This is my eighth Christmas as a mum and, over the past eight years, we’ve built up some solid Christmas Eve traditions that are ingrained in our festive family routine. One of these traditions is a special book on Christmas Eve (we read Christmas books throughout December, if I’m honest) and, this year, that book has come courtesy of the team at Joules.
Why it’s so special
What’s it all about?
Telling the story of the Crackle family on Christmas Eve, A Christmas Tale shares the hilarious adventures of Emily and her four pets Sausage the cat, Molly the goose (good name!), Paul the rabbit and Montague the dog.
My girls were transfixed by the tale, not least because of the beautiful pictures. It’s a real cosy, happy story that instantly ramps up the festive feels if you’re somehow lacking in those Christmassy tingles.
Our traditions on Christmas Eve involve a country walk and lunch in a cosy pub, followed by an afternoon at home making reindeer food and reading Christmas stories. Once it’s dark we wander up to the village Christmas tree where we join other families singing Christmas carols. It’s proper heartwarming stuff and even my typically grumpy husband can’t help himself but be swept away by the excitement of it all.
The Christmas stories we read involve a mixture of old and new, and it can be hard finding books that live up to the standard of my own childhood favourites. I still have a copy of The Nutcracker that my own mum used to read to me and my sister in front of the fire on Christmas Eve, for example, but A Christmas Tale by the Joules team definitely holds its own amongst such heavyweight festive titles.
Despite being a mum for seven and a half years now, I still get those occasional moments of “I’m a mum!” realisation and Christmas seems to be peppered with them. Reading our Christmas Eve stories by the fire is always guaranteed to bring a happy jolt, largely because it reminds me of my own childhood traditions, you know?
Along with cosy socks, a crackling fire and Christmas tunes in the background, we need our festive mugs filled with hot chocolate (the girls have a “hot chocolate cone” each this year in their Christmas Eve goodies bag, filled with hot chocolate powder, marshmallows and a couple of cookies – picked up at the school fair). I may have been known to swap the hot chocolate for mulled wine in my cup…
Thanks to the team at Joules for sending us this book to read – it’s definitely going on our Christmas Eve reading list.
And if you’re interested in what we’ll be wearing on Christmas Eve, we’ll be decked out in the following:
Seen in the photos above too, I’ll be wearing the Jingle Belle breton by Joules. While the girls rock their Ava applique tops with festive lama design, also by Joules.
Credits:
Jingle Belle breton, £29.95, c/o Joules
Ava Applique top, from £19.95, c/o Joules
Festive fluffy socks, from £7.95, c/o Joules
Festive cuppa seasonal mugs, £9.95, c/o Joules
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Thanks to Joules for commissioning this post. All imagery and copy are my own. For more information about how I work with brands check out my Work With Me page.
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