Lessons from Christmas

[Lt.Del]

I hope everyone had a great xmas. Some things I have learned today are:


1) Toys nowadays have absolutely TOO much wire holding the toys in the packaging. China and Taiwan must have a lot of wire. When it takes 45 minutes to unpackage a toy, it kinda takes the joy out of it. 

2)  Transformers are a parent's worst nightmare to arrange them to their vehicle form, then back to the  Transformer or Decepticon form. Instructions should not be required to get Bumblebee back to being a Camaro.

3) The more pieces a toy has, the more parent's feet hurt from stepping on them.

4) When you have a 5 year-old, there never is enough of the correct type of batteries in the house, no matter how you plan. Batteries had to be removed from the camera to go into a new Lightning McQueen flashlight, however, I am not removing the remote's batteries....period!

5) Cleaning the house before Dec. 25th is a waste of time. Boxes, packaging, wrappers, bows, pieces of new toys (see #3 above) make it impossible to keep the house clean.

6) And, most of all, having a 5 year-old kid open presents and behave the whole day (after all, Santa has already been here, no need to behave now) makes all the above worth while.


Andrew's rule for bedtime is 3 toys in bed while the light is on. I just tucked him in and turned his light out....hed had 10 toys in bed. I asked him the rule, and he said, "But I love all my new toys". That about sums up Christmas and a 5 yr old boy.

[Blazin]

Glad you had a good one!

[VileZambonie]

Well I have a 5 year old dog and I got him 2 skylighters. He's funny cuz he unwraps his gifts with his teeth so gently, then he looks inside and finds his new fribs! All he wants to do is play frisbee all day and night. These things are the best btw 

http://www.aerobie.com/Products/skylighter.htm

[Blazin]

My Junior boy used to unwrap his goodies too. Hold them down with his paws and tear little bits of paper off.

[choptop]

I hear ya loud and clear SgtDel. Gotaa 5 year old little girl in the house right now, and what I have learned is the hair brushes and accessories for My Little Ponys hurt alot more than Hot Wheels at 2 am. Time to wear the work boots around the house for a while.

[low budget]

 My 4 girls are teens, and sometimes I wish they were still at that age.  I would love to step on the little ponies again Chop.  No, I have to step over new lap tops, and ipods here.  Had to get after them today to get the gifts out of the middle of the floor and get them put away. 

[smitty77]

1) Toys nowadays have absolutely TOO much wire holding the toys in the packaging. China and Taiwan must have a lot of wire. When it takes 45 minutes to unpackage a toy, it kinda takes the joy out of it.

Yup.  Pretty much sums up our unwrapping experience.  I keep a set of diagonal cutters, scissors, and small phillips-head screwdrivers (encounter the ones screwed into the package yet??) on hand for the festivities now.

4) When you have a 5 year-old, there never is enough of the correct type of batteries in the house, no matter how you plan. Batteries had to be removed from the camera to go into a new Lightning McQueen flashlight, however, I am not removing the remote's batteries....period!

The jumbo packs of AA and AAA batteries are my friend, and I really like the 36 AA for $12 at Home Depot.  I keep one of each on hand for x-mas and birthdays, as well as at least 6 or 8 C and D cells.  There is nothing worse than not having batteries, and they never go stale sitting in the drawer.  We've got so many battery-operated doo-dads around here (7 y/o boy and 3 y/o girl) that we're always replacing some in some toy or another.

5) Cleaning the house before Dec. 25th is a waste of time. Boxes, packaging, wrappers, bows, pieces of new toys (see #3 above) make it impossible to keep the house clean.

We gave up on that a long time ago.  My wife cleaned the house to "better-than-new" for our x-mas eve party for my side of the family (scrubbed the bathroom linoleum with a toothbrush, shampoo-ed the carpets, etc.) and after 6 kids under the age of 14 got through, it was an absolute war zone.  But we all had a great time which is all that counts!

6) And, most of all, having a 5 year-old kid open presents and behave the whole day (after all, Santa has already been here, no need to behave now) makes all the above worth while.

Yeah it does.  And having your kids appreciate all of the hard work you put into the holidays doesn't hurt either.  I've spent about 24 hours laboring in the cold (in temps as low a 5*F) building and prepping an ice rink in the back yard.  Freezing my tail off setting it up, freezing my tail flooding it, freezing my tail filling a tote from a friend's well so I don't have to pay for water, freezing my tail every few hours each night to connect a hose, water and smooth the surface, drain the hose, repeat.  And every night the kids want to go out and skate for hours.  On Dec. 23, my daughter looks at me through the little hole in her snow outfit (it was 8 degrees at the time) and says "Dad, this is the BEST Christmas EVER!!!"  It just makes your heart melt.

Speaking of melting, I'm watching all of my hard work melt away with these 45 degree temps, but that's another matter.

I hope everyone else had a happy and safe holiday.  I know mine was one to remember for a long, long time.

[73micrys83]

Merry Christmas to all! I've read through threads on here for the last 5 years and I swear I have never read or observed so many true, blue Americans on any other site but this! Sometimes I feel as if the world is going to H#$@ in a handbasket, and I know this is not the America that I was proud to have served 8 years on active duty in the U.S Marines for, but doggone it, you all make me feel so proud to be a part of a bunch of kind, patriotic and sentimental group that I laugh out loud at some of your posts, seethe with anger when a hero or little guy is slighted, cry when someone is having a bout with bad luck, am incredulous at the lack of common sense from our politicians, and cheer when one of you have gotten over a hump on your trucks! Thanks for putting up with my random posts, silly questions, and irrelevant submissions over the years...

God bless you all!

Mike and Crystal 

[Lt.Del]

That puts it all into perspective.  Very well put.  I think deep down we are all from the same mold--and we know what, afterall, is important.