Trying on new trousers. Adrian has three pairs of old trousers that he likes, all with holes in their knees and at least one size too small. Now he also has three pairs of new trousers that fit him and have no holes!

There has barely been any winter weather this year. It’s all just been gray since early November. We’re so far from having a white Christmas that there hasn’t even been talk of a chance of one.

But today was at least a brighter day, with even some weak sunshine, so we went out skating.

Adrian took the skates that Ingrid used last year (size 36) and Ingrid took mine (size 38) and I stayed on the sidelines and took photos. And walked in circles around the skating rink when I felt done with that.

Usually the large bandy rink at Spånga sports field is fully booked for various organized activities and the general public has to make do with the small field. This December though there was a leak in the refrigeration unit so all scheduled activities were cancelled or moved to other ice rinks. The leak was recently fixed but the schedule remained clear, and according to the web site the place was still closed, so we had the luxury of a large and nearly empty ice rink.

The Christmas thing is in full swing.

Cookies were made, gifts were opened, plenty of food was eaten.

For the past few Christmases, I’ve had to make more and more of an effort to enjoy this circus at least somewhat. I used to be able to. Now it’s just a chore.

Adrian’s class started the day with Christmas songs, followed by advent fika.

Every year it keeps surprising me that none of the teachers realizes that the singing would sound a lot better if someone stood in front of the kids and helped them all keep the same pace.

(Grumpy, yes. We still have too much to do at work and I am not even sure yet that I can get the day before Christmas off.)

Decorating the gingerbread houses that the were assembled yesterday.

Ingrid and Adrian decorated the Christmas tree today. This year’s tree is a fir again, which goes counter to tradition and instinct but looks better and sheds less.

In the evening, the kids made gingerbread houses with Eric’s help. There are ready-made kits you can buy, but this year they’re making them almost from scratch. (But using store-bought dough, because by the time we eat them they will be dry and dusty and using home-made dough would feel like a bit of a waste.) This way we can make much smaller houses, so it’s conceivable that we might actually eat them.

The supermarket had something called “baking glue” which I haven’t seen before. We’ve tried using melted sugar to assemble the houses, and icing, but neither has worked very well. This baking glue was much easier to use than sugar, and stronger than icing.

The side attic in Adrian’s room is still his “bedroom” and seems to suit him perfectly. The attic is a bit longer than his mattress, and he filled the empty space with all his soft toys. And the gap between the mattress and the threshold is apparently perfect for pokeball storage.

Adrian has a cold and is feeling tired and unwell, and he coughs all the time.

When I was a child, the home remedy for sore, scratchy throats was hot milk with honey. Adrian doesn’t like hot milk, but he does like hot chocolate.

I didn’t grow up with hot chocolate and never really missed it either. I think I had it on a few occasions in Belgium, but that’s about it. Up until a few years ago I barely knew how to make it. Scout camp has taught me, thought! This summer we set out to perfect and write down the ultimate recipe for scout chocolate. Which is not the same thing as cosy-Sunday-morning hot chocolate: scout chocolate should above all be warming and tasty but not too sweet so that the scouts guzzle it just for the sugar. The answer, and I’m not joking when I write this, turned out be 42. That is, 42 grams of cocoa powder and 42 grams of sugar per litre of milk. (To be fair, 43 might also work. But 40 was judged to be too weak, and 45 was too strong.)

Adrian’s preferred recipe for hot chocolate has 2 dl of milk, 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Which makes it slightly weaker and sweeter than the ultimate scout chocolate recipe.

Adrian has been trying out drums this term, and today was the end of term show. Just like Ingrid’s dance studio, Kulturskolan has shows for several groups together, so we heard a whole lot of drumming, and brass instruments. Adrian’s beginner group started it off with We Will Rock You. There were some Nirvana songs and Christmas music of course.

Already a few weeks ago Adrian said he wasn’t very interested in continuing, and the concert confirmed that for me. I didn’t see the kind of glow or enthusiasm or energy in him or his playing that inevitably shines when you really enjoy making music. And neither did he seem nervous, which might mask the enthusiasm. He just didn’t seem very interested.