New Focus to New Year's Eve

Over the years, I have had the good fortune to celebrate New Year's Eve any number of fun ways -- when I was a kid, we occasionally went and saw the fireworks downtown. When I was older I had parties with my friends -- both hosted them and attended them. There were the more innocent parties, before I could drink legally, and then there were the "line the kitchen sink with a trash bag and fill it with juice & vodka" parties (sounds delightful now, but back then we thought it was great!). I have celebrated at very fancy dinners in very fancy restaurants, and I have had very fancy dinners in any number of friends' and families' homes, as well as my own.

The year that I was pregnant with our first daughter, her due date was January 12th, so that New Year's there was no drinking, no going out -- just a mellow night, each of us on our own couch, me with a bottle of sparkling grape juice, and an all night "Law & Order" marathon! The year after that, our very good friends invited us over and we brought the baby with us -- just the 5 of us -- and it was a great evening, but we were both so nervous driving home that night -- it's such a terrible night to be out driving!

Now that both of our girls have come along, my husband and I have refocused what we like to do on New Year's. Now, it's more about staying home and making it a festive evening with our kids than going out for a gourmet meal, or going out to a party. I think last year we watched the countdown on the Disney channel, instead of Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve. This year we are planning to watch "Rudolph's Shiny New Year", have some kid-friendly munchies that our girls will like, and get out our New Year's decorations -- New Year's party napkins, hats, noisemakers, some sparkler candles, etc.

One thing that has become a tradition for us at New Year's is for everyone to have "crackers" -- they are actually a Christmas tradition in the United Kingdom, but we started using them as a New Year's Eve treat in our house. For those who are unfamiliar with them, they are a brightly wrapped cardboard tube that is filled with a few little trinkets and usually you pull them open and there is a little "bang" as they pop open. Our oldest daughter loves them! My stepmother put them out for us for Christmas dinner this year and my girl had fun opening, well, everyone's! This year I've been sick and sticking to the house, so I have not had time to go out and buy the crackers, but I decided that I'm going to try my hand at making them! I plan to take a wrapping paper roll and cut it into a few small tube-lengths, and then I will fill it with some treats -- I have some candy, some plastic beaded party necklaces that my girls will love, and I'll just see what else I find -- then I will wrap them with wrapping paper like the picture above and tie them with ribbon -- voila! I may do these on my own to surprise my girls, but this would also be very easy to have the kids do themselves, as a funny activity!

Our other tradition, came about a few years ago when I had purchased a fancy dessert for us to share, and it did NOT turn out to be something that my daughter appreciated. In a last minute attempt to make her her own "fancy dessert" I grabbed a pudding cup from the fridge, put it on a plate, put a flourish of whipped cream on top and a sprinkling of M&M's -- she LOVED it! Now, that's what she requests when it's a fancy dessert kind of evening!

And don't get me wrong, we're not ALL about the kids -- we have our very festive kid party, and then we put the kids to bed and my husband and I have a nice dinner and some wine or champagne. Last year we had a nice dinner in front of the fireplace with the Christmas tree lights on, and then we snuggled up and watched a romantic movie. We love to spend time with our kids, but it's also important to make time for the grown-ups too!

Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday -- ours was very nice (I'll share more later) but I was battling bronchitis over the holiday and I'm still getting over it, and so now begins our next favorite season - cold and flu season! Yesterday my youngest (17 month old) came down with a cold and I was up with her until about 2:30am trying to make her comfortable, trying to bring down her fever, and trying to wage a war against everything that was coming out of her nose... Poor sweetie!!

So this is just a quick post to let you know that I am still here, and I wanted to take this opportunity to share my admiration for this wonderful product that has been a god-send! Perhaps that sounds dramatic, but seriously -- this is a WONDERFUL product! I grew up on Vick's Vapo-Rub, and I do swear by that for myself. But, even calling it "Mommy's lotion" to my product-loving eldest daughter, did not sway her into letting me apply it to her to help her get to sleep when she had a cold and stuffy nose. We would do our best to get her to sleep without it, and then I would sneak in and rub a little on the back of her neck to help clear up her stuffy nose, but not totally overpower her with it. Well, then PediaCare came out with this great Vapor Plug that you slip a little medicated pad into and plug it into the wall, and it works like a charm every time! My daughter actually ASKS us to plug it in now when she is congested.

And for anyone who has ever had a small child who is clearly "addicted" to her pacifier ("binky" in our house) -- there is nothing worse than a child that needs the pacifier to get to sleep, but can't breathe through their stuffy nose, and is just completely miserable suffering between wating to breathe through their mouth, but wanting their pacifier all at the same time. This has really worked wonders in our house -- we have one for each child's room, and last night we used them both and eventually both girls slept peacefully through the night!

Just had to spread the word to any other moms in need! Breathe easy! ;)

Update to "Even Moms Need a Time-Out" Post...

Last night my husband and I claimed our usual spots on the couches and we popped in "Love Actually" which I had been waiting all month to watch - it makes me feel very Christmas-y! I looked over at him about 10 mins into the movie (this is one of his favorite movies, btw), and he already had his eyes closed! Well! I was going to watch it anyway! And about 15 minutes later I was totally out -- sound asleep -- didn't wake up until the credits were rolling!! Better luck next time, I guess...

Emergency (Gift) Preparedness

Last night my daughter had "elf night" at her dance class, which meant she was allowed to invite a friend to attend class with her. Well, I did not remember this until I read the dance schedule at 11pm on Tuesday night -- a little late to call her friend's house to invite her! I called from work on Wednesday, apologized for the short notice and extended the invitation. Fortunately, the friend was available and excited to attend with my girl. Phew! I really felt as though they were doing us a favor, because it was so last minute and I would have been so upset with myself if my frazzled-ness (I'm sure that's not a word...) caused my daughter to be the only one without an "elf" friend!

Anyway, my husband and daughter went and picked her friend up, they had a wonderful time and they came home at about 7:30pm and my girl was excitedly waving a little gift bag that her friend had given her. It contained a cute little lotion (a FAVORITE of my daughter's -- she's definitely a "product" girl!) and some stickers. Well, she of course, wants to give her friend something in return -- today, the last day of school before the vacation. Now, this gift could have been a little holiday gift, as they are best friends and that would not be out of the ordinary to exchange -- although, I have a feeling that this is more of a "thank you for inviting me" gift, because her parents are very thoughtful! Anyway, not one to disappoint, after my girl went to bed, I through the tons of bags of holiday gifts that I have purchased for my girls and various other relatives (I can hear my "frugal friend" tsk-ing, right now!) and I pulled out a 3 pack of lip gloss with a cute little tin to hold it in, from the new Disney movie "Enchanted." I had bought it for my girl, but she does have a plethora of lip glosses, so she could certainly share the wealth. Then I went down into the basement where I have an old chest of drawers filled to the brim with ribbons, tissue paper, gift bags - you name it! I pulled out a very cute little tiny gift bag and some tissue and I was very pleased with myself for putting something together so quickly!

When my daughter came downstairs this morning for breakfast, it was sitting next to her lunch box on the counter, and she said, "Oh! Is this gift for my teacher?" Um, no, it's for your friend -- why, are other kids bringing in teacher gifts this year? And she said, yes, kids have been bringing them in all week. GREAT! Talk about short notice! Now, last year in kindergarten, I bought 4 teacher-related gift items -- 2 teacher note pads and 2 "101 Words of Encouragement for Teachers" little books. But last year, no one brought in gifts at the holidays, but instead of returning the items to the store, I decided to hold onto them just in case. Thank goodness! I pulled out one of the little books, had my girl sign "To, From, etc." inside, and back I went to the basement to get another gift bag, more tissue & ribbon, and I tied a candy cane into the bow to be festive.

And I had thought I was working on short notice last night! But, having a few extra items on hand saved me once again! I think it's a great tip for mothers who get those last minute notifications from their children about gifts that they need -- if you see something on sale or have a little extra in the grocery money, put a couple of little gift items away to use in the event of a gift emergency!

Grandpa to the Rescue!

So, I took the day off from work today, with the intention of going to my daughter's elementary school holiday sing-along concert. After that I thought I would try and get my gift wrapping done, possibly run a couple of errands, lots of good things like that. We got up this morning, and I got my girl ready for school - her daddy had ironed a dress for her to wear (isn't he great?) and I did her hair with a ponytail and a fancy red, flower barrette and I pinned a snowman pin on the front of her dress - very festive for her big concert! I got her on the bus and then I finished getting myself ready, started getting my little one ready for the day, and then my dad came over because he was nice enough to come and watch the little one while I was at the concert. I wanted to be able to enjoy my girl's concert and have full attention on her - something she doesn't always get these days.

Well, the best laid plans, right? Everything is running smoothly, I pull out of the driveway and I'm heading up to school, and something doesn't feel right with the car. I get about 2 blocks from my house and pull down a side street so I can get out and investigate. FLAT TIRE. Not just a little flat -- we're talking pancake. UGH! I grabbed my cell phone and I called home and told my dad what had happened and he said he would come right over. Then I called my daughter's school, because at this point, the concert was 5 minutes from starting, and I wanted to ask the school secretary if she would please tell my girl what had happened and let her know that I might not make it. And then I waited. I called my husband at work (30 minutes away) and I called my good friend that I work with (also 30 minutes away) just to kill time while I waited. Dad was quick, all things considered, because he had to bundle up the baby who was still in her jammies! By the time he got there, I was in tears because I was so upset about missing my girl's concert! Dad pulled up, rolled down the window and said, "Hop in - and don't lock the keys in the car, because I'll need them!" (Dad has rescued me on more than one occasion when I have absentmindedly locked the keys in the car...) I assumed that his priority would be for us to take care of the car, but he was there to drive me to my girl's concert, and then he headed back to change my flat tire and put the spare on. He then took the flat tire up to a nearby garage and asked them to fix it, all while I was at the sing-along concert!

Because he was so quick, I only missed the first song, and although I had to stand in the doorway, I made sure to wave until my daughter saw me, and I nearly cried again when I saw her little face light up at the sight of her mom! At the end of the concert, the classes were lead out by their teachers and as my girl walked out I was able to give her a big hug and kiss and tell her what a great job she had done. She went back to class and I called Dad and he came to pick me up.

I thanked him profusely, and told him, "It would have broken my heart to miss it -- she was so excited this morning and she was expecting to see me there. I just couldn't disappoint my little girl!" And my dad said, "I know JUST how you feel!" Thanks, Daddy!