THE CHEEKIEST ELF

After a tough year, Heather Kroontje, 35, knew exactly how to cheer up her family

- LUCY NOTARANTONIO, ASHLEIGH PAGE

As my baby Frankie, then nine months, sat at the bottom of the stairs in his little red onesie, I couldn’t help but smile. With his big, blue eyes and his chubby cheeks, he was so angelic.

Only, behind him, toilet roll spilled from the top of the stairs, unravelled, until it reached Frankie’s clenched fists, much to his delight. Giggling away, I took photos.

‘Smile for Mummy,’ I laughed, trying to get the perfect photo.

It was November of last year and, after a tough year of lockdown, I was grateful to be getting into the Christmas spirit, and was looking for ways to cheer up my older son Charlie, then nine. So my husband Big brother Charlie enjoyed Adam, 35, and I had come up with an adorably hilarious plan.