Vincent arrived this morning and he brought a helper named Poe. Apparently...my kids are a little too much for just one elf to handle. They brought the kids an Advent Box to count down the days to Christmas. Poe hid some M & M's in the box marked 24....and Alex grabbed most of them with one hand and stuffed them in his mouth, only leaving a few for poor Mallory.
We tried to take the kids to a Christmas Parade on Saturday night and it didn't go very well. We arrived about 20 minutes early and I brought snacks but just minutes before it was going to begin...both kids melted down and screamed to go home! I guess we will try again next year...Also, tried to take some pictures to include in our Christmas Cards. As you can see from the picture in my header....that also went poorly.
I don't even want to think about taking them to see Santa at this point. The hubby thinks that I am trying to do stuff with them too early, that they aren't ready. What do you think? What age should you start doing activities like this?
Personally, I think that header pic should BE your Christmas card! I love the pics that don't turn out just right. Or have screaming children in them.
ReplyDeleteAnd really, isn't that picture our true life? lol
I love the pic. It makes me smile. :)
Rachel
By the way, holy cow does your little boy look OLDER! So cute!
I love that picture!! It certainly reminds me of my daily life at the moment. I'm looking forward to the Santa pictures.
ReplyDeleteWe'll be visiting him next week and this year I know William will just talk and talk and talk and Kate will no doubt be screaming 'mama mama mama'. Should be a classic photo!
I have been doing all of these things with my boys since birth! I figure they will eventually get used to it and love it like me.. hopefully. Our Santa picture last year has little monkey (nearly 2 at the time) screaming bloody murder while big monkey was talking Santa's ear off!
ReplyDeletei so think that you should use that picture.
ReplyDeletewith the caption, "is christmas here yet?"
that is absolutely hilarious.
and no...i don't think it's too early. i think stella really got into it last year (3 1/2) ... and is this year starting to things of ways to manipulate it. sucks the fun right out of it, i tell ya.
The pic is awesome. It tells people what your life is really like. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I started doing stuff like that with my guys at about that age. Our big thing is going to one of those paint your own pottery places and painting ornaments. When we put up our tree, the guys are always searching for the ornaments they made and checking out their past work. It's so fun. And even though we're approaching the "tweenness" of it all, they are totally looking forward to it. :)
Your elves are cute!! I love that Advent calendar. We're using a cheap-o one this year and I'm going to scout the after Christmas sales for one like yours (I have my eyes on a silver one at Target!). :) I don't think it's too early at all to start these traditions! They'll always remember doing them that way!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely need to MAKE them see Santa. Some of my favorite photos are of the kids screaming on Santa's lap. C'mon, join the ranks of sadistic mothers!
ReplyDeleteThat should TOTALLY be your card!
ReplyDeleteLOL!
Take em to see Santa.....we are taking boy-boy and he is 2.
That picture is priceless and I agree with Rachel, that picture should be your Christmas card photo!
ReplyDeleteThey may not be ready for Santa, but take them anyway and let poor Santa have a couple of screaming kids on his lap for a great photo op!
Oh my goodness. I agree that you should make this your Christmas card pict! Haha! This was like one of the pictures I took last year! Pumpkin got mad at me because I made her wear a different dress than the one she wanted.
ReplyDeleteKids!
Thanks for stopping by to comment on my "I'm going crazy" post.
Ciao
Hi Connie! I haven't met many Connies...well, EVER! It's a fabulous name! Wanna guess what mine is?? ;~)
ReplyDeleteI came over here and almost howled when I saw your header photo!
I can't believe the impact this time of year has on children.
When my daughter was young, she could not handle the thought of sitting on a strang man's lap for photos!
It started getting easier at about 5...and by then some people had told her the truth and she was more than happy to go get the free candy cane and little trinket gift!
But you have to try to do things with them to figure out if they're ready or not. My oldest son was terrified of Halloween when he was a toddler and based on his feelings about strangers and being in unfamiliar houses, I didn't even bother trying the next year when he was 2 1/2. Since he still had the same issues this year, I was going to skip it again - but my husband really wanted to try. And what do you know!? He loved it!
ReplyDeleteGo ahead and try Santa. Worst case scenario - they cry and you have to whisk them away before they pee on Santa. Even in that worst case scenario - you get a funny picture that the family can laugh about for years to come. Best case scenario - they love it and you get a picture for your holiday cards.
When it comes to activities that you many not try if they weren't holiday related? You just have to pick and choose what seems worth trying.
Love your holiday spirit!
I think the picture is cute..and like i said in the other post..i love the header pic...hey its them...I have a ton of santa visits with one or both crying...they are funny to look back on now...all those tears...it is just them at that time in their lives..i have pics with scratches on faces..a black eye from someone at daycare hittin one in the face by accident..and all sorts...like parker said...true life pics...they are the best! :)
ReplyDeleteOur elf arrived yesterday! I will try to write about that tomorrow. Are your kids afraid of the elves?? :) I agree with many of the folks here that that picture on your header should be your card! It is adorable :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with Santa...our visit did not go as well this year...maybe I will write about that too!
I love your advent calendar...where did you get it?
I am going to use my header picture for our Christmas card. Even though Mallory is crying she is still stinkin cute!
ReplyDeleteWe will visit Santa...but I think we will wait until Nana gets here so there is another distraction.
I got the Avent Box at Joann's, and it was on sale for $20 this week!
My opinion: Taking them to meet Santa is not something they will remember. If it is too stressful for you, skip it. I promise they will still love you forever and ever. :)
ReplyDeleteI noticed my son was more aware of what was going on and the idea of the activity when he was around 3-4. And now that he is 8 he is the one who tells me, "Remember mom we still have to go take a pic w/santa, take our card pic, decorate the tree, make cookies, etc. Now he's the one that has the agenda all planned out and I'm oh yeah! lol! I think that's great you are getting hem into tradditions and into Christmas early. Next year will be better they will be older. Try to get them to take the picture around the time of day that you think would work for them. Try to get them to maybe hug each other in front of the tree, or try to catch them doing something cute in front of the tree. I love the pic though. It is great! You are such a great mommy! ;)
ReplyDeleteI took my one year old to see Santa at a local Christmas festival, but we just stared at him. He had no interest in personal contact with a strange fat man in a red suit. Maybe it didn't matter to him, but I wanted to start sharing that tradition with him!
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have to wait in line, so that made it easier. I don't think I'd brave the whole big mall Santa trip with him right now.