The Holiday RAOK List

After much deliberation, we made our Holiday  Random Acts of Kindness list! We had such fun making it. I wanted it to be simple stuff that we could do, but still meaningful, and not too expensive. Here's what we came up with:

Our goal is to do as many as we can between now and Christmas. Hopefully I'll be able to post our results sometime right after the holiday. Wish us luck!

The truth comes out

OK, so I did it. I told Bug about Santa.

BK was taking a nap, and The Agent was engrossed in the Raider game, so I used the opportunity to have a heart to heart with Bug. "Hey, Bug... you know how you've been asking about Santa?"

She perked up. "Yeah?" She's been waiting for this conversation.

I took a deep breath. "Well, there WAS a real Santa. He lived years and years and years ago, in a different country called Turkey."

Bug giggled at this. "Turkey? I bet he loved Thanksgiving!"

Ummm, yeah.

"Anyway, this man would give gifts to the children every year, anonymously. That means he didn't tell anyone about it. So, when he died, everyone wanted to keep that magic alive. So yes, I might put the presents under the tree and fill your stockings, and that's because I'm keeping the magic of St. Nicholas alive. And now, you can help, too. We can make a list of little things we can do for other people, people we don't even know, to make their lives a little nicer. It's called a random act of kindness."

Bug seemed completely ok with this. "And I promise not to tell  BK," she said.

"That's a good idea," I answered. "And you probably shouldn't talk about this to your friends at school, either. This is a conversation that everyone needs to have with their mom or dad, so let them have it. And the magic of Christmas is real, it's all real. But now you get to be part of the magic, too"

Bug agreed. "But what nice things should we do?" she asked.

"Oh, that's the fun part! We can make a whole list! We can put flowers on people's windshields in a parking lot, or pay for the person behind us at McDonalds, or tape a nice note on a mirror in the  bathroom at the mall, all kinds of stuff."

Bug was really excited about this. Stay tuned for our Christmas list!

The truth about Santa

I've talked about this before. I don't go crazy when buying Christmas gifts for the kids. We stick to the four gift rule:

They also each get one present from Santa and their stockings are filled with little trinkets. And I'll probably get them each a Christmas Eve package: Christmas pajamas, popcorn and treats, and then we'll watch a movie.

We aren't big on encouraging the belief in Santa. In fact, we didn't discuss Santa at all until Bug was in preschool and every other kid started telling her about the fat man. But now Bug is 8 and in the 3rd grade, and she has already asked several times, "Just tell me the truth: Is Santa real?"

I always respond with my standard response: "Children who don't believe in Santa get socks and underwear for Christmas."

But this year, I will be telling Bug the truth about Santa, using this letter as a guide.  I am very nervous about this. I don't want to spoil the magic of Christmas for her. But really, I can't remember a time that I ever thought Santa was real, and I still think Christmas is most magical time of the year. So hopefully she'll be ok with it.

I'd love to hear from some of my readers about this-- did your kids ever believe in Santa? If so, when did they learn the truth, and how did you handle it?

Weekend Update

Happy December, my friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

This was a very long weekend for me, since I didn't work since Tuesday. Yay for long weekends! I didn't take a lot of pictures this weekend, but it's not because we didn't have anything to do.... I choose to believe I was too busy to get the camera out.

On Wednesday, Bug had a friend over for a playdate. Our schedules don't allow this to happen every often, so it was a real treat! The girls made pumpkin-chocolate brownies and then played upstairs doing Lord only knows what, but they seemed to get along well, and I never heard any fighting. BK, however, was a bit of a pouty butt. He wanted to play with the girls, but the last thing two 8-year-old girls want to do is play with a 5-year-old boy. Poor baby. I offered to play with him, but I was apparently a poor substitute.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! We spent the day with my parents, stuffing our faces with turkey and studying the ads, organizing our plan of attack for Friday. I bought I few things online, just things that I was worried would be gone by the time we got there on Friday, but only if there was free shipping, because I'm kind of cheap like that. I REFUSE to pay shipping when I can get it at the store.

My stepmother picked me up bright and early at 4 am on Friday and we were off! Now, I mentioned that there weren't any spectacular deals on Friday (I bought a watch for the The Agent a week earlier... thank goodness I did, because it was $100 more on Friday!), but it feels so good to have almost all of my shopping done! Of course, I do have a few more things to get, and of course I have to get a few more little things, but I'm feeling really good about what I accomplished.

Some of my haul

Saturday was cold and rainy, and we had had an anniversary party to go to that evening, so I only had time to make a few returns. I took BK with me because I wanted to get him some pants and I wasn't sure what his size was, and while we were out we found this beauty: 

Hello, Lover. 

Sadly, the Michael Kors had to stay at the store because it was too expensive, it's less than a month before Christmas, we had to go to the anniversary party. 

Ugh. The anniversary party. our favorite babysitter was booked, so hunting around for another one, I asked if the affair was something that would be kid friendly. I was told it wouldn't really be a big deal and the children were welcome. 

This was a blatant lie. 

Bug and BK were the only children there. The average age of each guest was approximately 72. We were completely out of our element. We made small talk with people we barely knew and tried to keep the children from breaking any of the antiques that filled the host's home. We got out of there as quickly as we could. 

Sunday was our last day of time off, and frankly the children and I were getting sick of each other. We did manage to do a little Christmas shopping: 

And we got our Christmas tree up:

But by 6 pm, I was ready to beat the children. Why can't they listen? Do all children have this problem, or is it just mine? Seriously, I ask them to do something, and it seems like they big fat do the opposite. Or if I tell one child to stop doing something (like moaning at the dinner table when she's told to eat her chicken), then the other child thinks it's funny if he starts doing the one thing I just said NOT to do. Ugh!

Seriously, I don't know how stay at home moms do it. I am so ready to go back to work!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Now let's bring on Christmas!

 

Giving Thanks (101)

Beth was hiding in her room, waiting. She knew her dad was already carving the turkey, she would be called to dinner soon, and she would be forced to say the blessing.

She had no idea what to say.

How could she articulate everything she was thankful for? Her parents, her brother, her cat, how the cutest boy in school smiled at her last week? The crisp autumn leaves, the smell of buttered popcorn, how her best friend promised to be in her wedding, 15 years from now?

Suddenly, she smiled. She knew what she had to be thankful for.

Everything.

Write a story in exactly 101 words

Will you Cross the Line?

The Black Friday planning is well under way!

I've been told that Wal Mart workers may be on strike on Friday. My stepmother, who is my shopping partner in crime, is a union worker and not allowed to cross a picket line. My father, now retired, is also loyal to the union and will not cross a picket line. However, since I am not part of a union, it is perfectly acceptable for me to walk in, with my stepmother's list, and buy everything that she needs. She's not one to be deterred by a technicality.

The whole thing seems a little silly to me. I've never been part of a union before, so maybe I don't get it. But these are the facts as I understand them. The employees of Wal Mart are upset about their low wages, part time hours, and lack of benefits. But here's what I don't get. If they're so unhappy, why don't they leave? And the standard answer is that it's hard to get a job, companies aren't hiring, economic times are tough, etc.

Exactly. Times are tough. People need a job. And if you don't like the company you work for, there are 50 other people waiting in line to take your place. Check out this pic:

I'm sure this Wal Mart employee is thinking, "go ahead and sit there... I'm going to get my paycheck now."

Hey, I get it. It probably sucks at Wal Mart. I know it sucks to shop there, so working there can't be any better. But at least you have a job. Suck it up until you're able to find something better.

But here's the part that really annoys me. So, from what understand, the employees aren't actually part of a union, they're just a group of people who are joining together to ask for more money. But my stepmother isn't allowed to cross ANY picket line.

"That's crazy," I said. "So if I'm just walking around picketing, with a sign that says 'Lovely is awesome,' you can't cross my line?"

"Well," Alice answered, "It has to be has to be a cause worth fighting for."

So, I guess the fact that I'm awesome isn't a cause worth fighting for.

What do you think? If you're shopping on Friday, will you cross the Wal Mart picket lines?

The Pinocchio Syndrome

Did I share this story yet? This is one of the many instances of BK's naughtiness lately.

A couple of weeks ago, BK came home with a novelty eraser, one that was shaped like a calculator. "Look at the eraser I got!" he said.

"Oh, that's cool," I answered. "Where did you get that?"

"Mrs. K gave it to me." Mrs K is his teacher.

"Oh, really? Why did she do that?"

"Because I've been so good lately."

Well, he HAD been good that week. And we HAD just gone to parent-teachers conferences,  where his teacher HAD said she was going to start rewarding him  more for positive behavior. I was inclined to believe him.

But Bug didn't believe him from the beginning. "There is no way that Mrs. K gave that to you," she said, "You're lying. You know you're lying."

BK was furious. "I am NOT lying!"

Bug was very calm, very matter of fact. "I know you're lying."

I intervened. "Now, Bug, you don't know what happens in BK's class. But BK, tell me: did everyone get an eraser, or just certain people?"

BK's answer was immediate and sure. "Only certain people. You had to be good."

"Hmmmm.... and if I called Mrs K and ask her what happened, would she tell me the same story?"

"Yes."

Well. That was that. I believed him. And I didn't think much of it.... except later that night after the kids went to bed I found the eraser broken in to three pieces. Well, that was a waste.  The whole thing was swept into the garbage.

But Bug wasn't ready to give up. She tracked Mrs. K down on the playground the next day. "Mrs. K, did you give BK an eraser yesterday?"

Mrs. K was confused. "No, Sweetie, I didn't."

Bug gave a triumphant grin. "I KNEW it! I KNEW he was lying!"

So, that led to yet ANOTHER phone call from the school, about how BK had apparently stolen a 49 cent eraser from the book fair and then lied about it.

Sigh. I just don't know what I'm going to do about that boy.