Boys and Their Toys

So, it's almost here: the biggest holiday of the year. And, while here at the library that makes for some super quiet days, I know that Shad's students and Maia and Nate's classrooms are practically steaming from the excess excitement and energy let off by eager smallish people. Santa is visiting the daycare today. Nate was asking me this morning

"What am I supposed to ask for?" even though we had already rehearsed it last night.

"Snow boots and a train set," I replied, knowing that if he asks for these particular items, he won't be disappointed come Christmas morning.

He seemed fine with asking for those two things, thankfully. Although, I will admit that he did mention something about a "boy stroller" and I nixed that because "Santa can't bring everything!"

LOL A Boy Stroller?? What is this all about? He actually has a stroller for his doll that I bought him for his 2nd birthday so that he didn't have to use Sissy's pink doll stroller and babies. He has his own boy doll and a blue and yellow stroller. But I think the stroller got birdpoop on it and is in the garage right now. I think maybe he has forgotten that he has one. Still, we don't need another one. And why is he now calling it a Boy Stroller? Silly kid!

Nate is still fairly pre-occupied with gender identity and roles. Is this normal? I just read a teen book about a transgender boy and that has me freaked out a little. Is it normal for a 3 year old to be constantly asking if someone is a girl or boy? Last night, my brother was over helping me with the kids while Shad was at a Steelers game in St. Louis (sorry, but it's hard to even call it a Rams game this year...) Anyway, Nate was in the shower and Curt was watching him for me for a minute. I came back in to the bathroom and Nate was asking my brother if he could see his penis. WTH?? My brother was explaining that we don't show them to people. Nate wanted to know how he would know if Uncle Turtle was really a boy. *sigh* I'm not sure what my brother thought of this.

He has taken it to new levels lately, too. A few weeks ago, Shad tried to make Nate a grilled cheese sandwich and Nate refused it unless it was a "Boy Cheese Sandwich". Shad was perplexed but acquiesed and said "fine, it's a boy cheese sandwich". It took us a while to figure out that Nate thinks that we are saying "Girl Cheese Sandwich" instead of grilled cheese. Geesh! So, now he will only eat one if it is a special Boy Cheese Sandwich just for Boys. NOT for Girls!

Well, I hope this post finds you all well and ready for the holidays (if we can every truly be ready). I know we still have a lot of fixing and readying to do this weekend (and I work all day Saturday, so that is a bummer). Still, I'm trying not to lose sight of the real joy and meaning: God's love for us and His peace and promise for our future. I will have to really hone in on that by Tuesday evening when I just want to curl up in a ball and pull the covers over my head.

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Let me know if you have any good recipes...

Shite!! It's been a while since I've posted anything. Starting to feel out of touch a wee bit and that's not good. Two months of holiday preparations is starting to feel like a lot of extra work for this mommy. Not that I don't enjoy most of it, but it's just so much to do, you know? The shopping and the letter writing and mailing and decorating and baking (can't you picture me now in my holiday apron with flour in my hair? LOL) Ok, so maybe I don't go whole hog on all of that, but it's still a lot to juggle. I shop mostly online, although I did make a hefty purchase at the local Bible bookstore because I like to support that type of local business this time of year. We put up the tree in the living room, but it's fake and didn't require a trip to the tree farm or daily waterings. And we didn't decorate outside at all. In fact, there are still pumpkins in the yard, now donning little caps of snow like bereted Frenchmen (is "bereted" even a word?) ;) And, as you'll no doubt notice, I don't technically mail all of my holiday newsletters. First of all, I let the dog write them. What's up with that? And then I email 1/2 of them. How lame!! Oh, my grandma will get one in the snail mail as well as most of my extended family...those not as computer savvy. But you can see how much easier it is to email it, right? And it saves paper. We're saving trees, people!!! It's all about the trees!!!

*sigh*

And on top of all of the usual stuff there is the holidayish stuff to do here at work like Gingerbread Family Reading night next week and Winter Reading Contest for three weeks over Christmas/New Year school break. Not that I don't like doing it, because I do, but it's just busier than usual. Adds another ball to the juggling trick. I've had other jobs where time almost stands still for 2 weeks around Christmas and you aren't expected to do much. Or you might even get 2 weeks OFF...

And then there are all of the kid related things that don't come up until your kids are in preschool and elementary school. Music programs (3 between now and Christmas--2 at church and 1 at school). Holiday parties at schools and church (3). Recipes requested for a pre-school Sunday School cookbook/gift project at church (3). LOL--they want my recipes? Off to the internet I go to search for something enticing! And then, THEN, in Maia's bookbag yesterday, as the sticky icing to the cupcake of holiday craziness, a letter from The Head Room Mother in Maia's class. The Head Room Mother also happens to be one of my daughter's good friend's mom, but she literally will not speak to me when I see her. Why, I have no idea. She is very tall and chooses to just sort of look over me, or at least that's how it seems. Anyway, she sends this letter listing about 7 other moms who have agreed to bring various things to the class holiday party in 2 weeks. Ok. And then she lists all of the other things that they still need for this party and wants to know who can bring them. Let me just say that I feel annoyed and guilty all at the same time.

First of all, who are these 7 other moms that are brining things? (Well, I know who they are, but why them first?) When did they sign up to bring stuff before the rest of us? I'm guessing there's a little clique issue there. And also, you know that they are all thinking that the rest of us are somehow deadbeats for not already being on the classroom holiday planning scene. I noticed that 2 of the moms on the list are school supervisors who are there all day and at least 3 others are stay-at-homers. I don't know all of them, and I'm not trying to say anything bad, but I didn't like the tone of the letter that implied that these particular moms are already doing everything they can and that some other moms better step up and help out. The delivery of the information was poor. (Not to metion, what about DADS helping??)

That is the annoyed part. The guilty part is that there is no way that I can attend the holiday party. I am already rearranging my schedule a week prior to that in order to be at the 1st grade holiday musical. I can send green/red M & M's or napkins or whatever, but I can't be at the party. And I can't be at Nate's party that very same afternoon when Santa visits the preschool. So, my kids will be the poor, lonely kids who don't have a parent there. The kids that the other parents feel sorry for and assume that someone just doesn't care about. And Shad can't leave his own class party to be at Maia or Nate's parties, of course. So we are both looked upon as "deadbeat" when, of course, we are anything but.

I'll admit, I don't attend PTA meetings. I'm not a fan of fundraisers, never have been, and that seems to be a lot of what they focus on. And I'm not really into talking about school EVEN MORE than we already do. I spend over 45 hours a week already away from my children and I don't want to take even an extra hour a month to go sit with women (ok, and a few men) to talk about school on any given evening. And I'm bound to have a much more jaded view of the school district than they are, so pardon me if I'm not the cheery PTA type. I'm sure this labels me in some heinous way with people like Head Room Mother. Clearly, in her mind I'm already not in the top 7 moms to call to ask for holiday party help.

*sigh*

But I digress. Sorry to vent my frustrations, but I just don't need this kind of thing especially at this time of year. Working moms get less respect than working dads and it pisses me off. Is this 1985? I don't think so.

Back to jollier talk, I do want to point out that in my holiday fever of "get it home, get it wrapped, get it made, get it done" I have taken it upon myself to make some of our holiday gifts this year. There must be some part of my brain that is craving an artistic outlet that doesn't require a glue stick and markers because I am making beaded bracelets for some people on my list and fleece throws for others. This is my 3rd year making throws, so that part is easy now, but the bracelets are much harder than I thought they would be. AND, to answer the question that I know you're wanting to ask: NO, I don't have time to do this. In fact, I am about to give up on a few of them and even bought some calendars as back-up gifts for grandmothers this week just in case I don't keep that ball in the air long enough to match enough beads and twist enough memory wire. So much for my next career as an eclectic jeweler. I will have to cancel the lease on the stand at the mall for next year. LOL

One last nugget before you get really tired of my babbling: Maia is 7 and it is getting harder and harder to hide the whole Santa secret from her. I know a few of you have 8 and 9 year olds who still believe and I want to know how you are keeping that up! Last week, we had a package from Target delivered to the house before we got home. They left it on the porch, as per my instructions. No big deal. But Shad got home with the kids before I got home that evening and there it was sitting on the porch. Maia ran right up to it and read "Two-Sided Flip Top Easel!!" on the box. Nate scurried up behind her and exclaimed "A Weasel!!" So, now the "weasel" can't be from Santa. It has to be from mom and dad because she knows they're getting it. AND the same week, Maia got an email from paypal stating that we had paid for American Girl Doll Clothes (purchased on ebay so that I wasn't directly giving money to the evil company, thank you very much---but it was one of the only things she really wanted so I had to find a way to get some). I had forgotten that the paypal stuff was set up to go to her email from her summer business ventures. So, here she is reading her email and she has an email from paypal telling her one of her "Santa" gifts. How can I win in this situation? I cannot. What are the chances that my first grader would read about one of her Santa gifts in an email to her from paypal? And, thus, Santa's sleigh will not be as heavy coming to our house with only a few items this year. :)

Cheers!