Whoduhthunkit!?

Heyyyy how was your Christmas?? Mine was …eh…you know the "eh" you make when your too bored to even let go and piss….just sort of slack jawed and shrugging. That was mine personally, not mine as in watching my kids who had a wonderful time. My husband, it seems, who can manage to order and ship gifts to the children apparently completely forgot that he could do the same for his wife who is doing the whole show at home on her own. Did he get Christmas gifts all the way over there in the sandbox? Shit yes…and 4 cases of goodies to try and brighten his holidays. But I suppose there was some deal in the back of his mind where he would get or do something when he got home…in fucking APRIL. I had thought he’d gotten past treating his wife like an afterthought. Mea Culpa - I should have SPELLED IT OUT to him - "Don’t Forget You Have a Wife Who Doesn’t Buy Her Own Christmas Gifts." He got a portable DVD player, a new saddle, books, clothes, art from the kids, and very expenisve headphones. I got bupkus. Again.

I hope the boys take after me.

The kids however had a marvelous time complete with gaping jaws, shining eyes, shrieks and squeals of glee. This sort of made up for being forgotten on Christmas morning by the man I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with. The children remembered me of course; those who were old enough to shop at the school "Santa Shop" and they went ALL out for their $2 on every gift (no sarcasm here I promise - they really did spend as much as they had to spend on ME and I am touched beyond belief). I got a pretty little necklace and earrings from ThingTwo and ThingOne bought me a #1 Mom laser cut keychain. VERY Nice.  They were so proud of thier purchases and I made a big deal out of each. ThingThree is too little to do this so I made sure he was given the opportunity to "shop" when we were at a local retailer so I got a set of pajamas out of the deal which he grins about very time he sees me in them. It’s cool. So they learn the joy of giving rather than the art of forgetting or assuming.

My very favorite moments? We got a little quad for ThingThree - you know one of those one step up from Fisher Price things that runs on a battery and can support him until he’s 10 or so…I draped it in a cloth after assembling it (that’s a post all on it’s own about how the foriegn manufacturers express their disdain for Americans through their poorly worded assembly instructions). He was told to pull the cover off while I video taped him for Daddy and he got all googly eyed after getting the cover off. I asked him what it was and who it was for and he replied "A quad - it’s daddy’s" and I said that it was HIS and he SHRIEKED "For MEE?????!!!???" and hopped on. Well nothing else would be acceptable until we opened the garage and let him spin down the driveway and away across the front lawn. After buzzing around for 15 mintues he stopped it with this SMOKING look over his shoulder (I swore I saw vapor coming out of his ears) and he said "CAN I KEEP THIS!?!?!?!" and I said "Sure buddy it’s yours." and he WOOOHOOOOOOD and took off again. That rocked. ThingTwo got the digital camera and Robotic Toy (no plugging for free here folks) and HIS response was "This is like the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER ‘cause I got everything I ever dreamed of!" and he can be found laying back in all of his electronic shwag with an "I just humped the neighbor’s daughter" look on his face at any time of day. Rocks again. ThingOne got the Ninetendo DS he’s been pleading for (because he did manage to pass all of his classes after nearly failing 4 - his progress report was GRIM - VERY grim). He’s been happily plugging away at a doggie type program raising a puppy and training it. He’s been grins and sunshine which - for anyone who raises a pre-pubescent or on the cusp of puberty type lad - is amazing. Rocks cubed…

And to top it off we were able to get some serious shwag for our daughter who lives with Gotrocks the Stepfather and MoneyBags Mom so our gifts have NEVER really been as impressive as the ones she got THERE (though she has always understood and been gracious - a rarer child you will never find). We got her everything she put on her list to us which included some fairly pricey items and she waited to open her gifts until she was on the phone with me so I got to hear the "OHMAGAWDOHMAGAWDOHMAGAWD!!!" when she opened the particularly coveted items…Rocks a-million.

So all in all Christmas was a great day for the kids and vicariously for me. I just wish that someone ELSE found it in their hearts to try and make MINE as important to HIM as I made HIS to ME. Y’know???