Sunday, December 16, 2012

In the Christmas Mood!

Wow, two posts in one week. I'm on a roll!

The Climber has been much more excited for Christmas this year than he has been in years past. I don't know if it's because he's 3 now and understands a little better about the holidays, or the fact that I was actually on the ball this year and got all the decorations up really early, but he can't wait. Every morning, he bounces into our room and asks us if Santa came, and he handles it surprisingly well when we tell him that Christmas hasn't come yet! So in order to compound his Christmas joy, we've been doing a lot of holiday baking and crafts these last few weeks. Today, we made a gingerbread house! Voila!


Of course, I use the term "we" lightly. As happy as The Climber was to be making it, he was much happier to eat all the candy the kit came with while Mommy did the grunt work. Let me tell you, putting that thing together was much harder than I had anticipated! Thankfully, I had an extra bag of M&Ms lying around the house to decorate it. We'll see if the thing is still together when we wake up tomorrow!

Earlier this week, we made Reindeer Snickerdoodles. Super easy to do. Just make snickerdoodles and then pinch the bottom of the dough ball and smash it flat with your hand before baking to make the reindeer head shape. Once it's out of the oven, add mini chocolate covered pretzels (or regular pretzels, your pick) for the antlers and M&Ms for the eyes and nose and you're done. Behold!


My apologies for the poor picture quality of my crappy cell phone. Happy Holidays everyone!

*My heart and prayers go out to all of the victims and their families in Sandy Hook, CT. May those little children and their teachers rest in peace, and may their families begin to heal as they grieve over senseless tragedy. 


Friday, December 14, 2012

What's with all the Santa Haters?

I've come across a new aspect of the "Mommy Wars" this year: moms who do the whole "Santa thing" and moms who think letting their kids believe in Santa and Christmas magic is akin to letting them worship the devil. I really don't understand the hatred. I can maybe see the whole "I don't want to lie to my kids, and Christmas is really supposed to be about Jesus" argument, because that is true. Christmas is really about the birth of Jesus (if you are Christian) and our kids probably shouldn't be so fixated on the commercial and material aspects of the holiday season, i.e. PRESENTS! But to kill Santa all together? Why?  What's the harm in letting your child have this small joy and sense of wonder? Taking that away from them just seems mean.

I think my main problem with the moms in the anti-Santa camp is almost every single one of them is so sanctimonious about it, as if everyone else is a horrible parent for perpetuating the myth, and our children are going to grow up so spoiled and scarred because we "lied" to them. Oh please. I grew up believing in Santa, and I believed for a lot longer than most kids probably would have, mostly because my parents were very creative in their "lies". When I figured out the truth, did I have a mental breakdown? No, because I realized, even as a kid, that my belief in Santa enriched the holiday season for me. In fact, I can't think of a single person I know who was "scarred" when they found out the truth. And my parents still label some of my gifts as being from Santa, even though the jig is up and I'm in my thirties, simply because its FUN. After all, isn't that what childhood is supposed to be about?

Our children are going to grow up fast enough, and will learn all too soon how harsh the real world can be. To take Santa away, in my opinion, is just cruel. What's next, telling our kids that they can't really grow up to be a princess or a knight? That their imaginary friend is just made up? That they are not really playing with a sword, it's just an empty roll of wrapping paper? And I highly doubt that these Santa is Satan sanctimommies  have never EVER lied to their kids. We've all used the old "sorry honey, the toy store is closed today" fib at least once in our lives!

What's your take on Santa?