Baby's Gotta Go

For weeks whenever anyone asked Zoe what she wanted for Christmas she would exclaim "A PEE-PEE TRAINING DOLL!". She had, of course, seen a commercial for this doll. After quite a bit of discussion, Brent and I decided not to buy it for her because although she would be really excited at first, I have to wonder how long it would keep her entertained. There are also a lot of small pieces that I didn't think would be very fun to keep track of.

When my mother began asking what Zariah might like for Christmas I told her about several toys I thought she might enjoy, but my mother had already seen how much she wanted it and asked if it was okay to buy her the "Pee-Pee Training Doll". I figured, who am I to deny my mother the kind of reaction that she knows she will get when my little girl opens this particular present on Christmas Morning?

You've got to check out the commercial for this thing. It's hilarious, in a kinda messed up way.

Now that I think about it, I am almost just as interested to see my Grandmother's reaction to this doll. She has always had a HUGE collection of dolls. She particularly loves dolls with personality. If there's one thing this doll has, it's personality!

Now You Tell Us!

The other day there was a story in the news; "If your a student, you had probably better stay in school." Yeah, tell me about it. It's still a little hard not to get frustrated sometimes, but I just remind myself that we have so much to be grateful for I can't complain.

Every night when it's time for bed and I take Zoe in to say good night to my parents, my dad plays a game with her where he tries to keep her from giving him a kiss. She laughs and laughs and it makes me so unbelievably happy.

We finally bought a car. It's been about a year and four months too long that we've had to rely on public transit and the kindness of others to get around. It is so incredibly nice to have our own car again. It's a 2000 Chevy Prizm in a deep pretty blue color that reminds me of evening twilight, so we named her Twyla.

It has been interesting working again. I am extremely fortunate to have found a job that is so close and is such a nice little company to work for. Brent's seasonal job is working him extra hard during the holidays (of course) and it has been interesting trying to juggle our schedules. Thank goodness for wonderful family that has been so very helpful when we have schedule conflicts.

To Clarify

Just a little clarification about my last post. I was particularly addressing the claim of "I hate Christmas because it's so fake". My arguments were not attempting to claim that everyone should love Christmas like I do. I'm sure there are perfectly legitimate reasons why some people hate Christmas. As for us, Brent and I have always had very fond memories of Christmas. We both have wonderful relationships with our family. Nothing tragic has ever happened at that time of year for me and I can't even imagine how my feelings might change if something ever did. I wish that everyone could experience the same joy and happiness that I do over the Holidays, but I know that's not possible.

Speaking of Christmas, I really love being a mooch at this point in time. Staying with my parents makes memories of childhood Christmas' even more vivid and I love sharing my daughter and her excitement with my parents and watching them enjoy her as much as we do.

The day my dad put up the Christmas Tree. Zariah kept asking if we could hold hands and sing around the tree when it was up. How could I deny a request like that? We sang "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" She was swaying and everything, it was so funny. Then it was time for me to go to work. When I came home Zariah saw me and screamed "LOOOOOK!" as she ran into the Living Room. Then she bounced up and down pointing at the tree screaming "Look, Look, Look, Look" until I gave her a satisfying response of amazement.

"Christmas Is Sooo Fake"

I've had several people express their distaste of the holidays to me lately. Their complaints are complaints I have heard before. It all comes down to one basic claim; "Christmas is Fake".

Some of these complaints focus around a perceived Scrooge Effect. It makes them sick to see people who are jerks most of the year, suddenly become angelic because it's Christmas. My first response is that whoever makes this argument watches too many movies. I have never seen the Scrooge Effect happen anywhere but in Christmas stories and folklore.

Even if the Scrooge Effect was a real and regular occurrence, they must be assuming that the person is insincere because I fail to comprehend the sickness that accompanies observing an event that prompts someone to get in touch with their humanity and become more Christ-like. I imagine it would be a beautiful thing to witness. If the person was insincere, something so drastic wouldn't be happening in the first place.

Another angle to the "Christmas is Fake" argument is that it is too commercialized. Well of course it is. Everything is commercialized these days. Just don't get caught up in it. Just because there are some people who have lost sight of what Christmas is about doesn't mean that everyone else has. And even if everyone else has, it doesn't mean you have to. That would be my response for the other similar argument that Christmas has lost it's meaning.

I'm sure there are many legitimate reasons why some people dislike Christmas, but when people talk about disliking Christmas because it's "so Fake", i just don't buy it. In my opinion, it's only fake if you allow it to be or make it that way.