12 Days of Christmas Countdown – Day 3 – Spinning my Wheels

The clock is winding down, and I am getting more frazzled each minute. So frazzled, that I missed my Day 4 post altogether. Oops!

Well, instead of drafting a blog post, this is how I spent yesterday evening. After dinner was done, and 1st grade homework squared away, I decided to run” a few last-minute errands:

1. Home Depot: This had nothing to do with Christmas, but rather a home renovation project. I had picked out some tile do a kitchen backsplash and wanted to make sure I purchased a full supply, lest I go back next week and find that it’s sold out. While there, I picked up a gift for the office Yankee Swap. Two birds killed with one stone. Off to a good start.
2. Dunkin Donuts: Picked up gift cards for my children’s teachers. I hope they all like coffee and munchkins!
3. The Liquor Store: I arrived there 5 minutes before closing time. Just enough time to buy a nice bottle of Scotch for my boss, and a bottle of Baileys for me. Three stops in 45 minutes, I was doing well.
4. Target: It all went downhill from here. On my list were slippers (for my daughter to wear to her preschool, Polar Express pajama party today), a few stocking-stuffers for the kids, some gift bags, and gift cards for the folks at work.
   When I left, I had all of those things, plus: a plastic toboggan to go under the tree, a gift for my kids to give their Dad, a lovely set of gloves, scarf and a hat for the kids to give to me, gifts for the Aunt and Uncle we will see on Christmas, candy canes for my son’s classmates, candy for the candy dishes at home, and a bunch of socks and underwear for the kiddos.

Target sucked the life out of me last night, but I have a feeling I’ll be back for more before the shopping season is over.

12 Days of Christmas Countdown – Day 5 – A Wilting Poinsettia

I’ve done it again this year. We made a family trip to the local nursery during the first weekend of December and picked out our tree, and a couple of big beautiful poinsettias to decorate living room. And as sure as Christmas on in the 25th, my Poinsettia began to wilt with a week to spare.

If there is an opposite of green (purple? Brown?) then that’s the color of my thumb. I have purchased, and subsequently tortured and killed numerous house plants. For a while, when we first bought our house, I would buy plenty of petunias each spring to add to the garden bed. For the first fee years, I did a pretty good job tending to them, until July anyway, when I would lose the battle to weeds. Now, with two children running around, the weeds begin to rule shortly after Memorial Day.

I don’t even bother with indoor plants anymore! Except at Christmas. For me, Poinsettias are nearly as important as the tree. They add color and life to our home just as the temperature is plummeting outside. Every year, I spend plenty of time, maybe too much time, perusing the greenhouse full of every variety of poinsettia. I look for one that has full, bright foliage, and no signs of wilting. I’ve learned to park close to the door, and to quickly get my plant into a warm car, lest the New England cold air choke it before it reaches my living room.

I try to follow all of the “caring-for-your poinsettia” tips I’ve picked up over the years, even though they are sometimes contradictory. Nevertheless, every year I either over-water or under-water, and by Christmas day I am sweeping up fallen wilted leaves throughout the day – hoping my guests won’t notice the sorry state of my Christmas flower.

If nothing else, I think I’ve learned to resist the urge to grab a poinsettia on the first weekend of the Christmas Season. Next year, poinsettia shopping with be on the 23rd!

12 Days of Christmas Countdown – Day 6 – The Christmas Pageant and the Reluctant Shepherd

My first grader participated in his first Christmas Pageant yesterday at our church.

I was a little surprised that he volunteered for this gig. As of late, he’s been pretty vocal about how shy he is. (That actually seems like a bit of an oxymoron, doesn’t it?) He announced that he wanted no part of Christmas caroling with his Cub Scout Pack over the weekend, as it meant singing in public and no six-year old in their right mind would want any part of that. When I take him to Mass, at the Sign of Peace, he refuses to greet anyone he considers a stranger. I’ve seen him stare down one or two senior citizens who have offered their hands. One afternoon, as he and his sister were belting out “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” in the back seat of the car, I suggested that they sing it for Grandma and Grandpa on Christmas. “No way Jose!” He promptly announced that he would not sing, if his sister sang, he would hide in his room until her little concert was over.

So when on Sunday morning, he got up bright and early and was ready for Church on time (and was even pretty chipper about going off to meet his Religious Ed. Class), I was pretty proud, but a little surprised.

Alas, his sunny attitude was short-lived. As he was lining up with the other shepherds to make their way into the church, I saw him start to get a little antsy. He was even more edgy when I told him I needed to leave to sit in the audience. I crossed my fingers.

Mary and Joseph reached the altar first, followed by the cows, the shepherds, the angels and the Magi. About 20 children assembled in front of the altar, sweetly singing Christmas carols. My little boy sang too, or at least I saw him mouth the words. That is, until I pulled out the camera.  Once he saw me, I had no chance of getting a photo of a smiling little cherub this year. Instead, I got this:

"Mom, do you HAVE to take a picture?"

Maybe if I just move behind Joseph over here...

The Full Disappearing Act

Oh well, I’m sure there’ll be more photo-ops next year.

12 Days of Christmas Countdown – Day 7 – An Apple for the Teacher?

With only a week til Christmas, and 5 school days, I am working my way through the Christmas list. As always, I still struggle with the gifts for the teachers. I’ll be honest, I never quite know the protocol for this. 
 
Depending on how you look at it, the teacher/day care provider list could be as long as some people’s family list. My pre-school daughter has two regular teachers, my 1st grader has only one teacher, but then there’s the art teacher, the gym teacher and the music teacher. He also has a bus driver and bus monitor. My children also have regular babysitters for after school care. 
 
So, if all teachers make the gift list, we’re looking at 10 or more people who are getting gifts. Each of these folks certainly deserves our appreciaton; they spend several hours each day molding our kids – covering everything from spelling tests, to ensuring playground time doesn’t resemble “Lord of the Flies” to reminding them to wash their hands when they use the bathroom to giving spelling tests.
 
I always finding myself wanting to give them each a personalized gift, that’s unique and thoughtful. After all, how many mugs embossed with “World’s Best Teacher” can one person have? Alas, I am neither creative, nor resourceful, and I’m running out of time. 
 
I’m fairly certain that the teachers on my list are all getting gift cards for the local coffee shop. I figure that they all probably need some caffeine to make it through most days with my children (I know I do). Here’s hoping they love a good cup of coffee as much as I do!

12 Days of Christmas Countdown – Day 8 – Let the Parties Begin

Let me start by saying “Oops!”, this post is a day late (and at least a dollar short, I’m sure). As is always the way during the holiday season, the sand ran out of my clock long before I could finish this post.
 
But, my tardiness was worth it. With eight days to go, we spent much of the day at the first of several family celebrations. It was the first party of the season for me, which translates to the first afternoon of indulging in copious amounts of crackers and buffalo chicken dip, crackers and Brie, Christmas cookies and plenty of pie. It was the first gift exchange of the season, I this case it was a gift change just for the kids – our children and their cousins. Nothing gets me into the holiday spirit more than watching my kids, and my nieces in nephews waiting anxiously in front of the tree, waiting for the first gift to be handed out. 
 

 

Only a fraction of my large family attended this party, with less than half of my siblings there. Still, we represented six states (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, and Washington) – not too shabby.
 

With all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I have to say – it was nice to relax for an afternoon, and take a break from the lists, the errands, the chores, and simply enjoy the company of my extended family. 
 

The party season is clearly off to a good start!
 

The Gingerbread House

My preschooler’s school project today. She’s so proud.

I had to snap this photo though because she’s not so proud that she doesn’t want it for dessert!

12 Days of Christmas Countdown – Day 11 – Managing the Gift Lists

With just over 10 days left until Christmas, it’s time to get serious about the gift list. I’ve made at least one list, and I’m checking it twice. Naughty or Nice? I guess it’s not really a relevant question. If they’re not nice, they don’t make the list in the first place.

Right about now is when I start to panic about the list though. Do  I have everyone covered? At this point, I’m not so worried about the kids, or even my husband (though he’s a tough one). I worry about those folks who sit in the “outer circle” of gift-giving: the in-laws, the boss,  the teachers, the babysitters, co-workers, the interns.

Each presents me with a slightly different question: What to give? How much to spend? What did we give them last year? And then there are the folks who sit on the cusp of the gift-giving circle, those people with whom we don’t THINK we’re exchanging gifts. Should I have a backup gift, waiting on the sidelines, ready to be presented at a moment’s notice?

Oh No! I think I forgot the dog!

The added challenge here is that I don’t actually have 11 days to square these things away. After all , Christmas is on Sunday, the 25th; school and work finish on the 23rd, and some people are leaving for their holiday before that. So for the teachers, babysitters, and the boss, I’m really left with only about 9 days. Nine days to fully prepare my stash of gifts for classroom celebrations, office get-togethers, and holiday parties over the next week.

Thank goodness I finished those Christmas Cards yesterday!  Well at least I almost finished them … Maybe I’ll just make a big batch of cookies…

Chasing the Monster-Under-the-Bed

It’s payback time, and Mom and Dad are on the receiving end.

 

My six-year-old was, at one time, a great sleeper. He began sleeping through the night at 11 weeks, just in time for Mom to go back to work after maternity leave (Thank You!). He would sleep like a rock, hardly ever getting up for that obligatory glass of water, or trip to the bathroom like my younger daughter does a couple of times every night, between 8 and 10 pm. Nope, my son was a born sleeper, or so I thought.

Shortly after turning six, we suddenly had to contend with the typical bedtime torture that many parents face when their children are toddlers, or preschoolers: the dreaded “Monster-Under-The-Bed”!

This guy is afraid of monsters?

We are not completely sure what triggered this new phobia of his, though I believe it is probably a perfect storm of change that he has experienced in the past few months.

Over the summer my son learned that “Papa”, his great-grandfather would be leaving our house (which was really Papa’s house for the last 50 years) to move in with his daughter, my mother-in-law. My son still sees him nearly every day; my mother-in-law picks him up at the school bus each afternoon. On the plus side: this life-change allowed us to give our son his own bedroom, but it was also an acute reminder that Papa will not be here forever. I think it weighs heavily on him.

He also started First Grade. If you think this is not a big deal, think again. He went from a 2 1/2 hour school day, to a 6-hour school day. Gone is nap time altogether, no matter how tired he is. He has homework everyday, and daily reading assignments. He has a new teacher, an excellent one by the way, but she has expectations that take some adjustments for a boy who would often rather talk about Star Wars all day. On top of it all, he has to endure fire drills at school…oh the fire drills! They are so traumatic for him, they deserve their own blog.

He started Cub Scouts. He loves Cub Scouts, but it is pretty demanding for a 6-year old. Den Meetings and Pack meetings three times a month, in addition to what seems like multiple extracurricular events and activities each weekend.

In between it all, he is making loads of new friends, and having as many play dates as he can fit into his busy schedule. It’s exhausting when you think about it.

So exhausting, you would think he would lay unconscious in bed each night just has his little head crashes into the pillow. But, NO. Right around bedtime, we start hearing about “The Monsters”. He is afraid of the monsters. They arrive as soon as we turn off the lights, usually. Sometimes he goes to sleep for a while, and the monsters wake him at 2 or 3 am. At this point, he runs into our room in a panic and BEGS us to sleep in his room with him. This fear brings out the worst in him. If we resist his pleas to go into his room, he does more than beg, he DEMANDS that we stay with him. He will stand by my bed, arms crossed, and not budge until I return to his room. If I try to sneak back to my bed before he is fully asleep, he chases me down.

It’s led to several sleepless nights for Mom, Dad and little boy. We have sought out suggestions from family, friends, and the Internet.

To date, here is a list of the tricks we’ve tried, and their level of success:

• The Anti-Monster Spray: OK, really it was vanilla air freshened in disguise. It smelled lovely in his room, and kept the monsters away for about 1/2 the night.
• Night Light(s): First we had a standard nightlight, but that was simply not enough. Then we allowed him to keep a low-watt bedside lamp on for a while, with one of his favorite books at his side. This worked for a few nights. Finally, my husband invested in a night-light that projects an image of the solar system on his ceiling. He thinks it’s really cool, but the monsters don’t care.
• White Noise: we’ve tried various mixes of ocean waves, jet plane engines, fans, etc. We’ve even let him play Christmas music a few nights. Like everything else, it works for a while, but not for long.
• Incentives: We’ve offered rewards for staying in his room for consecutive nights, everything from a piece of candy, to an extra present from Santa Claus if he keeps it up. Those prizes can’t match the hold of the Monster Under the Bed.
• Consequences: We’ve let him know that without enough sleep, we will have to start cutting back in some of the fun stuff he loves: TV, playdates, even Cub Scouts.

Last night left me bleary-eyed again, and I only hope my little boy has been able to keep one eye open during school today.

If anyone our there has other ideas that we haven’t thought of, we’re all ears.

Holiday Reminders via Dollops of Diane

 My sister-in-law maintains a wonderful blog, where she always delivers a fresh and honest perspective on her adventures as a mother of three little ones. In her most recent post, she reminds us all keep the hustle-bustle of the season in check, to take the time to spread a little cheer of our own, and to enjoy a little extra time with our friends and family. 
I am sharing her wise words below, but please stop by her blog Dollops of Diane, and see what else she has to say! …
 
 
I’m the President of the local chapter of a MOMS Club (shocking, I know) and each month I write a message in the newsletter. I figured I’d share the message I wrote for December here on my blog as well…
 
 
Around the holiday season I often find the need to remind myself of a few things that I thought I’d share.
 
1.Remember the Magic: Kids are only young once so take a minute to talk to your kids about Rudolph, decorate the house with cheesy holiday decorations, drive around just to look at Christmas lights, and bake cookies for Santa. You’ll be glad you did.  
 
 
2.Remember what most people want: One of the best presents you can give to someone else is your time.  
 
 
3.Remember traditions: No matter how little or silly it seems if you remember doing something with your family around the holidays then keep it up with your kids. Can’t think of anything? Well then start a new tradition.  
 
 
4.Remember to say thank you: Say it, write it, type it, Skype it – Just do it.  
 
 
5.Remember to be nice: Be nice to the cashier in line that you waited forever to get to, be nice to the mailman whose been working extra hard stuffing your mailbox with holiday cards, be nice to people putting on free events for crabby kids this season. Just be nice.  
 
 
6.Remember we don’t live in a Martha Stewart Magazine: Beautiful Christmas bulbs, glass angels, Pinecone rosette garland? Umm…not possible here. My house is full of shatterproof ornaments, decorations can only be hung higher than the one year old can reach, and there are more homemade crafts hanging around than can be counted. This is our life now and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.  
 
 
7.Remember to relax and enjoy: Stay up late talking with family you don’t see often, have an extra dessert (or five), let the kids wear what they want on Xmas Day without a fight, take lots of pictures, and take a deep breath and relaxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. You deserve it! 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

When a 4-Year Old Ponders Thanksgiving

I always wonder what will transpire when my children’s homework projects require them to respond to open-ended questions. This weekend, I helped my 4-year old daughter create her “Giving Thanks Tree” for school. She made a poster with a tree stump at school. We were charged with cutting out leaves from construction paper, on which she would write out the many things for which she is thankful.

Now, you never know how a 4-year old might answer these questions. Has she picked up on the “what-the-grown-ups-want-to-hear” answers, like “Mom”, “Dad”, “my family”, etc. or would she give thanks for the ring-pops leftover in the Halloween candy bowl? I tried not to coach her too much, realizing that some if the charm would lie in her undying gratitude for that lollipop.

True to form, my daughter included a nice mix of “I love my family” shout-outs, and a few less orthodox responses. I was a bit relieved to see that she is thankful for me and Dad (spelled b-a-d… oops), her grandparents, and so on. After a while, she even decided she was thankful for her big brother. From there though, we hit the things this pre-school girl really loves: baby dolls, puzzles, and her pink flower nightlight.

I really wonder though how high her teachers’ eyebrows will rise when they get to the leaf that lists the family dog: “Guinness.” Should I expect a phone call? 

OR