How many days are there before Christmas? Don’t tell me…I am pretending I have 2 weeks. 2 weeks seems like a time frame I can get along with. The minute I try to get my head around how close the big day really is I start to whimper and pull on my hair.
On the one hand I have ticked off many boxes on my to do list. Gifts are all purchased or ordered. Teacher and thank you gifts wrapped (except for the gifts that I need to bake–oh and the gift I have to organize as a Room Parent….that’s either going to be an epic fail or a Christmas miracle if I pull it off). I have done my Toys For Tots donation. The decorations are up. I realized that’s not really what you want to hear about though…..so let me walk you through what’s not done. Or started.
The cars. 185+ of them. A large number of which should have been posted overseas, like, errr, when our house guest was headed back to the UK. It will get done…I have two weeks right?
The wrapping. I managed to fancy up the thank you gifts….I have everything all lined up and ready to go. Then I stopped. Everyone else’s items sit waiting. If I am honest I am not even sure I have enough wrapping paper to cover it all. Yes I did grab a few rolls of $1 paper as I went through the grocery store check out, but I have a feeling that $1 wrapping paper is not going to yield a whole lot of footage per roll. A wise woman would be wrapping right now so she would know if she needed more before her 2 weeks were up, but I think we have all learned I am not such a woman. If I am it is in July….not the thick of December.
The baking. Plainly it is a bit early to start that, but since I have not even thought out what I will be baking, I am going to have to put this item in my list.
Parties. I am hosting a group next week. I am not fit to live in my own house much less invite people in to it. I was also meant to host a children’s party….I may have to play the “we had lice and are still in daily checking mode” card on that one. Really…I just can’t figure out where to squeeze it in or how to clean up after it.
The general *Christmas Feeling* factor. It seems low. My only source of music in the kitchen is currently a Little Mermaid clock radio that stays on for 10 minutes at a time. I can get one 24hr Xmas station to play on it, but it is scratchy and seems to play the same 20 songs over and over. I have had my fill of a certain someone telling me all she wants for Christmas and Michael Bolton…you are not my vision of a Little Drummer Boy. Couple this with Word Girl’s new possession….a recorder….and the music situation is fairly dire. Unless you go to Evel’s room….he has the good CD player with Charlie Brown Christmas music.
My snappiness. Not sappy…snappy. I am not saying there has not been behavior warranting a bit of gruff attitude from my person….but I don’t have to like that it keeps happening. I had a round with Word Girl over a Liv doll that was going to Toys For Tot, and then a gazillion more rounds about homework and her own evolving pre-teen-esk attitude. . I’ve had a round (or ten) with Pouty over her rapid on-set drama and general need to sob over injustices that she creates (suddenly the bottom bunk is just no place for a person like her to live…she needs to be in the top bunk closer to the sky and Word Girl should just give it up!). Evel is Evel….at least he is now a little more inclined to say nice things to me (it’s not always what you expect though….things like “You have nice eyes Mommy…I love how they are green AND red. And my favorite “You don’t smell so nice today but I’ll still keep you….just maybe brush your teeth, OK?”).
Wish me luck at turning some of this around. Two weeks is plenty of time, right?
