12 posts tagged “christmas”
I cannot believe how many pictures I have taken in the last week... There are tons of new pictures on my Flickr if you want to see what we did for Christmas and Christmas Eve, how Boogie was in the church nativity pageant on Sunday, or what we did at my SIL's birthday party/our Christmas with Papa... Later days...
I am still a little bit taken aback by how differently my sister and I treat holidays... I am struggling with my faith, yet I feel the need to attend church services for holidays like Christmas and Easter... My sister doesn't really talk about religion a lot, so I am not sure how strong her faith is... I do know, however, that she thought it was more important to put together Princess' Christmas gifts than to attend Christmas Eve service... Riiiiight... The same type of thing happened several years in a row on Easter -- where Princess' hair wasn't quite done yet and/or she needed to get ready for pictures with her cousins (on the other side of the family) so she couldn't make it to church... WTF?!? If that is the reason you celebrate a holiday, don't you think it makes sense to teach your child about the religious significance of the holiday? So... Apparently, Christmas is all about the presents... Which means that, of course, my sister has to prove her love with gifts... So, we spent less than $100 on Boogie, for which we got him a reasonable number and variety of gifts... My sister spent not much less (if she spent less) and got him more than we did... Maybe not more... But more "big" stuff, for sure... I doubt she tried to overshadow us, but it really sucks... My MIL, BIL, and SIL did better at not going nuts this year, so I really appreciated that... But, man... How can we teach our kid the true meaning of the holiday when strangers constantly push the Santa card and other family members reinforce the greed and gluttony of the holiday?!? Grrr... So, yeah... That's me being "ungrateful" for my sister's generosity... In nice contrast, nevertheless, Boogie was selfless enough to agree to give away some of his older toys to make room for his newer toys! We brought a bag of toys to his daycare today, and I was really proud of him for helping me pick out the toys we donated and then not even changing his mind when we got there... I think we may do right by him yet! Later days...
So, Clark and I got each other pretty good... He actually didn't think I got him Super Mario Galaxy, so he was thrilled when he opened that... And I was completely taken aback when I opened a red corduroy blazer... I mean, I guess he was there when I said (like once) that I wanted one, but I really didn't think it even registered... Awesome! Boogie was so happy to get a train set that I thought we might never tear him away from it, but I am happy to report that he played with other things and even left the house... Teeheehee... My MIL didn't go so crazy this year, so that was appreciated! ::wink wink:: But, yeah... Hope you all had as Merry a Christmas as me... Later days...
So, since we are doing Christmas Eve stuff at our house, I thought it might be a good idea to tidy up a bit... I don't feel like I need to scrub and polish everything in my house, but it would be nice if the toys weren't scattered across the entire first floor, you know?!? Boogie has been pretty detrimental to my progress, so I think I am just going to wait for his nap... And since I don't have any other spare time coming up anytime soon, I have at least gotten the dishwasher loaded/started and put away a little laundry... Sure, the Prozac helps to keep me from feeling like I am going to flip out if the house is messy, but it certainly doesn't "cure" my desire for an orderly house... Teeheehee... Later days...
I am officially done shopping and wrapping presents... And way later than normal, too... Oh well... Could have still been worse... Bah! There's always next year, right?!? Later days...
There is a new documentary that I just have to see -- What Would Jesus Buy? ... Clark and I are always talking about how we cannot believe the amount of money some people spend (and/or go into debt) in the name of Christmas, and this movie looks like it would probably cause our jaws to drop even further... Why is it that people like my sister think they need to buy their children hundreds of dollars worth of toys, games, clothes, etc. to prove their love every Christmas?!? I don't get it... Later days...
I didn't really know it was possible for things to get worse in the situation with my mom, but I think that happened last night... I came home to a message on the answering machine about how she never knows my schedule and wants to talk... She sounded upset, so I figured it was about the e-mail... Wrong! She never got the e-mail... Sure, my dad saw it -- and even told my sister about it -- but, he never told my mom... What caused her to call, then? Well... Since my sister knew my feelings, she took a trip over to my mom's house to talk to her about Christmas and how she wanted her whole family together for Christmas this year... She suggested that Christmas Eve be at my house, and my mom actually wanted to work that out... I was all confused and asked if she had gotten the e-mail... She said no, so I explained a little bit about what it said... Everything in that letter was the truth, but I was definitely pretty mean in the way I worded some things... So, now she knows about the e-mail and will probably want to see it... Does that mean that our progress will now be negated? Or will she just see how hurt I am and want to make things right?!? I don't know... All I know is that I am at work and cannot really call her to see what's up -- because I am the only one in the Children's Room right now... Maybe I will call during my lunch break... Bah... Later days...
So, Boogie had a great Christmas -- even if he did get sick of us telling him to go over and unwrap another present... We did pretty well keeping it light since we knew Clark's family would go crazy... We knew not how crazy they would be, though... Take this for instance:
This is one of the reasons I love Christmas -- the cute little kids who have no clue what to do during the church Christmas pageant! I just added pictures to my Flickr, and I am putting two adorable videos up here... Boogie is the cow, and the rooster is our pastor's grandson... Enjoy!
So, I think this could very well be the last civil family function on my side of the family... I have decided to tell my mom that NMD (Not My Dad) is not exactly welcome anymore... Mom already knows that my sister doesn't want him arond -- he is not welcome at her house... I have put up with it a little more than she only because my child was not yet old enough to understand... Well, that is changing... And my patience is wearing thin... I was so supportive of this relationship, at first, because I thought my mom would finally leave my dad and stop putting/bringing him down... I guess I was wrong... My parents are still "married," and NMD is still around... This year will make 4 years that we have had to put up with NMD at our family Christmas Eve, and it just isn't right... He always outshines my dad with his gifts to my mom, and it is so painful to watch my dad as my mom opens a diamond tennis bracelet or some other extravagant gift from NMD... Of course my dad can't afford anything like that -- he works his ass off just to provide for my mom (so she can sit on her ass all day and not even keep their house clean)... Nothing like waking up in a good mood for Christmas celebrations, huh?!? I guess I just hope that the dreams I had last night don't come true... Have a Merry Christmas everybody... I will be back to post tomorrow night... Later days...
