Wrap this….

I think we all have more Grinch in us than we care to admitt

Does this happen to you every year like it does to me?

Right around four or so days before Christmas I suddenly get all dramatic and act so shocked….SHOCKED I tell you….that well, Christmas is in a few days. Sure I might have completed our shopping a few weeks ago but that doesn’t mean I’ve wrapped a single damn gift. Enter the SHOCK and DISBELIEF that we are days, if not hours, away from the big day. Last year, once recovered from my initial shock, I generously issued my annual threat to Mr. Wired Momma, it goes something like this:”You WILL wrap this year.” Followed by a stern look of total disapproval and judgement.

Few of my avid readers might recall that last year, after issuing said threat, Mr. Wired Momma, who clearly was not worried or disturbed in the least by my statement, suggested the following:

“How about next year, you wrap each present as you buy them.”

What might my response have been?

  1. How about next year, you buy the gifts AND wrap them yourself;
  2. How about next year, I check in to the Mandarin and check out on Christmas eve morning, let’s see how that goes;
  3. How about next year, you shop for me exclusively at Tiffany’s and Saks and maybe I’ll consider your idea (I can be bought);
  4. How about next year, you put your shoes where they belong and then I consider wrapping as I buy.

Should I keep going?

You get the point. Needless to say, he did his fair share of wrapping.

So where do we stand this year?

Oh things are exactly the same. As of right now, this very precise moment in time, not one thing is wrapped. And though I reminded him of this conversation, thanks to this nifty blog, he reinforced his belief that he stands correct — it would be easiest and most logical if I wrapped as I bought.

Convenient, isn’t it?

Who does the shopping and the wrapping in your house?  I know – how about this – I feel like I’ve done enough for the team – maybe Mr. Wired Momma should do all the wrapping this year?

And then, the other day, as I was gleefully perusing the delightful card selection at my beloved Paper Source, I stumbled upon this most excellent card and felt that I, too, deserve a statue of myself in the town square. If this is arranged, I will do all the wrapping chez moi:

Doesn’t this seem like a grand idea? What do you say? Think you’re getting a statue of yourself for the town square? Do you do all the wrapping? Tell moi.

Oh – and this is my last post for 2012. Yes, yes, I know you are wiping away some tears. Fret not, I will likely be posting fun things on the Wired Momma Facebook page. So “Like” moi there and look for more in 2013. And in all seriousness, thank you so much for reading my blog. I appreciate it more than you know. Wishing everyone a very happy holiday and a happy happy new year.

 

When You’re in Kindergarten

Like everyone else, I listened in horror to the news emerging from Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut yesterday. And here’s what I kept thinking:

My daughter on her first day of Kindergarten, August 2011.

When you’re 5, you think everyone writes in upper case letters, all the time.

You have a mouth almost full of baby teeth.

When you’re 5, you hold your mom’s hand on school field trips and ask her what the word “Recess” means the night before the first day of school.

You bound into the ocean over Memorial Day weekend oblivious to the frigid water turning your skin blue.

When you’re 5, you hold your pee until the last possible second because you don’t ever want to stop playing.

If you’re five today, you don’t see the color of your friend’s skin and you’ve only known a world with an African-American President.

When you’re 5, you count the days until Christmas and sing carols loudly out of tune. You talk to the Elf on the Shelf because you believe he talks to Santa at night.

When you’re in Kindergarten, even if your life has been hard, you still believe in only the good in people.

And this is why we are all grieving so much. But I am certain the collective power of our grief can be much greater than just hugging our kids and taking a moment to be especially grateful that they got off the school bus yesterday. It needs to be much greater than this. As we flounder around and wonder what we can do, I think the answer lies right in front of us.

First, there’s the obvious. We can band together and voice the power of grieving parents to demand tougher gun control laws. We can write our Congressmen and sign the petition from MomsRising.

But we can also look into our own back yards and help other mothers who are struggling to raise their own kids, trying to get them to five. If you live in DC, you can donate a mere $12 a month to the DC Diaper bank and diaper a baby for two weeks. Or you could donate to Mission Sleep and help a military mom who’s on her own because her husband is deployed or injured. Or, another cause I really believe in is the UN Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign, which is working to vaccinate children in developing countries because so many of them don’t make it to kindergarten. Just $20 will vaccinate a child in need.

When you’re five, you see only the good in people. I think we need to honor the lives of those precious Kindergarteners by seeing only the good in those around us and helping those who need it. Feel free to leave more suggestions in the comments section here or on the Wired Momma Facebook page.

Kids and Santa

Little gets me in the holiday spirit more than pictures of kids crying on Santa’s lap. Maybe it’s a sickness but I think they are HILARIOUS! So when I put out the request that my readers email me pictures of their kids crying on Santa’s lap, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. My own children have disappointment me gravely on this front- neither of them have ever given me a crying on Santa’s lap picture – so I have to live vicariously through others. I am thrilled with the response my silly request has gotten and bring you the first ever Wired Momma readers kids gallery below – peruse it when you are feeling grumpy, tired of the holidays or just need a good laugh.  We’ll for sure be doing this again next year. And I have a sweet — literally — present to give to one of my readers, picked at random, for taking the time to send me the pictures. So read on:

I wanted to start the gallery with the very image that started my love for these pictures…this is my old co-worker and friend’s daughter…he had this posted on his office door for a long time and it never failed to make me laugh

Here we have little Charlie, age 1:

Next up is little Molly…..she’s in the next two pictures and she HATES Santa….and i LOVE it:

 

Here’s another really hilarious little guy:

Okay – what I love about this next one is not just the crying little girl but her mom’s expression and Santa’s expression:

One of my friends and favorite local parenting bloggers, Nicole Dash who writes Tiny Steps Mommy, sent me in this hilarious image of little Moyra…who clearly does NOT want to be near that old beareded guy:

And here’s another great one, the contrast of the happy sibling and the freaking out sibling kills me…..

 

And finally – this little girl is so precious in her holiday outfit and her body language is my favorite – it’s like she’s telling the other outraged children: At Noon, We RIDE!

How delicious do these ice cream cakes look from Baskin-Robbis? Photo Credit: Michael Indresano Photography Inc.

Seriously – thank you to everyone for sharing these! And you have to love these kids for being so expressive. So, about that sweet give-away. Baskin-Robbins just contacted me earlier this week to offer me a holiday ice cream cake. Trust me, I wanted this ice cream cake. I love ice cream cake. And these holiday themed cakes look so unbelieveably good. Usually I don’t take these sorts of give aways but it seemed like the perfect way to thank you all for taking the time to send me these pictures in. So I randomly drew one name of all the people who submitted pictures and Alana Moran is the winner. So Alana – I hope you aren’t lactose intolerant! Or on a vegan diet. Because I have a $31 gift card from Baskin-Robbins to mail you for one of these festive ice cream cakes. You can customize the cakes by choosing your favorite flavor and pick from the Snowman, the Santa or the Elf cake.

Alana – If you don’t want it or won’t use it – do let me know – and I’ll pull another name. And of course, if you do want it, send me your address! Either way, email me at wiredmomma@me.com

Happy Holidays everyone! I’ll post a bit more next week and then will take off some time until early January. As always, keep up with the fun on the Wired Momma Facebook page because even when I am not posting, I never really fully unplug and there’s always something to share.

Tis the Season for Giving

The horrific events that unfolded last Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School have changed every single one of us. And certainly it’s put a new perspective on the holiday season. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been filled with anxiety as you watch your child board the school bus the last two mornings. And if you’re anything like me, you are profoundly happy to welcome your baby home when she comes rushing off the bus in the afternoons. Right now I seem to be projecting that relief and gratitude onto our school bus driver. And quite honestly, it shouldn’t take something as tragic and life-altering as Newtown to make us appreciate and remember the people in our lives who are not as prominent as say, a teacher, but still very important.

I think it’s important to remember some of the less obvious but equally as important individuals – and for me personally – it’s my daughter’s school bus driver who tops the list. Another great example for many of us is also the school nurse.

We need the bus drivers to deliver our kids safely to school and the school nurses to help our children when they are hurt or sick and we aren’t there. Frankly, I don’t know how the school bus drivers do it every single day – staying focused with a bus load of elementary school aged children is no small feat.

So if you’re looking for an extra idea to thank these important people in our lives, I recommend a Restaurant.com gift card. You can purchase a $25 gift card from Restaurant.com, online for only $10, and your bus driver can treat himself to a nice lunch or light dinner. It can be supplemented with something extra, like maybe a digital photo frame or a really special home made card from your child. But I think spending just a little bit can go a long way to thank the people who help keep our kids safe during the day.

Disclosure: I am a paid blogging ambassador for Restaurant.com. My gift ideas here are all my own, however.