Category: Life

We aren’t buying gifts for anyone this Christmas except for Amy.

Now just let me read that sentence over again while I wait for the guilt to subside.

It’s taken me a while – and lots of whinging to Nathan – to come to terms with why I alternately feel compelled to not buy for anyone except our daughter and then within the same moment, feel incredibly guilty that we aren’t buying for anyone else.

Part of our decision came down to money. Nathan and I both have large families and to buy for everyone just ends up much too expensive for us.

It doesn’t help that I am notoriously tight with money, taking a long time to actually make a decision to buy anything big (it took weeks of contemplating a Dyson before I was ready to say ‘Yes, let’s buy one’ and then we bought it with money we had put away).

The other part of our decision came down to my annoyance with the commercialisation of Christmas. I don’t want to spend every year trying to outdo myself with gifts and decorations. I don’t want or need that kind of stress. I don’t want people to expect anything from me except good food and company, because good food and company I can always do.

I don’t want to make myself crazy making sure that no one is forgotten.

It’s much easier just to remember Amy.

Much easier.

I will still be making biscuits and truffles, wrapping them in cellophane and giving them for gifts. I will still be making something to take to Nan’s for Christmas lunch.

So really, everyone will still be getting gifts, they just won’t be getting things I have bought. Instead, it will be things I have made with my own two hands and sometimes I wonder if that is enough.

Common sense tells me that of course it is enough, but I worry that I will go to all the effort of making these things – while 9 months pregnant – only to have them pale in comparision of gift wrapped stuff from shops.

Am I being stupid? Probably.

But that doesn’t change anything, I’m still not buying presents regardless of how conflicted I feel about it.

What are you doing for Christmas? What are your plans for gift giving? Who do you normally buy for?

If you don’t celebrate Christmas I would be even more interested to know what you do celebrate. How do you deal with a holiday season that seems completely skewed towards a Christian holiday? Do you mind me asking?

(I’m not a religious person by any means, Christmas for me is about good food and good company and a tree and tinsel, not so much about the religious significance.)

Now I know that I have been neglecting this blog terribly, but really, is that any reason for over 50 people to unsubscribe? Really?

Hmmph.

I will try and get something of substance up later today, okay? Just bear with me here.

Okay, I hardly ever do meme’s, but I like this one alot.

Jenty tagged me for this meme about Real Mums.

Apparently there is something about mutation too?

“Proponents of memes suggest that memes evolve via natural selection in a way very similar to Charles Darwin’s ideas concerning biological evolution on the premise that variation, mutation, competition, and “inheritance” influence their replicative success. For example, while one idea may become extinct, other ideas will survive, spread and mutate for better or for worse through modification.”

So we’re all about mutation and propagation here, people. As we’ve all already subdivided and had kids, let’s mutate! Add yours to the list.

1. Real Moms don’t flinch when they talk about boobs. They do make you laugh your brains out.

2. Real moms go on vacation. Real moms go on vacation and learn to play traffic cop.

3. Real moms brag about their kids

3. Real moms do not mince words when they present the truth.

4. Real moms juggle

5. Real moms “resist the guilt and embrace the journey”

6. Real moms don’t give a damn to media generated Mommy Wars

7. Real moms have kids with potty mouths.

8.  Real moms sometimes forget about toddler-proofing

And then there is mine…

9. Real Mums sometimes forget to hide their ‘toys’ properly.

****

I’m going to tag Lotus, Barbara, Debbie, Dawn and Jennifer.

Because I’m sure the links they add will amuse me no end.

So a few weeks ago we started bring baby stuff out of storage to make sure it was okay. Some of it has been moved 3 or 4 times now.

Like our bassinet. Our bassinet? Dead. It would probably be okay for another baby, but the wicker weave has started to come away from the base and there are pokey out staples everywhere. It would be a simple matter to fix it, but I simply cannot be bothered.

Instead, we will just set up the cot in our bedroom and bypass a bassinet completely. I know from experience that little ones don’t spend all that much time sleeping in them anyway, tending to prefer sleeping on Mummy’s boobies.

We also brought out the bouncer thingy that Amy spend alot of time sleeping in as a baby.

We knew damn well that Amy would insist on sitting/bouncing/laying in it for a while and we wanted the novelty to wear off before the baby arrives. Personally, with how enamoured Amy is with the bouncer (despite being much too big for it and falling out occasionally) I’m not sure the novelty is ever going to wear off. She might get bored with it for a while, but I think once the baby is here we might have some issues with the bouncer.

Ditto with the pram.

Up until Amy was 12 months old, the only time she would nap was in the pram. I used to walk for HOURS with her in order to get her to sleep (I measured it once, it would take Amy about 1.5km to fall asleep if she was sleepy and longer if she was overtired). She eventually started napping in her cot around her first birthday.

When she was about 15 months old and bigger, we retired the pram and bought a little umbrella stroller for when we were out shopping and stuff. The pram went to sit in a dusty corner in a spare room and then when we moved here, it ended up in the shed.

So not too long ago, I grabbed the pram out of the shed and gave it a bit of a wipe over, washed the cover and brought it inside to get Amy used to having it about again.

Unfortunately she now spends all her time clipping herself into the pram and yelling ‘Help Mummy! Click! Click!’ and needing me to unclip her.

Sigh.

Not to mention the fact that every time I turn around, Amy is wearing another article of clothing that is meant to be for the baby.

I’m sorry Amy, but a 2 yo does not fit into a newborn growsuit, no matter how creatively you twist it.

Funnily enough, Amy does fit into the baby’s pants. Heh, who knew that size 000 and size 2 pants actually all have the same waist measurement.

[Also, I need to add, as I’m writing this, Amy just wandered past singing ‘bedtime, bedtime’ to herself, while sucking on a bottle teat. I thought I’d thrown all our old teats out, but obviously not. She’s just wandered into my room, wonder how long she will occupy herself in there?]

[about 2 minutes]

All round though she has been pretty good.

Although, I am almost dreading setting up the cot. God, how is that going to work? We plan to do the three sided cot thing that we did with Amy with the cot up against our bed; at least for the first few months.

Speking of cots, I don’t have any idea where the bolts to put the cot together are. Nathan swears he does, but I’m not sure I believe him.

Excuse me while I go and turn our house upside down looking for them.

***

Also as an aside, it’s my birthday today! 20 years old.

I feel so much older, hehe.