Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Tag
January 10 2012
It’s been a few weeks since Christmas now, and all the toys my kids received have lost their novelty. For this year, I made it a mission to gift items that held a purpose, rather than, say, a Captain America action figure that would just be thrown in a drawer to be forgotten. As always, however, some were more of a hit than others.
These are the top toys from Christmas ’11 that haven’t been a waste of money:
1. Play-Doh Fun Factory Deluxe Set: Santa must have been high on candy canes this Christmas when he decided to leave this play-doh set under the tree for Buzz. With the constantly picking beads of doh out of my carpet since, and fighting a losing battle in my obsessive compulsion to keep the colors separated. This isn’t about me, though.
2. Abby & Emma Magnetic Dress-Up: Big, chunky pieces with a lot of options. It keeps my little fashion star’s attention for awhile as she mixes and matches the outfits. It’s something I would have loved as a kid.
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: This was a last minute addition to Jedi’s stocking. I’ve bought him other chapter books in the past that he never so much as glanced at. This one, however, a book with over 200 pages, he finished in 4 days.
4. LEGO Duplo Building Set: Buzz loves LEGOs. I bought him a few sets of the regular LEGOs, but he’s not quite at the level to put them together by himself yet. The Duplos are just right for him. And it comes with a playmat that can be zipped together into a bin for additional storage. Anything that comes with its own storage is a good idea.
5. AquaDoodle: Christmas night, I set this up and watched as all 3 of my children sat together and played with it. Taking turns. Together. It was amazing.
6. Hungry Hungry Hippos: I remember this game from my youth being really loud. There’s enough noise in my house as it is, so I was hesitant. But turns out, it’s a really great game for all of us. It’s straightforward and easy enough for Buzz and Abby, but competitive for Jedi. Now, the only thing we need to work on is the sore losing attitude.
December 23 2011
Untitled from c (kid things) on Vimeo.
Merry Christmas!
November 30 2011
Earlier this week the kids made their Christmas lists.
Well, Jedi wrote his. I penned what Abby told me. Which went like this:
1. Dolls
2. Princess toys
3. A duck
4. A doll that looked just like Abby
5. Drawing stuff
None of it very outlandish and most of it were suggestions from others. Aside from #3, which she came up with all on her own. A duck? I laughed, remarking then that I didn’t think Santa would bring her a duck, but I put it on the list anyway.
A short while later, it was time to get ready for bed. Which has turned into Buzz’s cue to stall for 20 minutes in the bathroom. As we were giving him his privacy outside the door, Abby began to whine. At first I couldn’t understand what the problem could be, since she was safely held in my arms. Her complaint soon began to register, however.
“Santa hasn’t brought me a duck yet”, she whined softly.
“He what? Listen…”, I continued letting out a light chuckle before trying to explain. “It’s not time for Santa yet. He doesn’t come around for another month. But remember, I already said he probably won’t bring you a duck when he does come.”
But I was mistaken. Because Buzz opened the bathroom door at that moment, taking to heart the true giving spirit of Santa Claus. “Here you go, Abby”, he offered, handing her a rubber duckie from the bath bucket. “Quack, quack.”
December 14 2010
Dear December,
I thought we had an agreement. I was looking forward to you, to the holidays, and I assumed you’d do your best to be pleasant in return. So what happened?
I had a post planned about how putting up our Christmas tree and the days since have been an ordeal what with the younger kids treating it as their own personal jungle gym. But then I took a self-imposed mini-break from the internet. Did you miss me? In that time, we’ve had our first significant snowfall, froze my butt off, and finished the majority of the kids’ gift buying.
Then, our car was broken into right in our own driveway. They tried to steal it, but luckily couldn’t. Dumbasses. Instead, they grabbed everything they could find.
Guess where the kids’ Christmas presents were hiding.
Go ahead, guess!
If you said the trunk, you get a cookie. Which is about all I’ll now be able to afford. They also ran off with my husband’s iPhone and Apple laptop and while not having the iPhone is an inconvenience, the presents are just infuriating. What kind of lowlife scum steals children’s Christmas presents?
I know it’s silly to blame a month, but I had high hopes for us, December. There’s a lot I like about you. I thought you liked me. I don’t understand why you’ve been so unkind. I think it’s time for an apology, don’t you? I’ll be waiting for you to make it up to me.
Still waiting,
Me
December 29 2009
The kids have had many toys over the years. Every now and then, I pack away a few they no longer play with or that are especially irritating or that we have simply run out of room for. 3 kids’ worth of toys can quickly take over a house.
One such example were the mega blocks Jedi acquired when he was little(er). He didn’t creatively build much with them, preferring the momentary cheap thrill of dumping out all hundred pieces day after day then leave them be. And there they would lay, lifeless, with nothing more than a passing poke in the foot. I never liked these blocks. I didn’t want to deal with picking them up any longer. Thus began a gradual easing out process. And when the blocks were finally all stored away, no one gave a second glance. Good riddance.
I’m a horrible mother, I know. I don’t let my kids play with childhood essentials. First, crayons. Now, blocks. It’s a wonder I let them believe in Santa.
I haven’t had a block in my house for 2 years. Many, many other irritating toys, but free of blocks.
Until now.
When my mother bought Buzz a brand new set of mega blocks for Christmas.
There is a pile of them simply littering the floor, waiting to be stepped on. They’re just as much fun to pick up now as they were then.
Thanks, Mom.
