Ella wakes up every morning and says "I had a dream that when I woke up, you told me it was Christmas!" and then she waits expectantly for me to tell her, yes, it is Christmas.
I blame Disney for this. (On a side note, ABC Family started a countdown of the "25 Days of Christmas" last Wednesday. LAST Wednesday. Evidently, they meant business days.)
Anyway, to combat her constant questioning, I found an advent calendar to start using December 1. It hangs on the wall and has numbered little pockets. I've read some people get really ambitious and do little gifts everyday until Christmas. I am not one of those people. So, Ella will get a couple candy cane Kisses each day (Have you had these? Candy cane bits in a white chocolate Hershey's Kiss. Yum) and every five days or so I have it together enough to put a note in that day’s pocket that leads her to a gift for that day – new crayons, the cutest Playmobil set that includes Santa and a snowman (only $2.99 at Tar-Jay!) and a gingerbread house kit. I haven’t been gung-ho about making a gingerbread house before this year because, frankly, I think it’s a waste of food. But then I decided that when we’re done admiring it over the holiday, we can remove the candy, paint it with peanut butter, douse it with birdseed and hang it outside for the birdies to enjoy.
I hope the calendar will ease Ella into the season and I hope it’s a new tradition she will enjoy growing up with.
Shopping for Ella is a whole different issue as I generally think all toys on market are crap. Do they even test toys on real kids anymore? Ella will end up with a highly-researched and scrutinized group of books, games and DVDs for Christmas. We’re addicted to Jelly Belly jelly beans and I happened upon a mini-Jelly Belly dispenser that is like an old-fashioned gumball machine - very cool. My Mom will give Ella a gift card to spend as she wishes and I don't have a say in it, so she's not totally deprived of childhood fun. I am still in the market for a few other items – what are your favorite kid’s gifts this year?
As always, the holidays show up too quickly and the next thing we know, it will be tax time. I’ll admit we’ve been listening to holiday music already. And we’re probably going to get our tree next weekend. Who needs turkey, anyway?
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