Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Thanksgiving at Christmas

I am truly thankful; thankful for my family and friends. Last night we had lots of giggles as the boys flew miniature helicopters, crashing into each other and knocking lit candles over . . .the traditional Danish toast (skoal! not the tobacco) of aquavit (a Scandinavian caraway distilled vodka) followed by beer chaser always gets the engines going. Sharon learned how to make *perfect* gravy from a recipe from the original Betty Crocker cookbook. We tried a new tradition that the Danish cousins sent us - a rice pudding with cherry sauce. A hidden almond in your serving will win you a year of good luck! I thought about putting one in every dish . . . but hey! Go for it! Cameron was the fortunate recipient this year.


We decided against giving the doggies the pork bone; past history has shown us that their delicate digestive systems are just not up to it. Who wants to be up all night with a sick dog when . . . you can just be up with your sick husband and child who had a nightmare. Poor Steve, a massive head cold has kicked in but he's a trooper.

The kids are definitely showing their age this year; no one except me was up before 10 am. No rushing for the stockings; but the gifts got ripped open in record time. They tried to be enthusiastic - their favorites were the gag gifts: butthead - a fun game with a sticky ball and velcro hats; pingpong ball shooters, which actually hurt; sudoku toilet paper (Cameron wasn't exactly sure about that one); and Steve got a programmable lightup licence plate frame that he can use for his new biz, assuming he ever gets a car!

(Can you find the poodles?)

We are thankful mostly for each other . . . thankful for the glorious rain. Happy holidays to you and yours. My best gift this year was Steve cleaning up after dinner!

Luv,

suZen

Saturday, December 22, 2007

How did they do it?

I am referring to our mothers, who independently created 'the holidays.' They did not have:
*instant gingerbread house kits (question: do all boys get fallen gb houses out of the garbage and eat? maybe it's just us)
*amazon. com and the internet with free shipping
* shrubbery net lights that are just 'tossed' onto the foundation plants
*email holiday cards
*'pick up' holiday dinners, everything from the turkey to the dessert
*gift cards for every venue that can be purchased at the grocery store checkout lane
* access to every recipe on earth via the www
* address labels, printers, etc. for addressing holiday cards (yet they still did!)

I know there are more . . . tell me your thoughts.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Holiday Gift Giving based on Erickson Psychological Stages

My freshman son is taking psychology and has just completed a paper on Erik Erikson's Eight psychosocial stages (he only had to do the first five, which takes you up to the teenage years). I believe that you can also extend similar theories to holiday gift giving for children. I am not basing this on any part of his theory, just borrowing his age ranges. :-)

Stage One is the first year of life, which I am renaming "the bulky plastic phase." Almost all toys in this age range are made of large, colorful, soft materials and baby's first Xmas is way over the top! More toys are probably received in this phase than ever again, and subsequent siblings benefit from the hand-me-downs. Unfortunately, these siblings end up receiving less on their first Christmas in following years due to the bulk loaded up under the tree. This will have major impact on their psychosocial outcomes. However, I have no idea what that would be and it's not my problem, is it?

Phase II spans from age two to three. This phase I will refer to as the "hell on wheels phase." In addition to excessive gift giving of toys, now the child will also be receiving his first candy & cookie treats, adding to the chaos and mayhem of the holiday celebrations. Educational toys are thrown aside for those that fly, roll, and create large ruts in the hardwood floor. If parents refuse to buy anything but books and educational toys, children are left damaged and unable to progress to the next stage. Eh-hem, I just totally made that up.

Ah, phase three. Now the fun begins, during ages 4 - 5. Jealousy has set in, and frequently a child (and you know who you are) will arise during the wee hours of the morning to open each and every single wrapped present under the tree. "I can't read yet," being the obvious excuse. Being forced to re-wrap the presents is not really consequence enough to stop a repeat the following year. This phase I will call "are there any more presents for me?" followed by a tantrum.

Phase four for children age 6 through 11, I will refer to as the 'smash and grab' stage. Toys are rapidly opened, stockings are dumped, and the child becomes immersed in play, returning at some point during the day to load up on sweets and again, return to play. Parents are left in bliss to clean up the mess, make a huge holiday dinner, until the fighting ultimately breaks out. Up to this point, numerous toys are desired and selection is diverse. At the end of this phase, parents start to have a little more difficulty on pleasing their child, as "Barbie is for babies" and "Pokemon is for little kids". Besides, older siblings and friends with older siblings are already playing "M" (for mature) games on their systems. How, pray tell, can a parent compete with that?????!!!!

I am sad to say that all three of my children are now in Phase Five, which will take them from middle school up to the late teens, when hopefully they will be merrily jaunting off to college and returning for the sweet reunion of family. I am inclined to call this the 'absentee phase,' as the child is just not mentally or emotionally 'there.' They can't be bothered to even write a wish list. I don't know about the girls, but the boys just want more video games to add to their massive current collection. I find that a bit depressing. This is a time when parents turn to gag gifts to spice things up a bit. Or, they end up spending outrageous sums of money to please their depressed and bored child, if they are in a position to do so. Nothing works, so why bother? Time to just relax and order online, that's what I say.

Thank you, Spilsbury.com and Lillian Vernon. Everyone is getting monogrammed underwear, sonic toothbrushes, and hair dryers. Mommy, on the other hand, is rapidly approaching phase 8, so she gets whatever she damn pleases, including more pilates lessons and a nice new super-automatic espresso maker, which will leave her even more agitated during the holiday season!

In the very words of my own dear mother, "Merry Christmas, goddammit!"

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Christmas (turn) of the tidings

Here's what is happening with my kids, and I recall that it happened with me, also! When they turn 12 or 13 or 15 or so, the things they want are 1) extremely expensive or 2) not really toys. So . . . . parents go in search of beneficial personal products. We look at: hairdryers and hairbrushes; sonic toothbrushes; nose hair trimmers; tempurpedic mattress toppers (ahhhhhhh) . . . ..
But wait! Gavin is showing me retro games, stuff that we were playing ten years ago! Shocking! He loved the 'retro' look and movability of the characters. Me, I never played, so I am just basically stuck in a time warp. I always did like sliding down the snow hill on Mario . . . never really enjoyed picking out all the outfits on the SIMS.

I did find some really funny stuff on Spilsbury . . . your one stop shop for gag gifts galore! I admit to ordering one "butthead" game, a Velcro cloth helmet is put on by two players, and you throw balls at each others head. Ahhh, come on . . . and some "burp guns" that shoot foam/ping pong balls . . . and . . . well, I'll have to tell you more later!!!

Hmmm . . . I think my holiday spirit is kicking in!!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

My one sided Christmas tree

This is a popular email being sent around - I really like it. It comes in the shape of a Christmas tree, but after messing around with blogger for a while and not being able to get it back to its original shape, I decided I like it this way just as well. If anybody has any other suggestions for getting in the holiday spirit, I would love to hear them. I'm feeling a bit out of sorts and could use a little inspiration.



This
Christmas
Mend a quarrel~
Seek out a forgotten
Friend~Dismiss suspicion &
Replace it with trust~Write a Love
Letter~Share some treasure~Give a soft
Answer~Encourage youth~Manifest your loy-
alty in word and deed~Keep a promise~Find the
time~Forgo a grudge~Forgive an enemy~Listen~Apo-
logize if you were wrong~Try to understand~Flout envy~
Examine your demands on others~Think first of someone else~
Appreciate~Be kind, be gentle~Laugh a little~Laugh a little more~
Deserve confidence~Take up arms against malice~Decry complacency~
Express your gratitude~Go to church~Welcome a stranger~Gladden the heart
of a child~Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth~Speak your love~
Speak it again~
Speak it still
Again.
Author Unknown