Christmas Roundup 2015

I am declaring that I have unofficially completed Christmas shopping two full weeks before Christmas.  (I will officially declare it when all the gift are wrapped, though). 

I have been pretty busy with that so even though I have a new Christmas blog post coming soon (which I am super excited about and will be sharing it in my newsletter first along with an update on my book – here’s the link to sign up), here is a round up of my blog posts from Christmases past.

If you are looking for any last minute homemade gift ideas (which sounds like an oxymoron to me), here are some ideas that are pretty easy.

Here’s the time that I was super stressed out because The Toy I Must Buy was sold out right after Halloween.  Ridiculous, right?

One of my favoriteChristmas memories was when we took the kids to A Christmas Storyhouse in Cleveland.  It was one of the best weekend getaway we ever had.

Or the time I admitted to “never say never” when it comes to the Elf on the Shelf (which I still kind of regret buying).

There was that time when the Christmas grind seemed almost too much to bear. I wrote about how I use this quote for It’s a Wonderful Life to get me through.

And the time that I included some more inspirational quotes because I really needed to find my center.  I will be reviewing this post again before Christmas Eve because sometimes the holidays can be like woah.

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Since I am committing more time to writing my book, my blog might not be as active.

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Christmas Countdown

One more week until Christmas.

One. More. Week.

And there's still so much to do (sung like Olivia the Pig).  I have such a love/hate relationship with the holidays. 

I start the season off like this:

After weeks of trying to remember class gifts, class party supplies, bus driver gifts, buying all of the food, wrapping all of the presents in addition to my other parenting obligations, I start to feel like this: 

Then the Christmas party anxiety sets in: What if, at one of the many holiday gatherings, the complex cocktail of personalities explode, leaving not even the tiniest bit of dignity.  

I fear that only shards of candy canes and broken dreams will remain.

I started going to descend into a downward spiral of holiday anxiety, but decided I to stop myself because I honestly don't have time for a full-on meltdown.

First thing I did was remind myself of Agreement Number Two of the Four Agreements.

Holy hell, that is so hard to do!  To be truthful, it is damn near impossible on the best of days.  But I am really going to try to remember that when I am faced with an insane social schedule and not feeling very patient.

Speaking of an insane social schedule, do you feel the crushing pressure to overcommit to all of the holiday acitvities?  I know that I do.

I read this at Grounded Parent by Steph and felt better about honoring our limits as a family so we have a fighting chance to enjoy the holidays.

Maybe you feel conflicted about accepting change and letting go of things that no longer work for you during the holiday?  Or maybe you get hung up on creating the perfect holiday in the history of all holidays?

This post my Glennon at Momastary brought me totears.  Although our circumstances are different, her message about acceptance resonated deeply with me.

Thank you, internet, for being my rock during the Christmas season.

How are you doing with the holidays?  Have you found any inspiration that you want to share?

Thank you. Signed, The Management: Holiday/New Job Edition

I wrote a post from the Management a while ago and decided it was time for another installment.  The idea originated from some twitter posts I saw about mothers writing notes around the house for certain things to get done and signed it from “The Management” to ensure it got done. 

Brilliant, I tell you!

 ________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Erin,

We realize that we are a bit late in recognizing all of your hard work during the holiday season, but better late than never, right?

First of all, you rocked this Christmas season!  You had all of your shopping done two weeks before Christmas and the wrapping done a week before the big day.  This is an all-time best since you have had children.  And we know it’s not because you have less going on.  It’s actually quite the contrary since you were job shadowing, taking Thomas to the hospital for his surgery, working on family photo projects, and working on your blog.  We’re not quite sure how you did it (although judging by the trail of Via coffee wrappers that follows you and the stockpile of peppermint mocha creamer, we think that may be a clue as to what helped you through those long days).

We would also like to comment you on how you handled your Christmas events and kept your personal boundaries intact with dignity (and fierceness that may have frightened others away).

We also thought it was quite something how you decorated your presents with old-fashioned paper, stamps, and ribbon.  We know that you told everyone it was because Marie wanted to experience Christmas like the American Girl Kit from the 1930’s, but we really know that you used this opportunity as art therapy.  For that, we applaud your efforts in finding peace during such a hectic season.

We know that this kind of excellency did not come without a few hiccups.  We know that Thomas may have clocked in some extra hours watching TV.  The plus side is that he cultivated a love for the children’s classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas staring Jim Carrey.  True, it was not the classic cartoon that you grew up with, but nonetheless, he loved it (although Christmas commercialism message may be lost because he tuned out when the Grinch’s heart grew two sizes too big).

Our hearts felt for you as you became unglued in the recovery room after Thomas’s surgery.  You couldn’t be there for Marie in the morning before school and take Thomas to the hospital, and you just lost it.  Since human cloning is not yet an option, we believe that you should give yourself a break.  As The Management, we believe it is in your best interest to practice more kindness towards yourself.

We also noticed that, in fear of forgetting pajama day, you made sure that Marie’s favorite jammies were clean and ready for her to wear on the special day.  We are so proud that you didn’t forget, however, we noticed that in your overzealousness, you sent her to school in her jammies.   It was not pajama day.  Although we noticed that Marie was Ok with it, we could not help but feel sorry for you as you cried in embarrassment.  Trust us: this will be a story that you will find humorous one day!

You bounced back and right into your new job.  You managed a funeral and your husband’s extended work hours beautifully all without having to order carry out (although we think that might just be your stubborn streak showing). 

Great job, Erin!  If we could just leave you something to work on, give yourself a break and if even the crockpot seems like too much effort, go on and order carryout until you get the bugs worked out with this new schedule.

Thanks again for all your hard work,

The Management

Me = Buddy the Elf + Clark Griswold + Marie Bamford’s Character from Target Commercials

It is Friday, and I still haven’t posted here yet!  There are a few reasons for the delay:

Thomas had surgery on Thursday to put in a second pair of tubes and his adenoids removed.

I am embarking on a totally new project that has required time for preparation.  Stay tuned on this one – I’ll make the announcement on Tuesday!

I have been totally preparing for Christmas.  In fact, I would be surprised if Santa doesn’t ask me to join his team as an official elf.

I am suffering from blog guilt – I haven’t been reading or commenting on blogs.  I have been neglecting Mommy on the Spot this week.  I have not been as active on my social sites.

But Christmas is one of my most favorite times of the year.  It is such a magical time of year that I am trying to be present for Marie and Thomas (despite the above list that didn’t even mention Harrington’s last minute business trip to California).

But in spirit of honoring my love of the holiday and my passion for blogging and my new obsession with YouTube, I have decided to use YouTube clips to describe me at Christmas.

It usually starts out with Harrington and I having a variation of the conversation like Ellen and Clark Griswald share (in which I could not find a clip – YouTube Fail).  It starts out with Ellen (Harrington) telling Clark (me) that her parents and his parents were going to be staying with them during Christmas. 

Clark responds, “All my life I’ve wanted to have big family Christmas.”

Ellen cautiously says him, “It’s just that I know how you build these things up in your mind.  You set standard no family event can ever live up to.”

Clark replies in disbelief, “When have I ever done that?”

Ellen lovingly reminds him by saying, “Parties.  Weddings.  Anniversaries.  Funerals.  Holidays.  Vacations.  Graduations.”

After I blow off Harrington’s cautionary reminders, I usually march ahead with my child-like enthusiasm and make lists of all the fun holiday things we will do as a family, just like Buddy the Elf (minus the elf costume).  (Note to self: consider finding elf costume for next year).

I then become so excited about Christmas I start to take form of Maria Bamford’s character from the old Target Christmas commercials.

Inevitably, I end up having some kind of meltdown in which I end up sounding like this:

Which brings us full circle with me being the female version of Clark Griswold.

Yep.  This is me at Christmas.

I promise to have a real blog post that will be announcing the new direction my new life is taking.  (Re: I am no longer in denial and signed on the dotted line).

How is your holiday season coming along?  Are you a Clark Griswald/Maria Bamford/ Buddy the Elf type of Christmas person?  Or do you lean more on the Grinch side (which, no judging.  I am a total Grinch about Halloween.)

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

Holiday Hysteria and Christmas Catastrophe: A Word about Planning Ahead and Pie Crusts

I like to bake pies for Thanksgiving. Really, what’s not to love? The sweet and spicy aroma of pumpkin pie? Delicious!! The smell of toasted coconut and the magic of watching powder mix and milk slowly turn into pudding on the stove? Scrumptious and satisfying.

What?! You guys don’t have coconut cream pie on Thanksgiving?! But that’s a mainstay tradition in my family . . . with a back story, of course. I used to think pumpkin pie was just full of everything disgusting. And then one day, I just liked it. As for apple pie, I like all the ingredients independent of each other. Apples? Yum. Cinnamon? Yum. Brown sugar? Yum. All of that together? Um, no thanks. I think it’s the mushy apples that get me. Because I was difficult opinionated, my Mom started making coconut cream pie for me. Now, I can’t imagine a Thanksgiving without it.

So making pies is awesome. However, making pie crusts is the opposite of awesome. I have faithfully used Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust that you just have to roll out. So easy, right? And I know that I am not the one who’s all about cheating their way out of making pie crusts. So anticipating the public’s demand in planning ahead, I went to the grocery this Saturday to buy the highly coveted pie crusts. Two weeks before Thanksgiving.

When I arrived at refrigerated case, I started to break out into a cold sweat. No. Effen. Pie crusts.

WTF?!

How is two weeks before Thanksgiving not enough time to buy pie crusts?! Seriously?!

When I went to the checkout line, with my piecrust-less cart that screamed DEFEAT, I didn’t even wait to have the clerk ask me if I found everything alright. I blurted out something about how is it two weeks before Thanksgiving and you are out of piecrusts. Being in his early twenties and taking for granted the magic of the holidays, he mumbled, with this totally bored and condescending look, something like they had been selling a lot lately.

The bagger said there were some in the frozen section.

On the outside, I politely declined. But on the inside, I was declaring if I am going to cheat on making piecrusts, I am going to do it the right way, for Christ’s sake!

In the end, my Mom found them at another store. So either the people at Kroger didn’t buy enough or I need to buy piecrusts when schools supplies make their debut on the shelves: July.

So how are your plans coming along for the holidays? Making any headway? Falling behind? Frustrated? Let’s hear it!

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.