It’s Tuesday.
And last Tuesday, I met Stacy of Stacy Uncorked who hosts Random Thoughts Tuesday.
And last night, I wrote an entire post that was eaten by the internet. And I didn’t like it enough to justify re-writing it.
So when I saw that Stacy had put up her Random Thoughts Tuesday link-up, I figured why not.
Here goes:
Random Thought #1
I’m not as young as I used to be. (Duh.)
I have ever-so-many more responsibilities than I did when I was younger. Y’know . . . a house, people in my care who want to eat three times every single day, a BLOG.
And yet I’m still a chronic over-commiter.
20 years ago, I could over-commit and handle it. Not juggle it. No, I would just pour all my energy into one thing at the expense of everything else and then catch up later. I was really good at that.
Except that now, the “everything else” includes living, breathing people . . . so my strategy doesn’t work as well.
Random Thought #2
I wonder if we’ll put the star on top of the tree this year? Every year we try, and it always sags and falls.
Three different stars, and it’s the same story every time. This year . . . we haven’t even tried. And the kids haven’t asked.
Which is kind of sad.
Random Thought #3
I’ve felt a little guilty for the past few days that we don’t have an Elf on the Shelf
But then, yesterday, my 6yo daughter came home and made her own Elf on the Shelf out of a Ken Doll and a green plastic lid. Then my 9yo drew one on paper and cut it out and those two proceeded to hide them over and over and over for more than two hours.
They had a blast, and I had a smug feeling that because I didn’t follow the crowd, my kids made their own insanely creative fun that will be a big childhood memory for them.
Even though it really wasn’t an issue of me not following the crowd. More of an issue of me not realizing it was already December and again too late to get started.
Maybe next year . . .
And oh yes, that Elf on the Shelf link is totally an Amazon affiliate link. Not that I think you’ll order one of those since it’s a little late to get started . . . but maybe if you click over there to see what in the world it is, you’ll remember that you need to order your kid’s xbox and I’ll get the commission for that!
AHAHAHAHAHAHA! I LOVE that your daughter created her own Elf on a Shelf with a Ken doll! That is genius and so very creative!! 🙂
I hate when posts get eaten up by the internet. It’s always hard to recreate the brilliance that had transpired. 😉
I’ve had the same sagging star issue on our tree – I end up zip-tying some top branches together to make the tippy top a little more stable. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it just looks dorky. 😉
Sometimes I wish I could turn the clock back 20 years – but have everything exactly the same as it is right now. You know, so I could juggle more effectively with more energy, and have an extra 20 years to enjoy what I’m enjoying now. 😉
It was so awesome to meet you last week, Nona! Thanks for playing along today! 🙂
Chicago Fire’s Fake Plane Crash, Christmas Shopping, Lego Minecraft Shortage, Pony Fun, Unconventional Cards – RTT Rebel
Love this post! I too have people who just continue needing to eat, wash, etc. every day.
In the middle of prepping for a school program, a cub scouts program, fold laundry, start dinner in the crockpot, iron a shirt that I realized is now too small…so off to the store again. I’m really not complaining, but wow… nope, one more thing today isn’t going to happen : )
Oh..and I think the Elf on the Shelf is a little creepy. I really thought about getting one, thinking what fun it could be for the kids. Then I thought about our usual evening, and decided that one more thing to do before bed might make me loony. Maybe next year….
The elf on the shelf is really creepy. I have boys and it’s all we can do to keep up with the countdown calendar where the boys move the star each day. And my oldest is kind of too old to buy into the “magic” of the elf.
I was a much better multitasker when I was younger, I could remember everything I was keeping up with then. Now I forget half of it while I’m doing the other half.
Strange enough, I could read your yesterday’s post in my RSS feed 🙂
LE – strangely
Our angel has never fit on our tree (it’s fake and i love it!), so we tie a dowel to the trunk near the top so that it sticks up, and put the angel on that. Works great! 🙂
I love that your kiddos were creative about the elf! Also why not do something besides the star? We do a beautiful ribbon bow that has four long sides to hang around the tree. I love it! The ribbon says Ho Ho Ho all over it. Just an idea. 🙂
I don’t like the Elf on the Shelf.
If I would ever get my act together and find the Christmas stuff before the 20th of December, I would do what another Mom I know does. She puts out the nativity scene with the manger empty, because baby Jesus doesn’t show up until Dec 25. Every day, she has the shepherds and the three kings move a little closer to the stable, with the Kings showing up on Jan 6 for Epiphany.
Puts the focus more on the reason versus the “I’m watching you!” mentality.
The growing tip of the tree is too weak to hold the star or angel in our case, so we cut the top 10 or 12 inches off. Then we put on the topper that my darling daughter made when she was 5 years old. It was a kit with a styrofoam form and already cut out felt dress, yarn hair and glue on eyes, mouth and rosy cheeks. She got impatient to finish before she was quite done, so she slapped on the rosy cheeks a little askew and the mouth almost vertical. It’s still that way, and her father and I have a tradition that we always position our mouths just so as we place the angel on top. BTW that daughter is none other than Nony.
Awwwww 🙂 ur nony’s mama! 🙂
I remember that sagging star problem, and if you have a cat in the house, the star isn’t even the worst problem. I cured it with a plant hook screwed into the ceiling and some fishing line tied between the top branch and the hook. No more sagging star, no more tipping over tree.
We have too much crap to fight to be buyinhg silly shelf elfs (ready “Chotscky” on how bad it is and I agree) – your kids’ reaction was just perfect – if you really want something like that, make a temporary one that won’t have to be decluttered eventually. Good for them. And you are right on target – the older we get the more important it is to simplify because we just can’t keep all those balls in the air anymore.
Whoops – too many typos – ‘buying’, ‘read’. Sorry!
I love that your kids played ‘Elf on a Shelf’. I know my girls played Easter Bunny one year hiding all the plastic eggs over and over again!
I’m not a fan of elf on the shelf either, because why would I deliberately make a mess for no other reason than to clean it up! But my 10 year old daughter was insistent. She bought it with her own money, plus some extra clothes, named her Dancer, and we said that Dancer came to life in Advent to help us learn more about Jesus/become more like Jesus. Dancer wrote her a letter every day, moved positions – sometimes she had a favourite carol opened on the piano, sometimes the Bible at a specific passage, etc. So the songs were sung and the Bible read, prayers said, sponsored children written to and nice things done. Sundays were days of rest, and Dancer was always found in bed! My daughter was also allowed/encouraged to take Dancer out with her so she could see what was going on. Obviously she knew it wasn’t real, but it was a lovely chance to share songs, Bible readings, and focus a bit more on other people than ourselves. We did that for 2 years before she got too old, but she kept all the letters.