Well, Poo on THAT...

So, I was feeling all self-righteous about my Christmas plans, until Jeremy's bosses let the populous at the company know that mandatory time-off was coming up in April.

How does that effect our Christmas plans, you may be asking yourselves?

Well, you see, if Jeremy doesn't have the vacation time to use during the time the entire company is shut down (for possibly two weeks), that means he doesn't get paid for that time. No bueno.

So, his vacation time has to be used in April by default. Which, to be honest, is super annoying since I would have liked to (since I have to) have Jeremy's mandatory time-off right when I have the baby, if I can't have Christmas time. Oh well...

This has set me off on a new line of thinking that I didn't want to travel down:

Buying my kids presents.

Because I don't want to have this conversation with my children come Christmas morning:

"Sorry, kids, even though Santa *cough* couldn't make our trip up to Salt Lake work, he decided to skip us today anyway. So, we'll be celebrating the holiday with cold glasses of almond milk, and top it off with some black bean cookies, and will not be opening gifts, because, when it comes down to it, who's birthday is it anyway? It's Jesus' birthday, so us getting presents actually doesn't make sense. I mean, did he get to ride the scooter you got for your birthday? No, he didn't. Are you crying?? What are you crying for?? Alright, young people, you can go to your rooms until you can act in a mature fashion....and no black bean cookies for you, since you keep persisting in your sobbings."

Yeah. I'm not that mean.

And I'm not that brave either.

Since this is the circumstance we find ourselves in, Jeremy and I decided to make Christmas simple. Nobody is getting a gift that is THEIRS, if you know what I mean. We purposefully picked things that would be enjoyed by all of them, with the caveat that everyone gets to open one, and enjoy ripping paper for the 3 seconds it takes to unwrap something. We are doing it this way mostly because I am super duper tired of the whole "THAT'S MINE!" business that goes on everyday. This way, nobody can say something is theirs, and they will be forced to actually get along and share and take turns. They can be selfish (minimally) with their own birthday presents, and I won't argue (until it comes to blows). But, since there is a theme going on with books, each kid will get their own book, and I'm okay with that. Because I still harbor bitter feelings about books that I thought were mine that ended up in my siblings' houses because no distinction was made, or property declared by a higher being. *glaring at no one in particular*

So, I am having pipe dreams about a magical Christmas morning, but in the back of my mind I know it's going to all melt into a display of overstimulated chaos, and I'll end up putting my Christmas tree away right after the festivities because I'll have had as much of all the childhood gluttony I can handle.

Sheesh...what has happened to me??