Just as it does every year, Christmas has snuck up on me. Just yesterday I had weeks to get ready, or at least it seemed. Now suddenly it is the 23rd. There is still so much I want to get done, holiday and otherwise. How is it that I can go from feeling on top of the world (mine at least) into where has the time gone so quickly?
Not to fear, there is nothing of grand importance that remains undone. The only big project I have left is to make cookies. Santa will appreciate the fact that they were baked earlier that day. My house will smell heavenly. And I will have yummy cookies to munch on. The boys and I will be donning our aprons and getting to work tomorrow making gingerbread.
Tonight, the boys got to experience fed-up mommy. She is not very nice. But an hour is plenty long to clean up those Legos, don't you think. The boys have started to completely ignore my requests. So tonight, more than 45 minutes after asking them to clean up, I set the timer. They had 10 minutes to get that mess cleaned up. I needed access to the tree and I was not going to work around Legos. The consequence in question, one Christmas gift each. If the timer went off before every Lego was picked up, I would remove one of each of their gifts from the tree.
Can you guess what happened? The timer went off, there were Legos on the floor, the wailing began. True to my word, two gifts were removed from under the tree. SweetP was despondent because he is convinced I took a video game (I did). SweetE, wasn't bothered a bit. He told his brother that there were still lots of presents under the tree (there are). SweetE seems to have a better perspective on life most of the time. Not that he can't throw one whopper of a fit if he wants to. But lately, sweetP loses it at the drop of a hat.
So I gently reminded the boys that they had more than enough time to get the room cleaned if they had started when I asked them too. SweetP came up to me later and asked what he would have to do to earn his gift back. I simply said that if he did what was asked of him, without complaint or being reminded, it would probably reappear under the tree.
Tonight he helped make his bed, he put away his towel and cuddled while we watched "Shrek the Halls." He is well on his way to getting his game back.
Meanwhile, the weather report calls for four more inches of snow tonight. It looks like it will be a white Christmas.
1 comment:
ped, you're getting even more snow??? astounding. how do people drive in it there? you'd think minnesotans would have the skills down cold, but no. spinouts galore. yesterday i drove to work on two inches of ice and seethed and muttered the whole way at the tailgaters behind me.
hope you get everything done. somehow, i think you will.
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