Santa?

The kids and I were wandering around Wal-Mart looking at Christmas decorations. Kaylin suddenly asked if we had Tiger last Christmas? I told her he wasn't even born until January, so no. She said "But how are we going to have a tree?" Uh.... Smart child. I never even thought about Tiger and Simon and a Christmas tree! We will have a tree that gets knocked over multiple times daily. We will have a tree with no breakable ornaments, no candy canes and no decorations we care deeply about. Fortunately, our artificial tree is only ~5 feet tall with built-in lights. It will be annoying to wake nightly to the tree crashing over, but at least the cats can't do any real harm.

My next holiday problem is that both kids still believe in Santa Claus. Kaylin's classmates keep telling her there is no Santa, but she refuses to believe them. She had forms sent home for parents to fill out if they want a phone call or letter from Santa to their child. Both were stamped with the logo of the park district. Kaylin asked if Santa is my coworker? I told her in this case he is, because obviously Santa can't call and/or write every kid in the world so park district people and volunteers do the actual calling and writing of letters. She was ok with that explanation.

I am not really ok with the whole Santa thing. I've been working hard with Kaylin on spending vs. saving and checking reviews of expensive toys before purchasing. She may still blow her $10 on yet another Webkinz rather than saving for a new video game, but she has gotten into reading reviews on Amazon. We just read about the Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker and found that the vast majority of reviewers thought the cupcakes were mediocre and the frosting applicator didn't work. We also found that a refill package that makes 6 cupcakes costs $12! We discussed how many "real" cupcake making supplies she could buy for $30 and how many regular cupcakes she could make for $12. Kaylin is now fine with NOT having the cupcake maker toy under the tree. However, she does keep throwing out huge, ridiculous things that she'll "just ask Santa" for. She understands and accepts that Gene and I aren't going to spend $$$$ to buy her equipment so she can have her own web show like iCarly. But why can't she just ask Santa? Aaahhhhh! Now the stuff the kids want is getting more expensive. When Santa brought a $30 set of toys that was great! Now one teensy little video game costs more than that! I never in a million years thought my 4th grader would still believe in Santa! Surely, next year in middle school there is NO WAY she can still believe. Right? Right? (Oh, and as far as Logan's concerned, I don't think he'll care or be overly disappointed. He lives in the "real world" and will likely be relieved that some fat guy isn't actually breaking into his house, even if it is to leave presents.)

Otherwise, most everything in my life has been blissfully boring. Nobody's sick, school is normal, work is normal. I found a great deal on a new laptop that doesn't overheat and shut down every 5 minutes. (Oh, Mom, that's why I haven't been blogging. My old computer wouldn't stay on long enough.) The cats have been my major source of entertainment. Simon figured out how to push down the tapper on the water dispenser and enjoys watching the bottled water run out. Tiger has taken ownership of the box my laptop came in. I bought myself a Fiskars scissors that is zebra print. Yep, boring :)