Life as a SEN mum

I’ll be honest from the start, this really isn’t one if you’re on a strict budget. I’ve looked at it for years and always been put off by the price. But this year decided to take the plunge. It was so worth it. If you’re just doing one big day out it’s definitely one to consider.

On arrival you’ll collect a boarding pass for each child. We were there quite early so we took a wander round the animal barn and then sat and had a coffee while Charlotte burned off some energy in soft play.

When it’s your time to check in you’ll be given the chance to have a North Pole family photo before going to collect your passport. You’ll also be given some elf coins to spend at the North Pole. The you’ll go through the Naughty/Nice scanner, adults beware, you might find yourself on the naughty list.

After being magically transported to the North Pole the kids will have chance to exchange one of their coins for some sweets and another for either a drink of juice or hot chocolate. Adults have one coin each which can be exchanged for mulled wine or hot chocolate. Then it’s into the post office to sort the presents and help fix the sorting machine.

Next it’s on to Mrs Claus’ Kitchen to decorate some gingerbread biscuits, before heading onto what was probably my favourite part.

When booking your tickets you’ll be asked for each child’s name, birthday and special interest. After decorating their gingerbread you then get to meet a rather clever Polar Bear who amazes the children when he knows their name.

After it’s time to help fix the machine in Santa’s Workshop, sort the notes for some of our favourite Christmas songs (and sing along with Santa’s reindeer). Finally you’ll have to help fix the North Pole bells before finally seeing Santa himself.

When you have kids with additional needs, seeing Santa can come with a while load of problems. Particularly when you have a child who’s speech is delayed. As much as James’s speech is so much better than it was, there are times where he struggles to say what he wants, and sometimes you can see the worry that he isn’t going to be understood. So having a Santa who is patient and understanding makes such a difference. That’s exactly what we got. Made both kids feel totally comfortable and they both really loved the whole experience.

Finally you get to visit Santa’s toy shop where they can pick their own gift. The choice was honestly brilliant, I think Charlotte changed her mind about 5 times because she just couldn’t decide.