It's Christmas Eve!

I've made it to Christmas Eve. The presents are all wrapped and ready to go. We have made it to see our family and have enjoyed some quality time with them. Now, rest and relaxation for the next two days. Then, Wednesday it is back to the grindstone of work and preparing for Riley's birthday party on Saturday.

I've Given Up!

Try as I might, but I still can't seem to get it all done, so I've given up! Some things will not happen this year. We will not put up a tree. I will not send out Christmas cards.

I couldn't get the house clean to put up the tree. Now, it seems pointless since it has to come down right after Christmas to make way for a birthday party. The choice is send out party invitations or Christmas cards. The almost five year old won that argument, and so the invites go out, and the Christmas cards stay in the box.

What have I learned, start earlier next year! Make sure all Christmas cards are done before Thanksgiving, the tree is put up Thanksgiving weekend, and then there will be time to plan a birthday party and have all of Christmas.

By the way, I still have wrapping to do, but when, who knows!

The Work Is Never Done

I keep thinking that I am done Christmas shopping because I have bought for my children and my family. But, the list just keeps growing as to the things that I need to get done before Christmas. I still have nine teachers between my children to think about, a few others that I am forgetting right now, and Christmas cards, which, for some reason, I decided to make with my children this year. They are really cute though, and my son really likes to paint. I even got my daughter to paint her hand for a few.

In addition to all that, I need to get invitations out by this weekend for my son's fifth birthday party on the 29th. I hope that two weeks is enough notice to get a few friends to come. Riley is looking forward to this birthday and its party because he has seen birthday parties all year long and really wants one of his own. I hope that he can stick to one theme so that I can come up with theme related activities.

Oh, I forgot, wrapping, I have not started yet! That's another part of Christmas that I keep forgetting about, what is bought has to be wrapped. Come to think about it, I have not even checked to see if I have wrapping paper left over from last year!

Oh yes! The mailing of packages and cards, I keep relegating that to the backseat, but it has to be done soon or else the packages will not get to their destination before Christmas and I will have to stand in some long line at the post office.

Oh boy, everywhere I turn, I need to get something done and soon so that I will have a sense of accomplishment!

The Things We Do for the Holidays

This is the third year that I have participated in the annual day after Thanksgiving sales. Three years ago I started shopping on the day after Thanksgiving because my assistant at the time talked about all the great deals that she got by going out. I decided to try it and it was actually easier to shop very early in the morning because I did not have to find a babysitter for my child. I could zip in and out of stores with my list and handful of ads. I came back with lots of things, especially clothes for my son.

Last year I was not going to go out and shop at 5:30am on Friday because I had a newborn at home that did not sleep through the night, but decided after looking at the ads to go anyway. I was glad that I did because my son was going to school with me last year and the time that I would have had to shop after school, he would have been with me. I got lucky at Toys R Us because I found what I wanted down the main aisles and just turned a corner and there was the line for the cash registers. I got some good deals last year even though I spent a lot of time trying to find a Radio Shack that did not have what I needed anyway!

This year, I set my alarm for 4:30am even though the stores opened at 4am. I thought did I really want to go out before 4am if I have to work from 11-5 and I cannot go home and take a nap because I have two children that need attention? The answer was no! Anyway, I missed my alarm and woke up at 5:15am. Usually, I go to JC Penney's last, but this year it was one of my first stops. I got my clothes that I needed from there and went to Michael's for picture frames. I ran into Julie and Becky there and they told me not to even try Toys R Us because the line inside was incredible and it was on 7:15am. Good thing for me that they did not have very much that I needed or wanted. Onto K Mart I went and thought why am I standing in line for things that are not on early bird special, and I am not even sure are priced for my benefit. I put my things back and left. I got home about 8:30am, my wallet a little bit lighter, but my stress level lower for finishing some of the people on my gift list.

Will I have time to run to Target after work? We'll see....

Will I do it again next year, you bet! Shopping without kids in tow is awesome!

CMOMRUN

I saw this title on a car license plate yesterday as I was driving around like a mad woman with two children. From start to finish it took me four hours to get my children dressed, to the portrait studio, home, and me back to the portrait studio to pick out and order pictures. The sad thing is that I do this sort of running everyday in some form, whether it is dropping the children off, picking them up, doing errands for my home and professional life, or just spending time with my children by taking them to the library or park.

Moms run all the time, juggling the daily lives of their children, the household, and their professional life. I run everyday of my life even when I am sick because I am always needed somewhere. Most of my friends say they do not know how I do it, and I think that I just do it because it is the life that I was thrown into and I have become accustomed to it. I think that it got to me yesterday because who thinks that four hours of your life are going to be spent taking pictures.

I love having my children's pictures taken professionallly because those pictures always capture something that I cannot quite get because they are mine. Next year I will probably go through the routine once again in order to capture the yearly milestone, but I will face the routine armed with the knowledge that I need to do it earlier in the fall and prepare for a long day!

Trick or Treat, smell my feet, give me something goody to eat!

My son came home from school on Halloween saying the title to this piece. He was very excited to put on his firefighter halloween costume and join his friends for trick or treat. So, we rushed home, ate our pizza, and dressed him up. He had to wear boots because "the firefighters will be mad at me if I wear shoes". I sent him outside with some of the neighbors while I got my daughter ready and when I got outside, he was already walking down the street with the neighbors trick or treating!

My daughter was the hunny pot from Winnie the Pooh. Daddy dressed up as Pooh for her this year and neither of them was too happy. We have the pictures for the memories, but not for posting! Unfortunately, trick or treat started at 6pm and my daughter usually takes her evening nap at 5pm. Needless to say her nap was short yesterday and dinner was early so she was a little out of sorts as I put her in the wagon to go and track her brother down.

We ended up doing most of the neighborhood houses which is more than we have done the past two years and had a great time with our neighborhood friends!

What makes parents happy...

When going out to eat, what makes parents happiest is when their children are happy. Twice in the past month we have gone to restaurants where my children have not been fed. These experiences are made even worse because I have a highly sensitive son who somehow thinks it is his fault that he does not get his food.

The first time at IHOP we ended up leaving after 40 minutes and watching all the tables around us get their food including people who were seated after us. When I asked the server where our food was, she said it would be right up, but continued putting in orders in the computer instead of checking where the food was. My husband asked our server where our food was and she continued to take customers' orders rather than check on our food. When my husband asked to speak to a manager, he waited for 10 minutes and no manager ever came to our table. Needless to say we came hungry, but we did not leave happy.

The second time at a local Japanese restaurant, we got all of our food and my son's chicken never came. It is difficult to enjoy dinner when your son keeps saying, "I'm hungry, where is my food?" Because we were almost done eating, we ended up cancelling his order and taking him to McDonald's afterward.

Please remember when families with children go out to eat, it is an effort that is only enjoyable if the children are happy. Order for and serve the children first and all will be happy.