Holiday Shopping

I'm not a shopper. But this time of year is different. I have to do a LOT of shopping. And I cram it all into one month.

I know, I know... I should look for things throughout the year and pick them up as I go along, but who really does that? (My mom, actually...)

It is absolutely worth it to see their little faces light up when they come down the stairs Christmas morning to see what Santa brought them.

Well, they are usually happy about it...

Last year, my 5-year-old daughter asked for a unicorn... a unicorn that "pooped cupcakes."

So, this happened:

So I know everyone has their own way of doing "Santa," but I certainly don't plan to wrap more gifts than I have to, so Santa lays all of his toys out on Christmas Eve. I wrap individual gifts from each family member to the other and in my extended (large) family, we draw names every Christmas.

I love that my girls at least are old enough to start picking out gifts for each other like this:

Since I've had about 10 years of trial and error, I've been compiling some of my favorites in

My Amazon Store . I'd love to hear some of your successes (and failures) too.

Comments

Mom, Is there really a Santa Claus?

{Waiting to come downstairs to see what Santa brought. Christmas 2017} I knew it would happen. I knew it would happen soon. In fact, I have thought the last two Christmases that it would probably be the last all of my kids believed in Santa Claus. I felt like I was on borrowed time. I asked the dreaded question to several babysitters before I had the courage to ask my mom when I was 9. My mom told me the truth. I was devastated. There were tears and more questions: "The Easter Bunny?" Nope. "The Tooth Fairy??" Not possible. I remember it well. I was truly broken hearted. I was also one of the last to 'believe' in my class. So when my oldest daughter turned 8, I prepared. Then she was 9. And this year in October she turned 10. She wrote a letter to Santa and I thanked God I had one more year of magic. Then I was cornered. The other night... in the bathtub. Yes, I had everyone in bed and had settled in for a nice warm bubble bath when she cam...

DISNEY WORLD

Okay, let's talk about Disney World. We are not particularly Disney people. We are likely more Disney than some people since we have been three times now in the last ten years. We took my oldest daughter alone when she turned five. We brought both girls right before my middle daughter turned three (mostly because kids are free at Disney until they turn 3!) And then we decided we should take our 2-year-old before his 3rd birthday too. Probably a bad idea. Let me just say it. Girls are easier than boys. This is my experience and I'll likely change my mind by middle school. But for now - my 2-year-old boy is MUCH more difficult than either of my girls at this age. For instance -- It rained on us in Disney one day (well, a few days) We were prepared for afternoon showers with ponchos and rain coast. John was in the best shape of all of us because he was in a covered stroller. (Don't even get me started on strollers. I never want to see another one again!) ...

hello.

I quit my lifelong job in television news more than two years ago (!) I can't believe it has been that long. I have been asked NUMEROUS times over those years if I have a blog or if I've thought about creating one. The answers were "No" and "No." Always. Seriously - I just figured out how to make this website work and I had no idea how to add a blog to it. Secondly, what in the world do I have to say that anyone would want to listen to? Then I started to notice how when I'm around other women we chat about life experiences, kids, family, work, etc. and I really love hearing their stories. I really like sharing mine. It makes me feel more normal! I also have learned a lot of tidbits over the past decade about raising kids. I've learned a lot about myself too - all by trial and error, mind you. So I'm just going to basically ramble on this thing for awhile and see what happens. If you are interested in joining in the journey, zone out for ...

AnchorMom

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