A VERY CATALAN CHRISTMAS

Today is El Dia Del Reis! "The Kings Day." If we were in Catalonia we would be sitting down for a family meal and eating a crown-shaped cake trying hard not to break a tooth on a little ceramic figurine and/or bean that had been lovingly baked inside it!

If you were lucky enough to get the figurine you get to wear the crown.

If you get the bean you are supposed to pay for the meal.

Preceding this, we may have been involved in a drama where someone discovers a window had been left open overnight..and hopefully finding that, instead of being robbed, (which is a distinct possibility considering the economic situation in Spain) that we have had night time visitors- 3 to be exact, yes you guessed it - the very Three Kings that visited baby Jesus...and they have been busy all night visiting all the open windows and depositing presents, much like Santa does on Christmas Eve.

The kings from a procession on the evening of 5th Dec.

Now no blog post about a Catalan Christmas would be complete without referring to the Catalan's seeming obsession with poo. Firstly I have to mention my favourite aspect of a Catalan Christmas, and that is the Caga Tió -translation "Shitting Log". It is a log with a face & a traditional shepherd hat.

This year's tiós being fattened up before being beaten.

It comes out in December- everyday the children feed it and keep it warm with a little blanket, so on Christmas day it will "shit" out presents (that is after the children have sang a song and hit it with a stick!) The song Albert´s family sings goes like this (there are variations):

Caga tió                                                           Shit! shitting log

ametlles i turró                                                almonds and turrón

si no cagues bé                                                if you don´t shit well

un cop et donaré                                              I will give you a beating

The other very famous poo-related Christmas tradition is el caganer- translation "the pooing man". A popular sight around December are elaborate and detailed nativity scenes featuring all the usual suspects: Mary, Joseph, Kings, Shepherds and one caganer can usually be found. It's something to do with fertilising the earth- but mainly I think it's just a curiosity that people like to giggle at. My most shocking experience of a caganer was when I came across a real-life one when we were walking through a living nativity a few years ago. He was in the dark, in the woods-if you didn't happen to look that way you would have missed him! He must have been cold that night!

They come in different characters & sizes but this is a traditional looking example.

These are a couple of many traditions distinct to Catalan culture that I'm sure our baby will come to grow up with, believe in intently and expect from the festive season. It's strange how different cultures have such weird and wonderful practices that we just don't know about- but it's always fun to discover new ones!

VINTAGE BABY

Albert's mum drags a large cardboard box into the living room
"What is that? Christmas decorations? " he asks.
"Aaah no" she answers.
This dialogue is all in Catalan & I have taken artistic licence with the translations but you get the gist.
She proceeds to pull out cute little cardigans, booties, mittens (hand-crocheted & knitted by his mum & grandma (Iaia in Catalan) and all manners of vintage baby clothes.

Yes! You guessed it - they once belonged to Albert or his sister when they were babies.

It's crazy to think that 30 years ago, Albert wore these clothes and now our little one is going to wear her father's hand-me-downs. I know some people hate the idea of second-hand clothes but I think there's something really romantic & nostalgic about it. I love old things, things that have history about them, things with a story to tell. I think it makes them that bit more special.

Hasn't he grown big! I'm sure his old jumper barely fits now! 

These days, for my generation; it's a rare skill to be able to knit or crochet. There has been a bit of a revival lately due to this new hipster fashion trending towards vintage...and hence, I have decided to take up knitting as a new hobby. (But not because I'm an aspiring hipster or particularly fashionable...more because I'm a granny at heart).

I have always dabbled a little with knitting since a close family friend taught me when I was a little girl,  but I never seriously tried to make anything except scarves because they require no effort or thought- just the ability to knit in a straight line & I was born with a lazy disposition.

After doing a bit of research online to find a pattern easy enough to start me off, browsing a few You Tube clips to refresh my memory and digging out some needles and a ball of wool, I commenced my new project!
I chose this pattern
 http://www.knittingonthenet.com/patterns/babyafbasketweave.htm

Hopefully it will look like this when I'm done. 

I thought it looked easy enough, a little challenge for a novice like me, but not so difficult as to frustrate me. It started off well... I got to the eyelets row and then I started to get all twisted & tangled when the basket weave started.  Lucky for me there is a local NCT knitting group that meets in my local area who would be able to help me out! http://www.nct.org.uk/branches/redbridge-district/meet-other-local-parents

They meet up once a month in a local pub and sit around chatting and knitting. I was a bit apprehensive about going-not knowing what to expect,  but everyone was really friendly and welcoming & one of the women managed to pull back the blanket to before it all went wrong and set me on the right path again!  I would really recommend finding a group like this if you are a beginner interested in starting a craft like knitting.  It's not only about learning and sharing a skill but it's nice to socialise with people in your local area who are like minded and also have little ones- either already or on the way.

Who knows- maybe in 30 years time I'll be able to pass down some of the things I end up knitting now, to my daughter, when I become a grandma! Now... that's a scary thought if I ever I had one!

I hope I can make a cute outfit like this one! Albert was clearly one of the best dressed babies in Catalonia!

THE DECISION

I know that for many women, the decision to start a family is a scary one & much thought over; however, I've always known from an early age that I wanted to be a mummy and I always wanted to be a 'young mum'. To me this meant before I turned 30! (well that hasn't quite panned out- by the time I give birth I will be 30 years old + 1 month...damn!)

Now I know most people would say that in this day and age, that's a perfectly reasonable time to start a family and some might even say it's pretty young. In my close circle of friends, I only know two mums my age and many of my peers are of the view that we're too young. We should be busy enjoying our lives, travelling the world, drinking, partying & investing in our careers.

That latter point never really resonated with me.  I remember we once had to write an essay in school about our life ambitions. I also remember mulling over and over what to put down, as I didn't have any back then. I proceeded to write about my lack of ambition, I thought I might get in trouble for not following the brief but my English teacher seemed to like it as she gave me an "A". I took this as vindication of my 'lack of ambition' approach to life and I rolled with it.

Having thought about it in later life I realised the only thing I ever really wanted was to be a mum and have a family- that was my ambition (maybe once I'm there my outlook will change, I'll hate being a mum and want my freedom back! Who knows...)

So The Decision for me had already been made in my mind... all I needed to do was find The Guy, settle down, and persuade him that this was the right decision for him too...all before I turned the ripe old age of 29 years + 12 weeks!

So I did meet That Guy... and his name was Albert. But he wasn't an elderly gentleman with a greying beard as his name suggests. ..but a guy the same age as me with a full coloured beard who happened to be from Spain (Catalonia to be exact...where I'm told Albert is a very common name).

But the decision to start a family for a man is very different to that of a woman. I think it's because generally for men it's just not something they really think about until someone faces them with it & forces them to consider they could actually create a life and be a dad- but that would mean actually having to be a real grown up. For a guy there is no ticking fertility clock so they see no real reason to rush into parenthood... that's until they meet The Girl and she confronts him with it!

I think that's pretty much what happened in our case. We discussed it, he knew my views on starting a family and I think he thought "I want to have kids and a family one day" he just didn't quite realise "one day" would swing by so quickly. (Nor did I really!)

So we got married in May 2014, we discussed it & I stopped taking the contraceptive pill and by my calculations all things being good and both of us being healthy I should be pregnant in a few months (maybe 6 or so) probably be aiming to have a baby late 2015. Now the reasoning behind my calculations are:

1. Everyone always tells you how hard it is to get pregnant. (Some people try for years)

2. I didn't want us to actually "try" for a baby (by this I mean calculating your cycle and working out the optimum time to conceive) I didn't want the pressure!

3. I'd been on the pill or some form of contraceptive for over 10 years so I figured my body probably needs time to adjust.

So it turns out I was pregnant by June- just 1 month after coming off the pill- that taught me to believe everything they ever told us in sex education and conclude...

1. For some people it's actually very easy to get pregnant.

2. You don't need to be "trying" for a baby...you can get pregnant after just one time (even when standing up...not that that's how this baby was conceived- I just remember it being in the anonymous question box)

3. You can get pregnant as soon as you stop taking the pill you- are once again fertile- just like it says on the box!

So...here we are- decision made & conceived: baby now due in 12 weeks and 1 day. Let's hope it's a good one! Both decision and baby that is!