He's Faking It

Alex and the coveted basketball

Tonight, the boys and I headed over to the mall for dinner in the food court, as part of a school event. We had a relaxing meal with friends, then made our way to the book store for story time with the teachers. Both kids enjoyed their leisurely strolls up and down the aisles in the children's section of the store, eventually choosing a couple of titles to take home. (I mean, they were excited over books. BOOKS! And, it benefited the school. How could I say no to that?!? Well played, school.)

Once I finally convinced the boys that it was time to leave, we attempted to make an exit from the mall, but we were sucked into a new store. Mesmerized by the glowing basketball in the shiny new Dick's Sporting Goods sign, the kids made a beeline into the tidy rows of athletic wear. Alex declared that he was looking for a new basketball, and then told me I could buy it for him.

Enter teachable moment. Or so I thought...

After finding a ball he liked (a nice Under Armour basketball), Al started making his way to the check out. "Hang on there, dude. I am not buying a new basketball for you tonight. It's nice, but we'll have to get it another day. Let's put it back."

"Nope," came his quick reply. "I'll buy it with my own monies."

I sighed. Loudly. It had been a long day, and it wasn't over yet. "How about we tell Santa?", I almost-too-desperately called after him. He stopped. Score!!

"Yes. Let's take a picture and email it to Santa!" Alex was elated. I thought of the cute blog post I could whip up after the kids fell asleep tonight. Win win, right?

We snapped the photo, and I again asked him to put the ball away. "Nope. I gotta give it to a guy."

Here we go. I was just plain exasperated at this point. I was losing this battle. I figured I should just hear him out and let him give the stinking ball back to someone who worked there, and decided to chalk it up as an opportunity to practice social skills.

He marched right up to a sales associate, and no sooner than the guy said "Hey, buddy!" did Al hold that ball out and say "I want this for Christmas. Will you tell Santa?"

Up went my left eyebrow, and I frantically looked up at the sales guy. His reaction was going to make an important impression on Alex. Please don't blow this, Mr Sales Guy.

"I will tell Santa!! I will go call him right now!" The guy didn't miss a beat. Al beamed. I let out the breath that I didn't realize I was holding until then.

I suggested, for the third time, that Alex put the ball back on its shelf. As he triumphantly marched away, I looked at the sales guy and said "Thanks! I appreciate your response to him," and turned to watch Al make his way back towards me.

Later, after finally dragging them out of the mall, Alex and I were waiting while Andrew got his hair cut. Al was flipping through the photos on my phone, and stopped on the picture we had just taken earlier, with the basketball.

"How cool is it that the guy called Santa to tell him about this ball?!?" Apparently, I thought it was way cooler than Al did, because he quickly responded.

"Nah. He was faking it."

I let that statement fall flat, which took a lot of effort, because I guess I'm not ready for Alex to let go of Santa quite yet. It could easily happen at this point, for any of my kids, as they are all getting older. Too old, and too smart, for their own good.

Whether he truly still believes or not, I really do appreciate the sales guy (Tommy, at the Polaris store, if anyone local is wondering) for his quick thinking and cooperation. There aren't many that would have played along, but he did, and that was very cool.

And yes, I will go back for the ball, so that Santa really can leave it under our tree for Alex...

Christmas 2014

We had a wonderful Christmas! The kids are thrilled with their gifts, and more importantly, we had a terrific time with our family. 

Andrew fell asleep on my lap last night for the first time in ages, and then I put my tired self to bed. (Hence, the late blog post.)

I have officially declared today Pajama Day, which will include playing new board games and eating all the remaining Christmas cookies. Oh, and perhaps finally finishing the holiday cards. As long as they're out by New Year, it will be ok, right? 

Making Christmas...

Yep. Still up, wrapping gifts. The most difficult category is finished, and I'm about to begin the next category. I'll leave family gifts for tomorrow. 

So ready to fall over somewhere...

Visit with Santa

We took the kids to visit with Santa last week, and we somehow managed to get all three kids into the photo. Trust me, after waiting in line, that is no small feat! The kids shared with Santa some of the things they hope to find under our tree on Christmas morning, and it was really cute.

After paying an obnoxious amount of money for a photo with the big guy in the red suit, we let the kids browse through a nearby toy store. While they enjoyed shopping the store, it was probably kind of cruel to set them loose this close to Christmas. Obviously, we weren't about to buy them new toys (Hanukkah starts this week, too!), but they were allowed to look for quite a long time.

Alex somehow stumbled upon a toy gun that shoots out bright orange foam balls, and he fell in love with it. Because, of course. Guns are one toy that I discourage for my kids; I just don't like them to play with them (if you do allow it for your kids, that's great; but, I prefer not to, and that's great too). Alex was determined, though, to buy this particular toy. I explained to him, again, that we were not there to buy toys that night. He refused to leave the check out line, though, so we launched into one of our stand offs (where we have to wait in a particular place so I can out-stubborn him).

This kid has become quite clever, though. He finally conceded that I wasn't going to buy the gun, so he decided he would just take it out to Santa so he would know what to bring him. I then had to remind him that we can't leave stores with an item if we don't pay for it, and asked him for maybe the 23rd time to put it back on its shelf.

But, Alex had other ideas. Tilting his head, he explained to me that he would just leave the toy on the counter and ask the toy store lady to tell Santa about it. I kind of wanted to see this play out, so I agreed that this was a good plan.

He proudly marched up to the counter and when the lady asked him if he was ready to check out, he answered "No. This is for Santa to bring to me."

I was standing right behind him, and the lady's eyes met mine and I nodded. "Oh! Of course we can leave this for Santa! What is your name? I'll put it on the toy so he'll know which one you want."

Alex was thrilled. They continued chatting, the lady paying careful attention to what he said and seamlessly carrying on their conversation. She made him feel like such a hot shot; he turned to me, just beaming, when he was ready to leave. I thanked her as we left, hoping she realized how important this encounter truly was.

The next day, I returned to buy the toy gun, so that Santa can leave it under our tree with all the other cheerfully wrapped items.

While I was there, I asked who the lady was that helped Alex the previous night, and was told that it was the owner of the store. I plan to send her a note to thank her again for her kind service, but if you are local and still in need of some gifts for the holidays, please consider shopping her store.

It's moments like these that remind me that the holiday spirit really is all around us, if we are willing to see it.

Tick tock...

Anyone else feeling the pressure of the holidays? I just need to calm down and realize that if something doesn't get done in time, to match my expectations, the world will go on. Cards might be late, and that's ok. The packages might not get wrapped with custom made, fluffy bows, and that's ok, too. The baking may not be as delicious as I want it to be, and that's...well, let's face it, that would be sad. Nobody wants burned Christmas cookies.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good amount of caffeine to get this all done in time.

Here Comes Jingles...

I spent time today taking down Halloween decorations, and replacing them with a few Thanksgiving items. No Christmas decorations will go up in our house until at least the day after Thanksgiving, although I did complete a couple of holiday related items today.

After chatting with Alex and learning about a couple of games he likes to play, I immediately contacted Santa and put in a request for those games. Alex is quite difficult to buy for, as he has just a few real interests (like Hot Wheels cars...and he owns well over 200 cars at this point...), so I wanted to make sure that Santa knew about these items.

This evening, I spent some time putting together a photo book for the kids, as instructed by their North Pole elf, Jingles. He wants them to get excited for his arrival, and also be reminded that they need to behave in order for him to stick around, so we'll see how this goes.

These tasks, on top of the usual Saturday chores (laundry and housework, yuck!), and the excitement of Andrew losing his first tooth, made for quite a busy day. I am tired.

Happy November, friends. For what are you thankful? Today, I am thankful that my kids are able to share the magic of each season and be excited for upcoming holidays and traditions.

I'm Beginning to Shop a Lot Like Christmas...

Yes, I do realize that it isn't even Halloween. But, when your house celebrates four birthdays (Andrew's, my nephew, my sister, and my brother-in-law), Hanukkah, and Christmas, all within about four weeks, you get an early start on things.

I went out tonight, mostly to get a breather from the kids and the chaos that is our home, but also to pick up some things for the kids' fall parties at school next week. After picking up some party supplies, I headed over to our Kohl's store, because I had two coupons and some Kohl's Cash burning a hole in my pocket. I was super excited to pick up several gifts (one for my niece, two for Andrew, one for Alex, and two stocking stuffers for Addie), plus a shirt for Addie...for less than $25!! Woo hoo!

I'm still on a shopping high. Hopefully, I'll have the majority of my shopping done by the beginning of December so I can wrap, bake, and be jolly for the rest of the month.