christmas – My Mom is the Worst

My daughter will be (almost) two this Christmas. This is a magical time.

*The Elf on the Shelf does not exist yet, HOORAY!*

I’m still debating if I can bypass that all together.

*She does not care about the cost, or size, of presents. Though, there are bonus points if the present comes with bubble wrap to pop.*

*And she is content to read the Christmas Story of Baby Jesus night after night.*

Christmas with young kids really does provide an opportunity for a low-key, joy-filled time of year. But as parents we make it complicated. We have this guilt if the holidays are too simple. Like if it’s easy, we are some how letting our kids down. We HAVE to be all stressed out like all the other parents, or we must be doing it wrong.

WRONG. Stop it, just stop it. It’s not true.

Let me expose my “low-bar” holiday excitement, in hopes that it will let other parents see that it’s ok to keep it simple.

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This here is the FREE Santa.

FreeSanta

Last year we took her to the mall for photos with Santa. I was shocked to find out that they wouldn’t let you snap a few pics with your own camera. The cheapest option was a $30 digital file of the photos they took. Honestly, if it weren’t for my husband, we would have left with zero photos. Thirty dollars?! That’s a whole lot of Christmas cookies for Santa!

So this year I did a little research. There was a free Santa at the local garden store. You could take all your own pictures. There was also a photographer there selling pictures, but it was optional.

Yes, they were still thirty dollars. Apparently that is the going rate for Santa pics in Orange County. But we were happy with the pictures we took on our own camera, and our daughter was delighted when Santa gave her a Christmas bell. She has been playing with that free “magic reindeer bell” for days!

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You know what I’m most excited to give my child this year? Two white, ceramic bunnies. I found them in the Target Dollar Spot.

targetdollarspotbunnies

They are essentially glorified yard ornaments, and I can’t wait to see my daughter’s face when she opens them and starts petting them, and talking to them, like they are her new BFF’s. You see, every time we walk the neighborhood, she stops to talk to all of our neighbor’s yard trinkets…bunnies, snails, ducks, cats, gnomes. *Spoiler* That is how you know you don’t live in the young, hip ‘hood, when ALL your neighbors have yard ornaments. But my daughter loves them!

InkedPop Pop —-

The other thing she is sure to go wild for is the popcorn in her stocking. Pop Pop is her jam!

Sure, there are other things under the tree this year. Honestly mostly from family. We are grateful to have generous people in her life. But on our end, we really did limit things to just a few gifts. Three fun things, two needs things, and a book.

If you haven’t added a few books under the tree yet, check these out.

Young kids truly love simple pleasures. I assume this period only lasts for so long, so I’m not going to feel any guilt about embracing it while I can. Don’t burden yourself with other parents false expectations that the holidays must be stressful. It’s ok to set that bar low. Your child won’t notice what they didn’t get. What they will enjoy is that you are more happy when you are spending time with them.

Inkedbunnies — Those are the bunnies. Take a moment to admire my fancy wrap job. Ok, now I just feel like you are laughing at me.

If you still need a good laugh to help alleviate the stress, try writing “From: Mom and Dad” on a gift without feeling old. That one about blew my mind when I was wrapping presents.

OMG, we are THE Mom and Dad. Um, When did that happen? Did anyone approve this?

Holiday crafting brings out the Grinch in me. It’s like normal crafting but on crack. You need your craftiness to be on perfect point because it’s what you are giving someone as a gift, instead of paying full price for something else. And we tell ourselves it’s cool because it’s handmade. But the truth is, it’s only cool if it comes out looking like the Pottery Barn version of “handmade.” Which is so not actually handmade.

In general I like to think that I have gotten better about knowing my limits and saying no to most crafts. In my experience they tend to cost more time, energy, and frustration, then they make up for in cost savings.

In fact, just last week I was on Pinterest and saw instructions for a Felt Christmas Tree for toddlers to decorate. It looked totally easy. All I needed was a bunch of colored felt, scissors, and a totally free Saturday to design all the little ornaments. I honestly considered it for like two hours.

Then I saw it on Amazon for twenty bucks with free shipping and I was quickly over crafting it. (Find the tree here, along with my children’s book, to keep your toddler busy for at least forty five minutes;).

So this year I told myself I was saying No to Christmas crafts, and the stress that comes along with them.

But then I went down a rabbit hole. I read a friend’s post called Thirty DIY Christmas Gifts, and fell in love with some adorable antique framed chalkboards. But alas, I had promised myself I wasn’t going to stress over Christmas crafts!

Fast forward two days and I’m standing in the aisle of a discount store, eyes locked on the perfect antique mirrors for only five bucks! All I needed was a little chalkboard paint (which I already had). It was meant to be. This was going to be SO EASY! Right there I abandoned all my rational thoughts and gleefully loaded up my cart with four mirrors.

This proceeded to kick off an If You Give a Mouse a Cookie scenario.

Turns out I didn’t like the finish on the chalkboard paint I had. Too glossy. Back to the store.

Then I didn’t like the texture that my paint brush was creating in the paint. What I obviously needed were those foam paint brushes. Back to the store.

I went to peel the painters tape off the first mirror and huge chunks of chalkboard paint came off with it. WTF. Now I need to return the extra mirrors, the cute red pompom chalk board erasers, and the decorative chalk bags I found, because I was furious and decided to abandon this horrible craft idea. Back to the store.

In the end I turned out ONE finished antique chalkboard. It’s sitting at my house, where it will remain, because I am too embarrassed to give it away to anyone because of all its crafting imperfections.

If time is money, this damn chalkboard cost me way more than any Pottery Barn version!

I will admit that I did have one craft success. It involved buying something that was already adorable and finished, and then personalizing it with a gold paint pen. Turns out, that I can handle.

Now excuse me while I head back to the store to find the actual gifts I will be giving this year.

Tag: christmas

I’m Begging, Stop Stressing Over Your Toddler’s Christmas

If I Mention Another Craft, Please Intervene