Hey, I may occasionally get sad when I think about how my boys are too old for Legos, Hot Wheels garages, and Star Wars action figures, but I got over it really quickly this morning when I was able to finish shopping for my younger son in 10 minutes. The beauty of having 20-somethings in your house for Christmas is that they can do pretty much all of the leg work for poor old mom and dad. We give our boys a budget and ask them to provide us with a wish list that fits it. Our younger one gave me a meticulously specific list AND included links to the shopping sites that offered the best prices. This made Mrs. Claus's job way freakin' easy. He had a good time presenting the list as well, I'm sure!
So, here is my tip for shopping for older kids: If they do not have their precious little hearts set on being surprised, let them tell you exactly what they hope to receive, and make them responsible for fitting their wishes into your prescribed budget. My younger boy gets an A+ for doing his part this year.
Our older boy is not so easy to be done with, if I may speak frankly. He wants these hard-to-find vintage comics that take hours to find ebay. Do you think I should make him do the shopping? :)
Handmade Project Update
I worked on the handmade gift for an hour this morning and will continue with another hour this afternoon while waiting for the dryer to buzz. Multi-tasking.
Christmas Cards
I've done nothing at all in this department so far, but I do have an idea. What if instead of making all 60 or so cards by hand (which, when attempted last year, failed miserably), I make one fabulous image, copy it 60 times, and stick the copies to the front of 60 blank cards? I still have LOTS of blank cards in my stash since I only finished a measly five of them last year. May I speak freely? I think I have a bit of a psychological issue with Christmas cards. See, my brother and sister-in-law always make an amazing card. Last year's was so over-the-top perfect that it may have been the cause of my demise. Intimidation, you know. I need to stop competing with my brother. I'm far better at most things than he is, so in the name of charity, I should just let him win the Christmas card competition every year.
TALLY:
Family & Friends: 14 out of 18 CHECK!
10 Neighbors: CHECK!
45 Piano Students: CHECK! (should assemble 6 more of these tonight)
Charitable Gifts: 4 out of 6 CHECK!
Handmade Gift: 2 hours' work on it today
Stockings: GOOD!
Christmas Cards: On the radar
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