The only thing that makes life unfair is the delusion that it should be fair.
Dr Steven Maraboli
On my “Mommy” Facebook page there was something written the other day that has had me thinking…
A lady wrote…
This has really got me thinking. We save up all year, we make gifts,we go without to make sure that we can give them the Christmas that I want them to have. I realize that some people can’t afford it and I understand what she’s saying, however if HBear asks for something and Santa brings her a snow globe instead will she still ask Santa for the things she really wants? No. I know I wouldn’t have. HBear knows the Mommy and Daddy can’t afford big expensive gifts that’s why she has to ask Santa! It only comes once a year and I for one want to give my kids a special gift… whether it is a homemade kitchen for $10 (a gift Santa brought HBear a few years ago) or a Red Flyer Wagon that costed us $160 a few years ago.
So I guess my thinking has gotten me to this question should I disappoint my children at Christmas to keep it fair for yours? Or should you learn how to answer that question on why didn’t Santa bring your child what he wanted but brought so-and-so what they wanted? Plus all I used to say was I got a doll for Christmas. Not I got a doll from Santa?!?! I don’t know some people make a bigger deal out of things than is needed I think.
I don’t know but I feel like our kids are being raised in a bubble. Nobody is allowed to fail. Everybody gets a medal, there’s no first, second or third anymore, jeeze they are even taking away bullies LOL (I’m completely just joking please do not fill my inbox yelling at me I’m just trying to make my point LOL.)
It’s crazy that there’s an expectation that even for birthday parties that you have to invite everybody so nobody’s feelings get hurt. What are these kids going to be like when they get out of high school? I mean we had all of those things when I was in school and I still came out of high school completely naïve, completely protected and well, just plain stupid lol.
When something bad happens, even now, my first thought is “where is the principal/Mom/higher authority that I can go to so this can be fixed?” LOL
Hmmmmm
I mean we’ve gotten our kids so comfortable in their Mommy’s bosom that some kids won’t even take pictures with Santa anymore!!!!!!
Yeah okay so it that was my kid. SBean is pretty shy in front of people even though she’s an outgoing freakabean at home. I should have been expecting it but it completely took me by surprise she was holding onto Ninja for dear life! There was no way that little girl was sitting on that strange man’s lap LOL actually that’s another thing I’ve seen on my Mommy Facebook page lately it would seem that a lot of children are screaming and crying sitting on Santa’s lap maybe it’s always been like that I guess I just have never noticed it before 🙂
Tomorrow is the last day of school, This whole week… OMG I feel so bad for teachers LOL those kids are like Richard Simmons after drinking a 2 L of Pepsi!! Speaking of which, a few nights ago my in-laws took HBear and I to Cirque Musica Holiday Spectacular! It was pretty great! HBear loved it. I did realize though that reality TV is making her a tough cookie lol I said to her at 1 point, “Wow look at that guy he is up on little poles standing on his hands!” and she said “Mommy the guy on America’s Got Talent can do that… on his fingertips… with his puppy running up his body.” LOL
HBear and I made all the kids in her class a gift. I like to keep it simple for these things. Price is always a factor and I don’t like giving the kids sweets all the time. It is difficult thinking up new things all the time, for EACH holiday lol but Pintrest is awesome lol. I saw a picture of Snowmen cheese sticks and thought “Perfect!” So here they are 🙂
Snowmen Cheese Strings
2 Packs of Mozzarella Cheese Strings (24)
1 piece of black construction paper
a Black Sharpie
Ribbon of any Christmas color
Orange foam stickers (cut into small carrot noses)
Glue
Cut out 24 hats out of the black paper.
Glue hats onto the flap at the end of the package. Make sure the cheese is on the right side, so that the hat sits on it like a head. Put the this side open at the bottom.
Tie ribbon around the stick like a scarf.
Draw 2 eyes and 3 buttons on the stick with the sharpie.
At this point HBear asked me what we were using for carrots???? Crap. So I looked through the craft closet and remembered that my kind elderly next door neighbor bought the girls new foam stickers. I found monkeys that were orange lol so we improvised 🙂
When I was younger I played softball and ringette. I was involved in a lot of school activities but for afterschool activities those were the 2 team sports I enjoyed. Later on I broke my mother’s heart by quitting ringette to go into diving and synchronized swimming. I thought I would make it to the Olympics LOL and then I realized that other people’s feet were going to touch me and it was all over.
I stayed in softball for a lot longer although I coached and reffed pretty much up until I had HBear. I was even on the Winnipeg Ringette League with my mom, who is the president of coarse LOL.
There were 2 times that my softball team made it to provincials actually there are probably more but 2 that really standout in my memory as being an amazing team, just plain amazing years and so much fun.
One year we had to go up to Swan River which is in northern Manitoba it was a really long drive and my mom who was the coach brought up around 6 of us on her own LOL. Now she was organized. I remember getting a packet at the beginning of the weekend of all of the menu for the weekend, all of the camp duties and the rotating chore chart to keep the campsite in tiptop. Did I mention that we were 15 years old?
We got into so much trouble that weekend. I remember getting into a car with 3 guys as they drove us to the next town to see the one streetlight. What the hell was I thinking???
We made lots of friends that weekend, we met girls from a Reserve up North that were fantastic baseball players and had the hardest lives, I couldn’t have even imagined. We met the Mayor and his family and they invited us to drive the horse and carriage down Main Street for the provincial parade. I also remember walking down the street at like 10 o’clock at night knowing that we were late coming back to camp and how much trouble I was going to be in LOL. I remember seeing headlights racing towards us in the distance and throwing my cigarette to the side saying “that’s my mom you guys! That’s my mom!” and everybody laughing because they were like, “how could you possibly know way over there?” but call it daughter instinct but I was right and that was not the weekend I got caught smoking LOL. When I saw my mom pull up beside us the van side door flew open and I heard her say between gritted teeth “get the fuck in this van right now!”
Memories LOL.
So I did have a point to this whole story the point was on our softball team we had an amazing pitcher. Yep that’s where this went LOL. She is probably what got us so far that year she was pretty awesome. So I was on Facebook the other night and I’m always amazed by her cause she does the most fantastical baked items for her children and she’s just a right on mom.
I saw her post a picture of the presents that she’s making for the teachers and I thought what a great idea! I asked her if I could steal it and she sent me the instructions. It is such an easy cheap Christmas gift that you can give to all the extra people in your life that you feel appreciation towards. It is just so hard with some of the kids having 2 teachers, 3 EA’s, a principal, the mailman, possibly the garbageman… all those people in your life that do something for you every day but you just can’t possibly buy them all something because even if it was 2 dollars you end up spending a small fortune and really, let’s be serious, what can you buy for anybody for 2 dollars… an O’Henry?
So thank you to my softball pitcher of many years ago! This was a fun activity and easy enough for HBear to do without getting frustrated 🙂
The other day I came in to help HBear’s class with Christmas crafts…
We took in a few for her Principal, Secretary and music teacher. Tomorrow we have 1 for her teacher along with a jar of Christmas Scent 🙂 They GUSHED over them! They loved them!!! I think the key to this is REALLY pushing the mixture into the cutters. I mean really push. Many of ours fell apart because I didn’t 🙁 The ones that stayed together were gorgeous and a perfect gift for those special people in our lives!
Bird Seed Ornaments/Feeders
Adapted from Saltwater Kids
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoon corn syrup
4 cups birdseed
molds (muffin tin, cookie cutters, etc.)
nonstick spray
drinking straws
waxed paper
ribbon/twin
Combine the flour, water, gelatins and corn syrup in a large mixing bowl. Stir until well-combined.
Add the birdseed to the mixture, stir until well coated.
Spray your mold(s) with cooking spray, and spoon birdseed mixture into each mold. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack it down, and make the top smooth.
Poke a hole through top of each birdseed mold using a drinking straw, making sure it goes all the way through.
Leave the birdseed mixture in the molds for two to three hours. Then, remove the straws and lay out a sheet of waxed paper. Gently remove the hardened ornaments from the mold, and place them on the wax paper upside down. Allow them to dry for at least two to three more hours, or overnight!
Cut your ribbon and carefully put it through the hole.
