Thank You. Signed, The Management

If I could use only one word to describe this week: Overwhelming.

Underappreciated is a super close second.

This was the week I had to get my stuff done because Marie will be home for almost all of next week.  And we all know getting around town with one is much easier than two without even taking into account it’s Christmas time.

I will not get into specifics, but I was up until midnight for three nights in a row while still maintaining my early wakeup call of 5:50 a.m.  I also had a nasty cold.  Poor Harrington had a cold, too.  . . that sent him to bed as early as 9:30 and waking up as late as 7:10.

You do the math.

So the inspiration for this post is from Twitter.  Someone said that if you want to have your family to take notice of something you want them to do, you should write a note and sign it, “The Management.”  For example, “Please be sure to remove shoes before stepping on the carpet.  Signed, The Management.”

Pure genius, I tell you.

Here is a letter from The Management noting all my hard work this week that has gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

Dear Erin,

I hope that you are enjoying the magic and beauty of the season.  We sure have noticed all your hard work around here, and you are doing an amazing job.  In addition to your daily duties that include but are not limited to laundry, meal planning, grocery shopping, cleaning, packing lunches, hosting play dates (with a new friend . . . don’t think we didn’t notice the extra effort you put into cleaning the house before and after the play date), taking Thomas to school, picking up Marie from school and taking her to the dentist, you have been clocking some serious overtime to prepare for the holiday season.

You have gone to bed as late as midnight making gifts for special people so that you could have them shipped on time *and* take advantage of two major sales.   You also have taken Thomas all over town getting everything from Christmas cards to Target for a two hour marathon session of  Christmas shopping to the mall to make returns at Kohl’s since they sold you a “slightly” used griddle (and we know you need that griddle for Christmas morning chocolate chip pancakes).

You also went shopping for your special someone after Zumba which put you bed late for a third night in a row.  No nursing that nasty cold of yours!  You almost pushed yourself over the edge, so we applaud you for not working out the next morning.  However, you are looking fantastic.  We have noticed that you are looking trimmer than you have in a long time.  Looks like running all over town with a toddler along with eating cereal and sandwiches for dinner is working out for you.

Speaking of eating cereal for dinner, that was one hell of a night.  Both Plan A and Plan B dinners were derailed for that evening while your husband was enjoying cocktails and delicious fried food at a work party.  But that didn’t stop you from pushing through and making good on your promise to take the kids on a ride in the heated car while they wore their jammies so you can look at all the Christmas lights.  We don’t know about you, but our hearts totally melted when Thomas said how “bootiful” they lights were and how “they were everywhere!”  By the way, the Christmas CD was a nice touch and helped reset the mood after the dinner disaster.  But you didn’t stop at the Christmas lights.  Oh, no.  You even let them stay up and watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.  You put that Christmas train right back on the rails!

We also think it was awesome how you picked up Marie from school after your late night and take The Babes to write letters to Santa and mail them at the mall.  But again, in true form, you didn’t stop there.  You made sure that they had the full experience by taking them to the food court to eat junk food and go on the merry-go-round.  Yes, we know that Thomas had a meltdown when you wouldn’t let him go on any other rides, but you didn’t snap.  You know why?  Because you are amazing.

We know that next week is a busy week, too.  You will be food shopping for the various dishes and meals you will be serving not only during the holidays, but for your everyday needs as well.  You will be wrapping gifts, doing any last minute shopping, and cleaning the house for company.  And let’s not forget doing all the laundry so everyone’s clothes are ready for show time.

We would have liked to have sent you on an all expense weekend trip to the spa, but unfortunately we can’t have you gone for that long of time.  As you can see, your presence is greatly relied on around here.  Not to mention, it is just not in our budget at this time.  Please accept this ceramic travel coffee mug with a splash-free lid as a small token for our enormous gratitude for a job well done.  Actually, better than well done.  A fantastic job.

Keep up the great work.  Without you, Christmas just would not happen with the sparkle, finesse, and magic you lovingly put into each detail. 

Merry Christmas!

Thank you.

Signed,

The Management

On Reliving My First Christmas Shopping Trip with Two Under Three Years Of Age

Today I am posting at Macomb Patch.  I am reliving my very first Christmas shopping trip with both Babes. 

Got any traumatic-turned-nostalgic holiday memories that you would like to share?

Happy Monday!

Wordless-ish Wednesday – It’s Beginning to Look a Tad Like Christmas

I know it’s not even Thanksgiving, but when I got this in the mail, I became SUPER excited for Christmas:





Hellz yeah!


Marie loves Just Dance 2, but when she started singing Brittany’s Toxic I thought it might be a good idea to find a less sexed-up version. I am just thinking it might be a preemptive move in keeping her on the straight and narrow. If something were to go awry, I don’t want to be cursing the day I let her dance to Toxic, you know?

So as soon as I found out there was Just Dance Kids, I was ALL over it! 

Marie and I love to dance together. It’s good exercise. And now we can do it without me fearing she’s a hip shake away from looking like she belongs on Toddles and Tiaras. It is going to be all Wiggles all Cold Spaghetti all the time.

And I cannot wait!!

Holiday Hysteria and Christmas Catastrophe: Holiday Marketing Schemes and the Anxious Consumer

This past Sunday, the Fam and I decided to go for a little trip down the toy aisles at Target to get a few ideas of what The Babes may want for Christmas. I anticipated the fun kind of trip where we talk about making a Christmas list and get all dreamy for The Big Morning.

What I did not anticipate was a store FILLED with people as if it were the last two weeks before Christmas. It was packed, people! Toys were MISSING from the shelves! MISSING!!

The one thing we really want to get Thomas – GONE!

When I asked a clerk to look in the back, they said there were no more. NO MORE!! And then I went into over share mode:

Me: Really? They are all gone?

Clerk: Yes, but we get shipment almost every day now.

Me: I just can’t believe that they are all gone.

Clerk: I know.

Me: I mean, the marketing scheme of getting the consumer to worry about Christmas and actively shop well before Thanksgiving is working. Here I am, FREAKING out that the one toy I really, really need is not on the shelf because I waited a whole week after Halloween to start Christmas shopping. Really, what kind of mom am I to have waited so long?

Clerk: You know, you can call us to see if we got the shipment in.

Me: Well, I may call everyday and be “that parent” who stalks the store until it comes.

Clerk: (nervous laugh) That’s OK. It happens all the time.

Me: Alright, talk to you tomorrow.

Well, I missed my call on Monday, and when I called today on Tuesday, the shop clerk actually asked if I called yesterday since “that is our shipment date.” No pressure, lady! I got it - I’m a bad mom because I didn’t call on one of your official shipment dates.

I know I’ve been writing a lot about how I am working to make stronger personal boundaries and find more peace in my life. And I think that I’ve been doing OK, but if there is a trigger for my anxiety besides hormones it is Christmas shopping. It’s like a damn cyclone that sucks me right in.

It starts with the gifts and then it gets me thinking about the celebrating arrangements with whom and when and the outfits and the food and the decorations. (Which will be the topics of future posts, I’m sure)

So even though I think we will be doing some things differently this holiday, it is clear to me that I still need to work on that whole consumerism thing. Although it is fun to buy presents, it’s not fun to stress out about it. And I have to say, “Hey Marketing Geniuses, you may have gotten me with that Fisher Price Stand n’Play Rampway and Just Dance for Kids, but I am in control from here on out.”

I hope, right?

I mean I do plan non-consumerism projects that help me teach the true meaning of Christmas, like baking cookies, looking at Christmas lights, doing crafts, stuff like that. But man, kicking that instinct to go into panic shopping mode is hard.

So there is a happy ending to all this: I did find the Fisher Price toy at another Target and Just Dance for Kids will be shipped to my house, thank you very much Amazon.

So, Friends, are you getting sucked into all the Holiday Hysteria? If not, how do you stay away from the cyclone.