advertisement
-
Emily Parnell
on May 25 2013 - 06:00 AM
Do you want something great to happen? You better start doing something.
- read more
Christi Diggs
on May 23 2013 - 06:00 AM
A drop of spin, a cup of deception and tsp. politics=Apathy
- read more
Lindsay Metcalf
on May 22 2013 - 06:00 AM
When that tornado siren sounds, I'm in the basement
- read more
mara williams
on May 21 2013 - 06:00 AM
Summer break has this mom on a house upkeep war path.
- read more
-
Sure, our youngest still wants the big Spike, that giant red and gold dinosaur that looks oh so cool in the plastic case inside Target. He walks and roars and moves his head. What T-Rex-loving toddler wouldn’t dream of Spike?
But it seems he also wants Monty Rex, the plush, smaller T-Rex that does tricks when you move your hand over his back. How neat is that?
So, Santa, right now he wants them both. But since he can only have one, it seems like he’s talking more about Monty these days.
Make it Monty instead of Spike.
Ummm… let’s pretend for a minute that my husband and I are Santa. And because money is tight this year -- tighter than I ever imagined -- we scoured Craigslist for weeks hoping some wonderful family was looking for a good home for their Spike. No way could Santa doll out the $130, plus tax, for the walking and roaring dinosaur. (OK, for the record, I was the only one scouring Craigslist, but husband sat reading his car book next to me each night as I did it. That counts.)
As luck, and good karma, would have it, after two weeks of Craigslist shopping we found a family in north KC who no longer wanted Spike. And we called before the other three moms looking for a Spike of their own.
The nice family wanted less than half of what Spike goes for in the store. Who cares that we don’t have a box and a dad played with the dinosaur for a day or two when their little girl didn’t seem to like it. Santa doesn’t have to wrap it.
I’m doing a lot of my shopping on Craigslist. It’s my shabby chic year.
And for about a week I felt pretty darn good that we would at least have one thing toddler wanted. Like I said, the cash just isn’t there this year.
But then toddler saw Monty. Now Monty is the first thing he says when he lists what he wants for Christmas. Spike is second.
Well, there’s no money for Monty. Even though he is half the cost of a new Spike.
So Santa, we’re doing a little damage control.
You already got the letter, right? No mind changing after Nov. 1. That’s the rule as I understand it.
And we’re not going to the Wal-Mart toy aisle anymore. Just Target’s, with Spike in the big case.
Craigslist doesn’t do returns. And we hear Santa can’t make more than one big gift for each kid this year.
Are kids allowed to do that? In a tight economy, when there’s only enough money for one big gift? And that big gift has to be a Heckuva lot smaller than the big gifts of years past?
I say not, but let’s see what you think.
ITA! We are only doing one big gift and I have pretty much gotten those (though the big girls' gifts are on layaway.) I don't see anything wrong with that. I think for a lot of families it is going to be that way and I am not going to be ashamed of it.Somehow I had the foresight to declare a "1 gift" rule a couple years ago - before $ had gotten so tight for us. And my son is super-fickle, and prone to flip-flopping about what he wants. Somehow I managed to convince him that Santa knows kids, and Santa knows toys, and if he wants to give Santa a couple options, that's fine, but Santa will choose which toy is best. That worked last year, anyway. Fortunately, both kids have requested $20 items this year. WOW!We have already informed our kids this is a "down" Christmas, and my kids get it. Toddlers have short memories. I'm sure your son will be happy with whatever he gets.That would be so frustrating, because there really is a high you feel when scoring the 'perfect' gift. You can't really switch though, even if yoI guess I would probably just try and find sneaky ways to make him fall a bit more in love with Spike and a bit less with Monty.My keyboard just freaked out a bit. :) it cut off "even if you could, what if he changed his mind again?" Sorry.We went through this with our daughter. She wanted Amazing Amy and the twin dolls. She flipped and flopped and I made a final exchange at WalMart on Christmas Eve (my sister guilted me into it).We've never let our kids make lists or requests of Santa. That way they are surprised when they get what they get.Oh no! I feel for you on that one. I also try to get gifts ahead of time these days in order to find the best deal. I forget how much kids flip-flop on the wish list. I agree with proxymom that while the "high" of finding the perfect gift might not be so high right now, you can do some damage control and find big brother, aunts, etc. who casually find pictures of Spike on the Internet or talk him up. He's so young, he won't care when he sees that cool dinosaur under the tree!Oh no! I feel for you on that one. I also try to get gifts ahead of time these days in order to find the best deal. I forget how much kids flip-flop on the wish list. I agree with proxymom that while the "high" of finding the perfect gift might not be so high right now, you can do some damage control and find big brother, aunts, etc. who casually find pictures of Spike on the Internet or talk him up. He's so young, he won't care when he sees that cool dinosaur under the tree!Oh no! I feel for you on that one. I also try to get gifts ahead of time these days in order to find the best deal. I forget how much kids flip-flop on the wish list. I agree with proxymom that while the "high" of finding the perfect gift might not be so high right now, you can do some damage control and find big brother, aunts, etc. who casually find pictures of Spike on the Internet or talk him up. He's so young, he won't care when he sees that cool dinosaur under the tree!
May 2013 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tagsmoms (38)
teens (34)
tweens (27)
toddlers (22)
school (18)
kids (17)
christmas (14)
boys (12)
parenting (10)
toddler (10)
mom (9)
parents (9)
family (8)
friends (8)
birthdays (6)
children (6)
discipline (6)
money (6)
teenagers (6)
economy (5)
facebook (5)
girls (5)
kindergarten (5)
mom moments (5)
shopping (5)
stress (5)
video games (5)
anxiety (4)
diet (4)
fashion (4)
holidays (4)
husbands (4)
santa (4)
sons (4)
sports (4)
talking (4)
teachers (4)
apple (3)
babies and toddlers (3)
books (3)
chores (3)
coupons (3)
crazy (3)
dad (3)
dads (3)
divorce (3)
driving (3)
exercise (3)
flirting (3)
football (3)
ipad (3)
junior high (3)
lessons (3)
marriage (3)
michael phelps (3)
obama (3)
peer pressure (3)
preschool (3)
sex (3)
sleep (3)
steve jobs (3)
tantrums (3)
worry (3)
brad pitt (2)
bragging (2)
church (2)
class (2)
conferences (2)
craigslist (2)
dancing (2)
death (2)
dogs (2)
embarrassing (2)
emergency room (2)
family time (2)
fat (2)
fighting (2)
finances (2)
fits (2)
fitting in (2)
food (2)
google (2)
guardians (2)
guilt (2)
haircuts (2)
high school (2)
homework (2)
husband (2)
internet (2)
joplin (2)
karma (2)
license (2)
losing weight (2)
manners (2)
mccain (2)
mean (2)
men (2)
olympics (2)
phobias (2)
pictures (2)
presents (2)
questions (2)
saving money (2)
scary (2)
spelling bee (2)
stubborn (2)
style (2)
summer (2)
teacher (2)
teen (2)
toys (2)
tv (2)
vanity (2)
weight loss (2)
wii (2)
wills (2)
writing (2)
(1)
16 (1)
40th (1)
911 (1)
accents (1)
acne (1)
activities (1)
add (1)
addiction (1)
advice (1)
affection (1)
afraid (1)
airplanes (1)
alcohol (1)
allow (1)
anger (1)
apologizing (1)
appreciation (1)
arguments (1)
art (1)
autism (1)
babies (1)
babysitter (1)
babysitting (1)
back to school (1)
backsnacks (1)
bad cop (1)
bad luck (1)
bad mom moments (1)
band (1)
bathroom (1)
beer (1)
belief (1)
belongings (1)
birth (1)
birthday (1)
blogging (1)
body image (1)
bones (1)
bosses (1)
bottoms (1)
bribery (1)
broken bones (1)
brothers (1)
budget (1)
butts (1)
cameras (1)
candy (1)
car keys (1)
carnies (1)
carnivals (1)
cartoons (1)
cheap (1)
cheating (1)
chemistry (1)
childhood hunger (1)
christmas cards (1)
christmas spirit (1)
chubby (1)
cleaning (1)
cleavage (1)
clinton (1)
clothes (1)
clutter (1)
cnn (1)
coaches (1)
cold turkey (1)
comic books (1)
commercialism (1)
commitments (1)
communication (1)
competitive (1)
computers (1)
conference (1)
consoling (1)
cooking (1)
coupon policies (1)
creativity (1)
criticism (1)
crutches (1)
curiosity (1)
custody (1)
dances (1)
date night (1)
daughters (1)
deals (1)
decorations (1)
demi moore (1)
dentists (1)
development (1)
diet coke (1)
dinner (1)
dinner table (1)
dinosaurs (1)
discounts (1)
diseases (1)
drama (1)
dreams (1)
dresses (1)
drinking (1)
dying (1)
eating out (1)
education (1)
election (1)
embarrassing moments (1)
emotional (1)
examples (1)
exhausted (1)
failure (1)
fathers (1)
fear (1)
first day (1)
first day of school (1)
first words (1)
fitness (1)
flu (1)
focus (1)
food costs (1)
forgetfulness (1)
frankenweenie (1)
frugal (1)
frustration (1)
fun (1)
funny (1)
games (1)
garden (1)
gardening (1)
gary lezak (1)
gas prices (1)
gifts (1)
girl (1)
girlfriends (1)
good cop (1)
goth (1)
grades (1)
grammar (1)
grandmas (1)
grandparents (1)
graphic novel (1)
grateful (1)
gray hair (1)
groceries (1)
guys (1)
hair (1)
hair dye (1)
haircut (1)
hairstyle (1)
halloween (1)
hanging out (1)
happiness (1)
healthy (1)
helicopter moms (1)
helmets (1)
heroes (1)
history (1)
hobbies (1)
holiday cards (1)
homecoming (1)
hoodies (1)
hooters (1)
hospice (1)
household chores (1)
how to (1)
hugs (1)
humiliation (1)
humor (1)
hungry (1)
ice (1)
imaginary friends (1)
imagination (1)
immunizations (1)
indiana (1)
indulge (1)
interests (1)
joe biden (1)
journey (1)
junk food (1)
kansas city (1)
kavya shivashankar (1)
kenny rogers (1)
kindness (1)
kisses (1)
labor (1)
late (1)
layoffs (1)
lazy (1)
learning (1)
lena (1)
library (1)
lindsey vonn (1)
long hair (1)
losing (1)
loss (1)
lost (1)
love (1)
love you (1)
mail (1)
makeover (1)
markers (1)
math (1)
matt lauer (1)
memories (1)
messy rooms (1)
michelle obama (1)
mistake (1)
mom guilt (1)
mom2mom (1)
moments (1)
mommy and daddy time (1)
morning (1)
mother-in-law (1)
mothers (1)
motivation (1)
mourning (1)
movies (1)
music (1)
nagging (1)
naked (1)
names (1)
neighbors (1)
neil diamond (1)
neurotic (1)
new year (1)
news (1)
nice (1)
night light (1)
night out (1)
nightmares (1)
no (1)
occupations (1)
old (1)
old-fashioned (1)
opinions (1)
outsmarted (1)
overprotective (1)
ozarks (1)
parade (1)
paranoid (1)
parent involvement (1)
parent involvment (1)
parent-teacher conference (1)
parties (1)
passing gas (1)
passion (1)
peeing (1)
peers (1)
pets (1)
photo (1)
photos (1)
please (1)
polite (1)
politeness (1)
politics (1)
potty (1)
pre teen (1)
preschooler (1)
president (1)
presidents (1)
principals (1)
procrastinating (1)
prom (1)
pto (1)
puberty (1)
punishment (1)
quitting (1)
raise (1)
reading (1)
regrets (1)
relationships (1)
remove tag (1)
resolutions (1)
respect (1)
responsibility (1)
road trip (1)
rude (1)
running (1)
running off (1)
ryan lochte (1)
santa claus (1)
sarah palin (1)
saving (1)
savings (1)
school clothes (1)
school dances (1)
scooby (1)
security blanket (1)
self confidence (1)
self help (1)
self-improvement (1)
sensitive (1)
sexting (1)
shooting (1)
short shorts (1)
shy (1)
sibling rivalry (1)
sick (1)
single mom (1)
single moms (1)
skiing (1)
smiling (1)
smurfberries (1)
smurfs-village (1)
snow (1)
socializing (1)
southwest missouri (1)
speech (1)
spirit (1)
spoiling (1)
sportmanship (1)
spying (1)
status (1)
stinky (1)
stitches (1)
strangers (1)
studying (1)
success (1)
sugar (1)
surveys (1)
susan boyle (1)
swearing (1)
swimming (1)
swimsuit (1)
tact (1)
talent (1)
talkers (1)
tantrum (1)
tardy (1)
target (1)
teaching moments (1)
teen driving (1)
teenage boys (1)
television (1)
temper (1)
terminal (1)
tests (1)
texting (1)
texts (1)
thank-you notes (1)
the great depression (1)
the today show (1)
therapy (1)
thighs (1)
thin girls (1)
tim russert (1)
tornado (1)
tornadoes (1)
tragedies (1)
training (1)
traveling (1)
trayvon martin (1)
trips (1)
trouble (1)
ugly (1)
vacation (1)
vacations (1)
vaccines (1)
video (1)
violence (1)
volunteeing (1)
volunteering (1)
walt disney world (1)
weather (1)
wedding rings (1)
weekends (1)
weight (1)
weight gain (1)
weight watchers (1)
winning (1)
wives (1)
women (1)
words (1)
working (1)
working mom (1)
workplace (1)
worlds of fun (1)
wrestling (1)
x-mas (1)
yelling (1)
yo gabba gabba (1)
younger guy (1)
zuckerberg (1)