Buying Presents

The Boy had a Santa's Workshop Day at school where they could buy presents for family and friends. I sent in a list with who to buy, how much to spend on each and money. The list contained Daddy $5, AGW $5, and the Girl $3. Being a kindergartener they had help from some fourth graders while shopping. Daddy got a Michigan Ornament. The Girl got a Michigan key chain, a six year old and a fourth grader must have a hard time on trying to buy a gift for a 2 year old at a craft type sale. My AGW got an ornament that said "#1 Mom", probably the best of the three.

The story gets much better from here. The day of Santa's Workshop he told me when I picked him up from school that he had saved some money and bought something for himself. I thought that was pretty good and couldn't wait to see our gifts but really wanted to see what he bought for himself. So with his $13 that he was given for the sale he purchased all the above and later I found out he spent $6 on himself. The Boy didn't get just any gift for himself he got a piece of Coprolite! So we each got a nice present from the Boy and he spent $6 on dinosaur poop.

Has Santa Ever Not Delivered?

As school has been out and both kids have been home driving me batty, I wonder if the threat of calling Santa is really worth it. Has Santa ever not brought presents because of a bad child? Would Santa really skip our house? As I threaten my children with these thoughts of Santa not coming I wonder how far they would have to go to make Santa not come. Would they really know if Santa didn't give them that special present or if Santa didn't deliver half of the presents. I can make the Boy freak out by grabbing the phone and saying "I'm calling Santa!" The follow-up thought is if I really did call Santa and Santa didn't bring any presents what would be the fallout? Beyond the distraught children and then stressed parents would they get the message of behaving or would they just be worse?

I would not do this to my children as they are great kids and they are that - KIDS. I am sure Santa will make it to our house.

Anyone that hasn't seen this http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/home Should really check it out. Our kids were responding with head shakes, yes's and smiles when they saw their video messages, it even rang true with the Girl who is 2 1/2. For the Boy who is 6 they even showed Santa's path to our city which was pretty Nick and he got a great appreciation out of that, plus he saw Santa had photos of him from the year and was a little surprised Santa was watching that closely. Too bad Santa didn't use the Photo I posted a few days ago of the kids with the train.

We will soon put out our reindeer food and wait for the jolly old man to visit. Merry Christmas.

My Last Day of the Little Sanity I Still Have

The last day of school for the Boy is today and I write with what little sanity I have with just the Girl at home. My kids are great and I love them very much but trying to balance out the entertainment of the perpetual motion 6 year old with demanding two year old is a constant challenge. I always hear of stories of kids that fall asleep eating, watching a movie, playing with toys, or even on the potty, but that is not my kids style. The only reason my kids go to bed is because I make them. I believe the Boy could power my house if I could keep him on the hamster wheel long enough and the Girl would be right there waiting her turn as she wants to be just like her big brother. The girl does eventually tire but getting her to bed sometimes is a challenge, whereas the Boy will fight to the end to stay up. So tomorrow morning get the coffee on and the placek ready as I will need all I can have to maintain a sound mind before Christmas with all the excitement.

"She's Ruining My Life!"

Today we got the Boy's Polar Express down and set it up around the Christmas Tree. This has become an annual event since Santa brought it a few years ago. You may remember this scene from the Girl's first experience with the Polar Express:

Since this time the Girl has come to love trains as she wants to be like Big Brother. We finally got the Polar Express out of his room and put it around the tree which was very exciting for everyone. The girl wanted to constantly play with the train which was OK but then she started bumping pieces and knocked one over. The Boy with the a nice groan exclaimed, "She's ruining my life!" It is always nice to be int he other room to be able to snicker when overhearing these comments.