son – have you seen those human Barbie people? I was like, wow …
me – that’s nothing, have you seen the human Ken doll? Totally creepy!
daughter – that’s literally plastic surgery, making themselves look like plastic dolls
son – yeah, I want to ask, can I spin your head around and squish it and pop it off?
me – *laughs* oh my gosh!
son – what? I used to do that with V’s Barbies all the time!
*****
What? You don’t celebrate Christmas in August?
Normally, we don’t either, although one year we did celebrate it in January.
This year, it seems, we’ve shaken things up a bit. Okay, a lot. Touché!
You see, we wanted to do something special for the kids again this year. We had two ideas, Plan A, or Plan B, but my husband and I weren’t sure which one the kids would prefer. After kicking it around between the two of us, we figured we should probably bring the kids into the discussion too, since it most affected them.
They were all excited, and after a bit of discussion, made their choice. And I mean, they really didn’t hesitate in the least. Once presented with the options, they knew exactly what they wanted.
I apologized to them for spoiling Christmas, but at least they had something to look forward to.
So I thought.
They couldn’t wait for December. They approached us and asked if it were possible to get it now, instead of waiting.
Honestly, I couldn’t think of a good reason. Neither could their dad.
So, we made the decision and went shopping. All the Christmas fund has been spent.
On the bright side, no wrapping presents!
On the down side, no presents to unwrap.
On the bright side, I had a Christmas fund to spend!
As usual, our first purchase was a disaster, and I spent I don’t know how many hours online trying to search for solutions. This doesn’t work that doesn’t work and how the heck are we supposed to get it to be how we want it? Much swearing ensued.
So that necessitated another round to the store to return purchase A, and spend time hemming and hawing over what purchase B should be … So far so good on purchase B.
I feel like I need to set my mailbox in front of Best Buy. I have been there so many times in the last few days, sheesh!
I am something like nearly a week behind in my email and WordPress, my house is an even bigger disaster than it was before (Please tell me I’m not the only one who hates vacuuming!), but my kids had Christmas in August and it’s pretty doggone amazing when I stop to think that things were so bad a few years ago that I tried to make them Christmas presents out of socks so it wouldn’t be empty under the tree.
My kids are over the moon happy, which of course makes dad and I over the moon happy. We’ll still put up the Christmas tree in December and decorate and eat all the bad food that we’re not supposed to eat. We’ll still listen to Christmas music until our ears explode, and we’ll absolutely remember the whole Reason for the season in the first place.
We just won’t open presents. And not because we can’t like other years, but because we were blessed to be able to choose to do it a little differently this year.
Besides, Christmas should be like an every-day kind of thing, right? When Christmas lives in your heart, it doesn’t matter what month it is.
Merry Christmas!
You are the perfect blessing, and I’m so thankful that you’re a part of my life.
Love you with all my heart!
Hugs and kisses!
Mom
Brother: So Toland the Shattered-
Sister: Wait, why is he Toland the Shat Heard?-
Both pause as mom about splits her guts laughing.
Sister: What? What did I say? Why is mom laughing so hard?
I’ve been on “the Internets” for a long time now. I’ve interacted with a lot of people and seen a lot of things. So it was with a bit of trepidation when my husband and I decided to allow our son to play an online game on the system we got the kids for Christmas.
Yes, we’ve talked to both the kids about online safety, we’ve laid down the rules, and they’ve honored them without hesitation. They know, and trust, that we’re looking out for their safety. Plus, the console sits right in the middle of the living room in full view of everyone.
The Xbox, however, has this really cool app that you can add to your Android and you can do all kinds of things from the app (even use it as a console remote when the console’s on!) when you’re not on the console … like use the messaging service.
My son’s met a number of people while playing his favorite game. Some of them have been kids, clearly, and he’s used the “chat hat” to talk to a couple.
Lately though, (like the last few weeks) this one character has popped up that I’m about 90% certain is not anything like who they’re claiming to be, and am pretty certain is a predator of some sort. There’ve been a lot of red flags.
First, they don’t have a mic to talk, but want my son to use his so they can hear him. They text, he chats in response. Not fair in my book and I’m about to call a halt to that tactic. He doesn’t even know if this person is male or female, adult, kid, or Martian. Flag.
Second, they supposedly share the screen name with a sibling, so “sometimes it’s my brother, sometimes it’s me.” Seriously? Microsoft allows you to have multiple people in your online family, so why would you have to share a screen name? Flag.
Next, it was, “What’s your real name?” Some people elect to allow their real names to be seen online. My kids are not allowed to do that. She (They claim to be a 17 y/o girl) made up a name for my son, then kept asking him for his real name, so he made one up. Flag.
After that it was, “Do you have a girlfriend?” Flag.
Then it was, “I know we haven’t known each other very long but I think I love you.” FLAG.
Last night, it became, “I think I’m bi.” FLAG FLAG!
My son asked why they thought that and this person responded, “Because I was watching something bad and then I started touching myself.” Oh hell to the FLAGFLAGFLAG!
I am aboutthisclose to telling him he has to unfriend this person – at which point I know they’ll come back under a different screen name and try to start the process all over again, and my son will resent me. My son wants me to trust him, and know that he’ll not do anything stupid, like get emotionally attached in any way or reveal anything personal. My son’s a good kid and he’s pretty mature for his age. I do trust him on a lot of levels. But this is a new arena for him, one I’m familiar with, and he needs to trust me, too. I’ve given him all kinds of suggestions on how he can respond to this person’s messages, things like, “You should talk to your parents or a pastor or school counselor,” “I’m not looking for an online romance kind of thing, I just want a gamer friend,” and “I’m not comfortable talking about these things, let talk about something else.”
The online community can be a wonderful thing – I should know, I met my husband there! But it is also full of a lot of dark elements – I’ve met them, too – that I don’t want to touch my kids in any way, shape, or form. I want my kids to learn to interact with people, and also to know how to be wary, and savvy. Those things only come from experience. So I have to guide them, help them navigate this world. People get suckered all the time – even grown-ups! We simply HAVE to be careful and distrustful, as much as we’d like to give the benefit of the doubt.
In the meantime, my son knows I’m shining a flashlight on this character and keeping my eye on how things develop. He knows what to look for, and he knows he can come talk to me and his dad about anything that happens.
Whoever said “the Internets” would make life easier didn’t have teens, lol!
Mom: *Grumbling about the recently discovered virus on her computer. Grumble, grumble. GRUMBLE.*
Daughter: Is the plural for virus “virii” or “viruses”?
Mom: I think both are used, but I think “virii” is the more correct form.*
Son: I want to make it so the plural for squid is “squad.”
~~~~~
*Mom was wrong, it is in fact viruses. Dictionary.com
My daughter is a big-time sleepyhead in the mornings. She absolutely hates to get up. I think she probably gets that from her mother. *ahem* This morning I went to give her the usual wake-up kiss, and I said, “Don’t go back to sleep! You don’t want to miss your last day as a nine year old!”
And I realized … after today I will no longer have a child in the single-digits age bracket.
That’s a bigger milestone for me as a mother than is known to most people.
And the bittersweet of it made me kind of sad, in a way. It’s an ending, a closure. There are no more babies, and my baby will be 10, a whole decade! Double-digits from here on out, and tomorrow she will be 21, because I will blink and time will have zipped by that fast.
Goodbye, single-digit ages. I will miss you, terribly. It’s been more joyful than anyone can know.
How in the world could I ever walk into my kitchen, find this on the little fridge whiteboard, and not feel overwhelmed with thankfulness?
May you be so blessed!
Vanessence 