Christmas with the family

Firstly, before I start ranting, I LOVE Christmas with my family.  I LOVE my family.  I LOVE the fact that as a 'ranting middle aged spinster', my family always welcome me into their home at Christmas.


I am very, very, lucky to have sisters (& their partners) & nephews & nieces that accept me as the 'ranting middle aged spinster' that I am.


So many people seem to fall out with their families for ridiculous reasons, for petty squabbles, for drunken comments, for no reason at all??!! 


My family is fabulous.  Our family has always stuck together.  And they don't even watch EastEnders.  We're family.  Lol lol lol.  They think I'm a bit mad and eccentric.  I'm not!  I just don't live my life the way they do.


I have two sisters and they've always been closer to each other than I have to them.  BUT there again, before I start ranting..................  I also know that if I ever needed them............... they would be there for me (as I would be for them).  We're family and we will stick together.  I trust them with my life.  And I also love my nephews & niece more than words can say.


So now can I start ranting?................................


........................Christmas with the family???................................................


I'm all for sitting down and having Christmas Dinner together, it's lovely, I like a family meal and it was lovely that all of the family wanted to be there...................... but as for every meal???...................... I just don't understand why my teenager nephews & niece want to spend the whole time with their mummy & daddy & an aging ranting old spinster???  It's all a bit alien to me??? 


I've got quite a few friends who have teenage kids who I hardly ever see and the teenage kids are either off out with their mates or doing whatever teenage kids do in their bedrooms.  My sisters kids do not spend time in their bedrooms (apart to sleep).  And they don't seem to have any mates?? (Apart from my 19 yr old nephew - he seems to have a pretty 'normal' teenage life.)  They never go out while I'm there, and I'm pretty sure that their 'aging ranting middle aged spinster auntie' can't be that exciting??? BUT they just seem to want to spend all their time with their mummy & daddy?? 


They're 20, 19 & 16 years old.  Is this normal???  Or am I just being totally cynical???  They're all adults.  Why do they not want to go off into the 'big bad world' and do stuff themselves???


'Christmas with the family'.................................. my sister informed me that she's going to book a 'family' holiday in July.  Lovely!!!!  BUT with two of her kids at uni and one just about to enter 6th form would you not think that they might all be working for the summer???  Apparently not.


That annoys me.....................  the fact that my nephews & niece don't seem to think that they need to work in the holidays,  Mummy & Daddy will pay for everything even their mobile phones, their uni fees, their car insurance etc and will also pay for them to go on holiday.


BUT what annoys me even more is.................. the fact that my sister has never, ever worked in the last 20 years (that doesn't annoy me - she has a rich husband and that is her choice).  It's the fact that she seems to think she knows everything about 'getting a job'.  She's pressurising her kids to produce wonderful CVs  She's paid more than £100 for my 16 yr old niece to do a 'lifeguarding' course even though my niece probably won't get a lifeguarding job in the immediate future and it has to be renewed, at a cost, every couple of years.


Most of the jobs for students are 'minimum wage jobs', where their charm, wit & dazzling personality will go a lot further than handing in a CV??.....................


I know.  I am in a position where I employ a lot of 16 year old kids.  And to be honest I don't want to see a CV.  I want to see them.  I want to talk to them.  I want to know if they're reliable, trustworthy, conscientious, practical, able to follow instructions & do what they're told.  I want them to have a pleasant disposition to talk to people and I want them to be adaptable to any task.


The kids that we employ in the business where I work are paid more than the National Minimum Wage.


Not quite sure how this 'Christmas with the Family' blog has morphed into a 'employing students' rant??


But hey ho - sometimes things just turn out like that. LOL LOL LOL!!!