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I wish you a Merry Christmas

24th December 2008 by Helena 7 Comments  

For me this Christmas really began with Leo and his ballet performance at Abu Dhabi Mall to the tune of ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’. Now we are almost there. It is Christmas Eve and I am sitting by a roaring fire with our Credit Crunch Christmas Tree (donated by a friend from his garden but slightly skinny and collapsing under the weight of the decorations, my mother asked if it was upside down) planning the big day.

""Sadly only Leo still believes in Father Christmas. Olivia sussed him out a few weeks ago and of course where she goes, Bea follows. I have not confirmed that he doesn’t exist.I just can’t bring myself to. I remember the feeling of loss I had when I realised he was not real. So I just say ‘he exists if you believe in him’.

Wolfie my gorgeous dog showed up, covered me in kisses, ate three meals and then….left again. Typical male. But it was so nice to see him. I am torn between wanting him to come back and dreading it because saying goodbye again will be too awful.

Being home is still heavenly. I can’t think of a nicer place to spend Christmas Day. We have ordered a turkey, planned the bread sauce and all I need now is some time to wrap the stocking fillers.

Not for the first time in my life I am wishing Father Christmas really did exist….

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2008


Filed Under: Children, Family, blog --> Tagged With: christmas, merry

7 thoughts on I wish you a Merry Christmas

  • Arthur says:
    24th December 2008 at 3:23 pm

    I wrote these notes some years ago for my, now 17.6, daughter.

    “Father Christmas reminds us it is Christmas and he tells us what we should buy. He is very busy so we have to help him a little.
    We do the shopping and put the things out as he’s too big now to come down a chimney.
    But it is his idea. Without him – no presents at Christmas. We also celebrate the birth of Jesus”.
    AB.
    I should have put it better. Have a joyful Christmas. Everyone needs to celebrate something occasionally.

  • Patricia Rodriguez says:
    24th December 2008 at 6:31 pm

    I remember as a kid being pretty traumatized when I found out that Father Christmas didn’t exist…but soon after I discovered that my parents had a “Master” card…and you could buy anything you wanted with it!

    Many years later….one sad and tragic morning…I found the bill in the mail…

    Have a wonderful Christmas Helena!
    xoxo

  • Leanne MacMillan says:
    24th December 2008 at 10:15 pm

    Please, please, please, do not sell Ste. Cecile! It is part of my memories of our year in France… with your family as the occupants! Cheers, Leanne
    p.s. Cailin turned 18 yesterday!

  • helena says:
    25th December 2008 at 10:22 am

    Don’t worry Leanne, we won’t. Happy Birthday to Cailin.
    Hx

  • mimi says:
    26th December 2008 at 2:25 am

    Merry Christmas, Helena, and thanks for lovely posts this year. In my household, this year was the first acknowledged without SC..it’s just not the same. I still insisted on reading “The Night Before Christmas”, but middle girl refused to participate- the other two, in fairness, did sit and listen, just to please me. Next year, I think I’ll just read it to myself! Anyway, enjoy your celebrations, every minute of it! mimi

  • sharyn g says:
    27th December 2008 at 5:39 am

    Helena,

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! If you happen to run into Father Christmas aka Santa Claus, I am a firm believer and deserve an award.

    Sharyn

  • Josephine says:
    27th December 2008 at 11:18 am

    Merry Christmas and thank you for your stimulating Blog. I cannot remember finding out Father Christmas didn’t exist. I had the joy of my three year old becoming more aware of him this year. Her main concern was whether he would use the ‘big toilet’ before he set off on his rounds which shows you where her mind is xx

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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