be The Grinch again for 38 minutes before Paw Patrol is looked for. And it’ll be grand, because Mammy will realistically be watching it from the kitchen.

Homemade soup: HAHAHAHAHA! I’m not that organised. I go to Mum’s on Christmas Eve and steal a lunchbox full of hers. No point in both of us making it, is there?

Mulled wine: Buy a jar or packet. Slosh in some cheap wine and orange juice. Done. (Oh, and if you don’t like mulled wine, why the heck are you making it?) Even btter… buy a bottle of premade mulled goodness and plop it in a pot to warm up. Who’ll know? Who’ll care?

Prepping dinner: This I DO do. Not because I’m Mary Poppins, but because the only thing any Mammy needs to be peeling on Christmas Day is the paper off presents (or the foil of my Chocolate Orange!) PS. Did you know you can buy PRE-PEELED SPUDS!?

And if I’m REALLY honest, I’ve ordered all of my spuds and sides from two local chefs who run a fab catering company here in Donegal. I have a crowd coming for dinner. I have no interest in peeling and chopping for hours. I’ll do my own turkey and ham etc, but I am making life easy and making no apologies for it.

Go for it Mammy. It’s Christmas after all!

Do you really need baubles on the plates?

Lists: Once you’re home, scrap the lists. Whatever you haven’t bought by then, doesn’t need bought. I will do a last To Do list, just to remind me of what needs done before I can sit on my backside for a few glasses of grapes later.

TIP: Write some stuff you’ve already done so you’ll feel better that there are a few lines through it already.

Bedtime: Yes it will be exciting, but it will also be frantic with two children who can’t control their highly stimulated and sugar induced emotion, and full of threats of “If you’re not sleeping, Santa won’t come”. Eventually, Mini-Me will succumb to sleep, but them going straight to bed and nodding off instantly is as possible as me getting a Chanel coat and 76ct diamond tiara.

Then, you get to start to tidy and clean and do all the other stuff that needs doing, just like every other day. And who will notice or care if your sitting room looks perfect?

Warning… lasts a maximum of 3 minutes!

Presents: If you don’t like wrapping stuff, don’t. Keep it simple. You don’t need fancy curled ribbons. They do not need to be Pinterest worthy. Tell people the kids wrapped them, or better still, buy Christmas gift bags. Sorted. Santa doesn’t have time to wrap presents in my mind. Santa has better things to do.

I wrapped these myself…not!

Waiting for Santa? Yeah. After 2 hours of tiptoeing about the place, forgetting where things are and trying not to wake the kids with rustling bags, as you try not to KILL each other! Then you finally sit down to “relax” before realising that the kids will be up in, oh… approximately 4 hours!

Seriously though.

Relax.

What’s in that cup Mammy?

Christmas will come and go. It is magical and wonderful, but it is also what you make it. I just HOPE my Christmas is exactly as I have described, because cheats and realities and all, it’s MY perfect. No one else’s.

The Christmas inspector is not going to visit on Christmas morning to check if your home in Hallmark worthy. NO ONE actually cares that you wrap EVERY SINGLE ONE of the presents. No one cares what your kids get from Santa. No one cares if you have your hair brushed. No one cares if you’re all in matching PJs. And the only person whose opinion matters on these things, is you.

While we like to see people we like and care about looking happy on Christmas morning, remember that you are under NO obligation to post pics or share ANYTHING on social media. You are also under no obligation to even look at other people’s photographs on social media.

If looking at other’s “perfect Christmas” makes you feel crappy, put down the device and look at what’s in front of your eyes, in the real world.

Chances are, your perfect Christmas is right there already…in the real world. Chaos and all.

Enjoy it!

8Dec2019

Songs Offending My Darlings?

Posted in Being Mammy, Being Me, parenting, Uncategorized by Maria Rushe - Blogger and Writer

I am offended…

Given that everyone is now allowed and encouraged to be offended by absolutely everything, I’ve decided to crack down on the lyrics of other Christmas songs which, let’s be honest, are incredibly offensive to offendable people who like to be offended.

Last year’s uproar about the dreadfully offensive lyrics of Christmas classic croonfest “Baby It’s Cold Outside” is being spouted again by the EOTs (Easily Offended Types). It quite rightfully opened the door* for all sorts of uproar about every lyric ever written ever.

(*the door was not opened or held open by the song or for the song, but rather automatically so that basic manners might not be perceived as chauvinistic by the easily offended).

It’s only taken us 70 odd years to realise the utterly heinous and terrible connotations of dominance and kidnapping in the lyrics of this shocking song. How were we so naive?

How could we ever have misconstrued the lyrics as a playful interaction between a man and woman, who, at the end of a date are toying with the idea of getting the leg over. How dare we see it as a coy, flirtatious exchange in which the man is trying to extend the cuddle time, and the woman, (who quite obviously wants to stay) is playing a little hard to get… by choice. What were we THINKING? I mean, he’s obviously an evil-demon -from-hell-Mantype.

There’s no way he’s just a man. Or you know, that she’s just a woman, who (shock horror) doesn’t mind the idea of coitus, even though 1940s society would have frowned upon such frivolity.

Shit Lads, what were we thinking? (Sorry,I shouldn’t say lads. Ladies? No, that too is offensive as it has the word lad in it… )

I am indeed offended by the lyrics. I shall ignore the fact that it’s one of my favourite Christmas songs and jump onto the offended bandwagon, just because it is cool to be offended by anything and everything.

I am also joining in with the campaign to change or bleep out the word “faggot” from the classic “Fairytale of New York”. It offends me.

Actually, so do the the words “Cheap and lousy” as they suggest that I am not willing to spend money. I ‘m offended by the glorification of betting and gambling in the line “Came in eighteen to one” and the OBVIOUS ageism in “An old man said to me won’t see another one”.

I’m also offended by the suggestion that I “can’t face it all alone” or that “I could’ve been someone”. Do NOT TELL ME I can’t be ANYTHING I WANT TO BE! You are OFFENDING MY RIGHTS!

Can we also take out the word “arse” as, you know, offended… And while we’re at it, let us change the title. Because we should NOT be telling our daughters that Fairytales are a thing. That is making them grow up into the type of woman who gets trapped by the evil demon from hell mantype who wants to drink with her and doesn’t want her to catch cold… Irresponsible parenting is personified in the title. I am offended.

Other Christmas songs that we shoud just ban while we’re at it, are:

Frosty the Snowman. I am offended that this particular snowman is a man. Also, the fact that he is “made of snow” offends me because it suggests that he is weak. He also tells us he’ll “be back again someday”. This offends me as sometimes, people leave This line therefore is giving our children a false sense of security.

“I saw Mammy kissing Santa Claus” must also go. It reeks of adultery. Where is poor Daddy? Mammy is conveyed as a slut here. She is EXACTLY what the woman in “Baby it’s cold outside” would have turned into, had we not saved her by being offended…

Rudolf the red nosed reindeer...WHY do we feel the need to differentiate between him and the others based on the colour of his nose? Borders on racism I tell you. Offended.

“Jingle Bells” obvious sexual connotations. “All the way” is putting me under pressure. One-horsed open sleigh is OBVIOUSLY animal cruelty. Why aren’t there two horses? And to be politically correct, why is a horse doing the job of a reindeer? Discrimination or equinism gone too farf? Offended.

“All I want for Christmas is you” offends me. It suggests that all women only want a man. Are we not perfectly capable of being fully rounded, successful and whole beings ALONE? Offensive.

“Santa Baby” promiscuous wench, bordering on prostitution. Slapper she is in her fluffy cuteness…Offensive.

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” – full of threats. Obvious threats. “You’d better watch out. You’d better not cry.” Obviously abusive language. Offensive.

“Driving Home for Christmas” offends me. What if I don’t have a car? What if I’m a stay-at-home-parent or a work-from-homer who is ALREADY at home? Do you think I want to be listening to a song which puts pressure on me to drive somewhere, JUST so I can drive home again?

“I’m dreamin of a White Christmas” – eh racist no?

“Live Aid” – Tonight thank God it’s them instead of you? Well now THAT is just offensive.

Actually, can we move away from Christmas songs? There are many other offensive tunes on our radios each day.

“Dontchya wish your girlfriend was hot like me” offends me. What if Nicole Sherzimeister actually means it and is going to steal my Husband who might agree that she is indeed “hotter” than his plain old boring wife? Offended. (And genuine cause to hate the perfect one obviously.)

Bohemian Rhapsody? – Violence! Offended by Mama pulling a trigger. I’m pretty sure the word Fandango should offend me too…

Dance Monkey? – I am offended that you think my dancing makes me look like a primate.

Would you like me to go on? I could you know? I could find offense in fucking Nursery Rhymes if I felt like it.

But do you know the thing about being easily offended?

It means NOTHING! NOBODY GETS HURT AND NOBODY ACTUALLY CARES IF YOU ARE OFFENDED. You don’t get a rash. You don’t get a badge. You just get tired with all the energy it takes to be OFFENDED BY EVERYTHING ALL THE FECKING TIME!

Have I offended you?

Whatever. You’ll survive. Write a letter to Santa or The Grinch. He can put you on his ever growing “offended” list.

It’s on the page after the Naughty List ends.

“

6Dec2019

Some Things I’d change about Christmas…

Posted in Being Mammy, Being Me, parenting, Uncategorized by Maria Rushe - Blogger and Writer

If I were Queen of the whole world (as opposed to my own little corner), there are a few things I would change about Christmas…

Christmas jumpers should be permissable for wearing from December 1st. To all occasions, without eye-brow raising, without judgement…unless you are judging how fucking FABLIS it is is comparison to your NOT Christmassy, everyday, boring Jumper.

2. Only competent drivers should be allowed on the road from the 11th until the 24th. Because Christmas Eve is on a Monday, the last minute panic (and for some, ALL their shopping) will have to be done over one long weekend. This would not be a huge problem if everyone knew how to DRIVE. The town will inevitably stand still with non-moving cars and the special Dumbasses who the Grinch or some other Gremlin sends down from Dumbass Land, and who ONLY come out to drive on Christmas Eve and who test the patience of EVERYONE else by not using INDICATORS or knowing what a fucking YELLOW BOX is. They are not even real people. I think they’re like Matrix people who we can all SEE blocking the roundabout or taking 2 hours to reverse their Corsa into two spaces, diagonally, but they’re not ACTUALLY real… they can’t be. That level of Dumbass doesn’t exist does it?

3. The shops should all close at 1pm on Christmas Eve. Why? So that the creturs working in them get to GO HOME to their families of course! Be nice to retailers Ladybelles. You might be stressed, but they’re still working. When I am queen, the whole world shall shut down early and Christmas shall be forced to begin at a decent hour.
4. Anyone who parks in a disabled spot or a parent spot without good reason or genuine need, should be zapped by a glitterfying lazer and beamed to a 1980s Tellybox set like in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where they shall have to stay until Boxing Day, being continuously whipped by a mansized Bosco. Better still, their CAR should be zapped away from them as they lock it so they can see just how fucking difficult it is to suddenly have an unnecessarily long distance to navigate a wheelchair or crutches or 3 screaming kids and 10 bags, just because they think they’re more special than the rest of the world. Pricks. (Note…this applies all year round. 🤐)
5. Children and Hims should not be allowed to get sick before or during Christmas. It’s hugely unfair on the Mamma Bears who are already trying to fit ALL THE EVERYTHING into their lunchbreaks and do the full grocery shopping in 8 minutes flat enroute to the school gate. It is highly inconvenient and terribly upsetting when your minions suddenly feel poopy at this time. Of course it could always be worse… especially if your Him decides to do his annual Nutcracker rendition and act out the part of the useless and slightly tragic wooden soldier who needs something fucking magical to instil life and joy into his bones again. Of course I’m not referring to my own Him here. 😇He is a Braveheartesque soldier at all times😲😲 and never succumbs to manflu or calls for his Mammy when his Her tells him to “man the fuck up.”
6. Cars will have a secret “other” boot. This will stop the drama of “How the feck will I get the stuff that isn’t really there and can never be seen by little eyes into the house before they decide to open the boot to throw their schoolbags in?” Such a debachle!
7. All Mammies will be allowed to drink tea or grapes or gin as early as they like from the 20th. Sorry…the 19th 😂😂until at LEAST January 3rd. This shall be law.

8. Baby it’s Cold Outside and Fairy Tale of New York should be played on repeat in every shop from now until Christmas Eve, especially for all of the OFFENDED people who like to be OFFENDED so much that EVERYTHING OFFENDS them. Yeah, that’s a whole other post…

Oh and everyone shall smile always, and wear big hats (which will ALL be made XL to fit humongously craniumed wenches like S-Mum) and we shall all be lovely to each other and sparkle like glittery unicorns because ’tis the fucking season and all that.
How was your day?

Are we there yet? 🎄🎅🦄🎄🍷🎅🎄🦄🍷🎅🎄❄⛄🎄🎅🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

3Dec2019

Dear Santa…

Posted in Being Mammy, Being Me, parenting by Maria Rushe - Blogger and Writer

Dear Santa,

I hope that you and Mrs. Claus are well. I have been the bestest Mammy I could be, (most of the time), this year.

For Christmas, Mammy would like diamonds around my neck, a spa break and a big hug from a Fablis Chanel coat.
(Oh! And a book deal at long last would be nice too, but plenty time for that in 2020. 😜)

Mammy would also like:
🤶An uninterrupted shower
🎅To experience the joy of independent excretion on the porcelain throne…alone
🤶For the children to recognise Daddy as the other perfectly capable adult who can do things for them in our home.
🎅For some, even only a few, sentences to start with “Daddy” rather than “Mammy”, just for one day.
🤶A lie in.
🎅For all of the seasonal bugs and sniffles to bugger off for a week!
🤶For a laundry fairy to magic away the pile, just for a few hours

But, while all of these things would indeed be wonderful, Mammy must say Santa, that really, I need nothing.

As cliched and silly as it might sound, I have everything I want right in front of me. As much as I give out about the daily pains of being a “fulltime-everything-to-everyone”, I would’t have it any other way.

These two little minions are mine. They are my carbon copies; a perfect little mixture of myself and my Him. For all their tantrums and chaos, they are my world. They give their Daddy and I so much fun every day.

I’m glad I have their mucky little faces slabbering biscuits all over me, and their snottery noses to wipe. With each tantrum, I see two headstrong little girls who will change the world one smile at a time, and I know that they will be fine. Their arms around my neck are my diamonds.

And as for My Him? Yes I might give out that he spends too much time with our Jim, but that’s OK too. He’s the hardest working man I know, just like my own Daddy. I wouldn’t have him any other way. We lead crazy busy lives, but at the end of every hectic day, we come home to each other. He’s my big bad handsome man. He’s the only person in the world who knows me better than I know myself. He’s my Him and he’s the only hug I need this Christmas.

Uninterrupted showers are overrated. Soon enough, I shall have privacy in the bathroom once more. I will eventually find myself missing the fat little fingers against the glass.

The snots and sniffles and puking, thankfully, come and go. How blessed I am that they do. The tears and tantrums might be plentiful, but they are outweighed by smiles and giggles that make the world chuckle in unison.

And they can “Mammy” me as much as the want. That’s what I’m here for. That’s what I am.

So yes Santa, “things” would of course be nice, but as for getting me what I need? Don’t worry. I don’t need anything. In the midst of the mess and laundry and chaos and tears and noise and stresses, it turns out that when I think about it, I have everything I could ever want right here already.

Have a wonderful Christmas Santa.

Lots of love,
Mammy xx

2Dec2019

Rushe to Raise – How the Grinch Stole…the SHOW!

Posted in Adventures, Being Mammy, Uncategorized by Maria Rushe - Blogger and Writer

Well #RusheToRaise is all over for another year.

Emmet and Maria with The Grinch

Our third annual Rushe to Raise Fundraiser has allowed us to raise €2000 for two worthy causes here in Letterkenny.

Myself and Emmet once again sponsored the screening of a Christmas Classic with our friends at Century Letterkenny. This year, thanks to Noel O’Donnell & Co. Ltd, we were able to have a very special guest with us on the day.

The Grinch (provided by Best Ever Mascots) came along to entertain the queue, and he absolutely stole the show. He had the 200+ strong crowd in stitches of laughter before they even got into the cinema. And then he wreaked havoc on them as the sat awaiting the screening to start.

Myself and Emmet wish to thank everyone who, as always, happily come out to support us when we run events like this.

It is a lot of work and yet it’s so magical being in our local cinema with so many friends and family to kick off the festive season each year.

This year, everyone left with their own snowflake decoration to hang on the tree in their own homes.