So, Christmas is coming. The goose is getting fat. Oh did you forget? Well it is coming, ready or not. Nick and I consistently find ourselves completely NOT ready for Christmas. It's our special Christmas tradition. Now when I say "not ready", I mean the "never-enough-money" kind of not ready. Who isn't right? Well Bill Gates is probably usually ready, and also those moms from Beverly Hills Housewives (60 K on a birthday party, seriously!) Me and Nick? We're good at never being ready.
This isn't really a problem when you are newlywed, no one expects you to have money for gifts. It's also not really a problem when your children are young. I can remember a few years in which we wrapped a box of cheerios and called it good. Those were great years!
Well, about 6 years ago we had a baby boy. He grew a little and we had another baby boy. That one grew a little and we had another baby boy. Today we find ourselves elbow deep in little boys that have sugarplums dancing in their heads and believe in EVERYTHING from Ghosts to the fact that they are all magical Wizards. They especially believe in Santa Claus. They definitely think that decorating the house is very important (I hate it!) So we decorate, and I can honestly say that it is always for the kids. Nick and I always enjoy doing it together, but I must admit that if it weren't for our boys then we would be a bit more...Humbug.
I have a problem this year. Gabe and Ian are sure that they are going to get what they want for Christmas, because Santa is magical and as I already mentioned, we believe in magic in our house BIG TIME. Gabe wants a nintendo DS and Ian wants a Spike the dinosaur, both of which fall above our price range. My question to all of you is, how do you handle this? Usually we try to talk them into different things, but they are really quite adamant this year that this is what they really want and know Santa will bring them. I know that I can't be the only parent in the world with a budget, so tell me your secrets? How do I get around this obstacle without crushing hopes and dreams?
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
I'm outraged!
Today at Costco, the receipt-checker lady at the exit kindly informed me that they were no longer allowed to put smiley faces on the back of the receipts. She seemed as bugged about it and asked if I would like to file a complaint with Corporate? I was in a hurry so I declined, but Ian's tears all the way to the car made me wish I had filed that complaint. It was his turn to give her the receipt and his hopes were dashed.
I don't really understand why they can't do this anymore, I guess it holds up the line at the exit but WHATEVER! Doesn't Corporate know that this is the #1 reason why I love Costco?
I don't really understand why they can't do this anymore, I guess it holds up the line at the exit but WHATEVER! Doesn't Corporate know that this is the #1 reason why I love Costco?
Friday, November 12, 2010
Hoarders
Today I cleaned out a junk cupboard in my kitchen. THE junk cupboard in my kitchen. It took all day long.
I shouldn't call it the junk cupboard, it is more like the cupboard full of basically everything that my kids have drawn or worked on since...well ever. Yes, I admit I have a problem throwing things away. But just things that my kids make.
Anyway, I was proud of myself because by 1:30 I had a big cardboard box full of papers ready for the recycling bin. That's when Gabe came home from school. He took one look at the box and said, "That is all good stuff, we can still use that stuff, why are you throwing that away? You can't throw that away!". I had to talk him down. I had to let him go through what I was keeping and decide that it was ok to get rid of the rest. He had to emotionally disconnect from every paper that he ever worked on, just like I had to. Poor kid, it took me over a year to gear myself up enough to go through that cupboard and he had to do it in one moment. Gabe is so much like me it is almost painful for me to see his anxiety.
The whole thing reminded me of the show Hoarders, I swear his words came right from that show! (he doesn't watch it in case you were wondering)
Now I have a full recycling bin and a very organized and functional cupboard. We all feel good about that and hopefully we are all one step further from allowing "stuff" to consume and overwhelm our lives. Next up...the storage closet!
I shouldn't call it the junk cupboard, it is more like the cupboard full of basically everything that my kids have drawn or worked on since...well ever. Yes, I admit I have a problem throwing things away. But just things that my kids make.
Anyway, I was proud of myself because by 1:30 I had a big cardboard box full of papers ready for the recycling bin. That's when Gabe came home from school. He took one look at the box and said, "That is all good stuff, we can still use that stuff, why are you throwing that away? You can't throw that away!". I had to talk him down. I had to let him go through what I was keeping and decide that it was ok to get rid of the rest. He had to emotionally disconnect from every paper that he ever worked on, just like I had to. Poor kid, it took me over a year to gear myself up enough to go through that cupboard and he had to do it in one moment. Gabe is so much like me it is almost painful for me to see his anxiety.
The whole thing reminded me of the show Hoarders, I swear his words came right from that show! (he doesn't watch it in case you were wondering)
Now I have a full recycling bin and a very organized and functional cupboard. We all feel good about that and hopefully we are all one step further from allowing "stuff" to consume and overwhelm our lives. Next up...the storage closet!
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