Tales of one woman stumbling her way through motherhood.
Overheard At Target This Morning:
“Here’s the Stage 1 baby foods. Whatcha want?”
“Ugh! It’s all organic! I don’t want that organic shit – he don’t tolerate that organic shit! It don’t taste right.”
“Well, whatcha wanna do?”
“Let’s go to Wal-Mart. Maybe they got some Gerber that ain’t organic.”
(and then there was a loud boom as my head exploded…Welcome to Columbus, ladies and gentlemen)
Today, Aaron and I went to the mall for some holiday shopping.
We poked our heads into Spencer’s Gifts, a store I had to visit during every mall trip as a teen. I haven’t been in one for a few years now, and thought it might be fun to take a walk down memory lane and see what quirky and slightly racy stuff they had now.
I can tell you this: it’s not the Spencer’s I remember. I was actually stunned by some of the stuff I saw there.
I walked out feeling old and conservative. Ouch.
Sigh.
I’ll admit it – I’m lazy. I had all of the best intentions to create and mail out Christmas and Hanukkah cards this year. I even had a picture picked out for the Christmas photo card, but it never happened.
And now, well, it’s too late to get anything in the mail. If I had actually planned ahead, people would be opening their cards in the next few days.
Thank goodness for virtual holiday picture cards.
So, to all of our friends, family, bloggy friends, (and even to the Google pervs who somehow find their way here), I’d like to wish you happy holidays. Consider this your virtual card, with all of the sentiment and none of the tree killing.
May you get everything you need, and a good bit of what you want, too.
“Hey, you’re my big sister – notice me, will ya?”One says a shovel
Another an ice scraper
Weathermen don’t know
I’m really not sure what to expect this weekend. Our area is already under a winter storm watch for Saturday, but no one can say for certain what’s coming. However, it’s enough to send the city into a panic to buy up all the bread and milk at the grocery. You’d think we were living in Atlanta, not Columbus. It’s a little ice and snow, people! We’re Ohioans – we can handle this!
Also, in keeping with today’s haiku theme, I wanted to let you all know about a haiku contest at LeastLikely2Breed.net. Details can be found at their site, but the basics are if you e-mail them a haiku about one of their products, you can win a cool prize. And for each entry they receive, they’ll donate $.50 to Doctors Without Borders. Deadline is Dec. 22.
To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:
1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.
2. Sign the Mister Linky below or at Jennifer’s blog with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your generic blog URL). We will delete your link if it doesn’t go to a haiku. If you need help with this, contact Jennifer or myself.
3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button above.
Last night we visited Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo. They do this every year, and we love going to see the lights, the model trains, and Santa. The challenge is always to get there at dark so we can see the lights best, but not too late, since Cordy is nearly always asleep by 7pm.
Cordy is beginning to understand the concepts of Santa and presents and Christmas this year, and to help her along we’ve been throwing every book, visual aid, and DVD at her. She now knows who Santa is, and she loves to talk about meeting him. I never imagined I’d have to force the Santa myth on my kid, going out of my way to indoctrinate her.
So naturally we talked a lot about Santa on our drive to the zoo last night. “Do you want to see Santa?” we asked her.
“Yes! We’ve got to go save Santa!” (I knew we should have laid off the Mickey Saves Santa TV episode we Tivo’d.)
“No, not save Santa, go see Santa. Will you give him a big hug?”
“Yes!”
“Will you sit on his lap and tell him what you want for Christmas?”
“Yes! A magic wand!” (Not sure why, but that’s all she wants for Christmas. We’re still trying to figure out if she means a fairy-type magic wand or a magician-type magic wand.)
Now, she has yet to ever enjoy seeing Santa. Each year’s pictures show an unhappy Cordy next to a very patient Santa. Let’s review, shall we?
The only reason she’s smiling is because I’m there and she’s not looking at Santa. She’s still plotting her escape. (Can you tell I didn’t plan on being in the pic?)
Actively trying to escape.
But this is the first year she understands who he is and now he’s like some rockstar with his present-bestowing abilities.
We loaded up the stroller and made a beeline for Santa when we got to the zoo. Better to get there before the crowds, in case Cordy needs time to warm up to Santa. We walked into the building, and there he was, surrounded by giant candy canes and greenery. Cordy was practically buzzing with excitement. I let her out of the stroller and took her hand as she dragged me into the line.
Waiting was tough. There were only three families in front of us, but Cordy wanted to be there! with Santa! NOW! I held her back as she kept trying to run up the ramp, yelling “Look, it’s Santa! And candy canes!” We were roughly six steps away from Santa, and that distance was killing her.
The elf standing guard at the head of the line smiled at her enthusiasm. “I think she’s the first one tonight to be excited to see Santa!” she laughed.
“Wait and see,” I replied with the sage wisdom of a parent.
Finally, it was our turn. I released my grip on her and said, “OK, go see Santa!”
She took off up the ramp, then about two steps from Santa stopped cold. And wouldn’t budge an inch closer to the fat man.
Or look at him.
Or breathe.
She was a statue of a child. I think she was trying to blend in with her surroundings.
I looked back and gave the elf an I told you so smile.
“Go see Santa,” I urged, and tried to nudge her gently towards him. “You’ve been wanting to meet him and hug him, remember?”
She gave him a quick, corner of her eye glance. “NOOOOOO!” she cried and ran down the exit ramp, away from her rockstar hero. She wouldn’t come back towards him, although she did try to steal one of his giant decorative candy canes before she left.
Ah well. At least we got a picture with Mira.
She’s not impressed. Next year, she’ll be screaming, too.
Tech geek, wife, mom of two, Disney fanatic, woman with ADD, and a complete domestic zero. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but that's not so bad when you get to keep trying new things, right?
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