What's with all the Nutcracker Soldiers?

 

These Xmas decorations are everywhere this year- but why?

 The thing I’ve noticed about 2023’s Xmas decorations is the ubiquitous presence of toy soldiers. Or to give them their correct name Nutcracker Soldiers. They’ve always been about but recently there seem to have been more and more of them till 2023 has seen an explosion. They are everywhere!  Every shop selling decorations has had a lot of them.  Why they have suddenly proliferated this year is something of a festive mystery but they are available in all sizes from several feet tall to small models. Over the past couple of months they’ve rivalled Xmas trees in availability and the other day I saw a full size one standing guard in the porch of a house. What is going on?

 

The Father Xmas Dilemma

Warning- don’t read this if you are under the age of 8ish 
It’s a Thing isn’t it? How to explain the complexities of Father Xmas’ gargantuan operation to the overly intelligent child who has suddenly worked out that there is more to the world than just what they experience on a daily basis. For decades parents have struggled with this scenario yet perhaps they need to be more inventive. When you consider it the entire Father Xmas shenenigans makes perfect sense if you modernise it a bit. You can square all those unsquared circles in one glittery swoop. All those niggly questions can be answered with just a little inventiveness. 

"Ho! Ho! Hum..."