I have had two marathon weekends of shopping. I broke my
rule never to go to Costco on a Sunday, let alone a Sunday during the holiday
season.
I’m fighting off a cold.
I’m wrapping up the fall semester.
Basically, I am feeling the light at the end of the tunnel
is never going to appear.
I need a serious dose of motivation this Monday.
I do not like that I am not fully in the Christmas spirit
so I chose this quote.I love it because
it is true.
Here is my classic list of favorite Christmas music to
cheer me up. Yes, it is the same list I published a few years ago. But that is because these songs are my classic Christmas mix.
I vividly remember when the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon hit
the stores, I vehemently declared that it would never enter our home.
First of all, it is creepy. This little elf spies on you all day
and comes creeping around at night when you sleeping? Who knows where it will
end up? In your room? Next to you? While you are sleeping? Kind of sounds like
the horror film Chucky, no?
The Elf on the Shelf pretty much stood for everything I was
against: motivation by scare tactics instead of teaching kids to be self-aware
and value kindness. I don't want my kids to make good choices because they are
afraid to make wrong choices; I want them to make good choices because it feels
good.
But saying never is such an armature parenting move. The
first rule in parenting club is never say never. (Said like brad Pitt in Fight
Club).
So why did I break down and let Elf on the Shelf wander its
way into your home?
Ever so slightly, I could see that glimmer of magic start
to fade from Marie's eyes.
She was trying a little too hard to sound excited about
writing letters to Santa.
I saw a dash of doubt across her face when talking about
kids who might not believe in Santa.
She is in the 2nd grade, people! In my book, that is way
too young to not fully buy into the magic of Santa.
So I sold my soul to the devil and bought an Elf on the
Shelf. Marie expressed hope that one would arrive at our house, and just
like the movie, it appeared on our doorstep on December 1st.
Her eyes twinkled as she carefully opened the box and read
the story to Thomas. She had her name all picked out in hopes of his
arrival: Snowball.
Ah, poor Thomas. He has had to take one for the team.
He looked at the Elf as an evil, little imp. He did not like the 24-hour
surveillance system that would report all of his not-so-good choices back to
Santa. He was scared it would appear in his room (I totally get this
fear). He named it Poopy Pants in retaliation and defiance: no elf is going to
change him!
But he slowly came around. He has quietly read his wish
list to Snowball Poopy Pants. He has told him when he thinks I'm being mean.
He's working on making his peace.
Today, Snowball wrote the kids a note telling them all the
good things he has seen them doing with gentle reminders to practice kindness
and pick up their toys.Their eyes
sparkled as they witnessed a bit of Christmas magic, but they also looked so
proud of all the nice things Snowball said about them.
Besides Snowball eating popcorn, this has been the only other "creative" thing he has done. Usually he can be found doing something very non-Pinteresty, like hanging from a light or on a shelf.
Not only am I making my peace with Snowball, but I think he
has bought me at least one year of Santa magic.
Yes, I sacrificed my parenting values for a shot to keep Marie's
awe and faith in Christmas magic embedded in her childhood.
Small price, I think.
Have you ever said never on a firm parenting belief?
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.)
