The more the days go by, the more we are inundated with all things Christmas.  The radio stations, the decor in the stores, the commercials — ugh, the commercials!  We are trying to keep things low-key around here, but it’s been a challenge.  If the girls had their way, our house would be top to bottom holiday paraphernalia, lights and music, with fake Santa feet sticking out of the chimney top AND bottom.

I pulled out our few little holiday decor items.  We’ve got a countdown calendar, as well as a trio of snowmen and nutcrackers hanging out on the mantel.  There’s a snowman bowl on the kitchen table, a Happy Holidays cookie jar (minus the cookies, sadly), and a pair of well wishing country snowmen on the mail table. Notice a pattern here? As a newlywed,  I was all about starting a collection of snowmen decor for my future family home.  A few years went by and my enthusiasm melted along with the seasonal precipitation.  I hung onto a few pieces, but never really got back into it the way I had in the beginning.  Once the children arrived, I found myself moving things out of reach or corralling things off from grabby hands.  The idea of decorating around that lost its appeal.  I put up a wreath on the front door, individual candle lights in all of the windows, and called it good.

I do holiday cards. I made (yes, made and this is BEFORE Pintrest) a Santa countdown calendar out of grocery bags and cotton balls.  Every year, we dance around the house to “All I Want For Chirstmas Is You” by Mariah Carey and we make Christmas cookies.  Some times we decorate the tree while drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn. Sometimes I do it all by myself. I’m consistently inconsistent with what we choose to do from one year to the next, but at least we do something.

This year, we are hosting a little get together for one of the playgroups to which the children belong.  Would you belive I found a Black Santa to come to the house and visit with the children? I know! Submit my paperwork for Mother of the Year, please.  I’m confident that this Santa is going to be head and shoulders over the 2010 Black Santa/Puppet show.

The girls have been working on their Christmas lists.  It’s funny to see the evolution of their penmanship and their desires over the course of the years.  M is direct and to the point, no messing around.

 Yes, that says a $100 iTunes giftcard.  I’m surprised about the Barbies and the Bride and Groom doll.  Last week, she was all about Monster High and My Little Pony Equestria Girls.  There’s also the extensive book wishlist she came up with the last time we were at Barnes and Noble. Funny, that’s not on the list.

As for C. . .she cracks me up.

A box of chocolates (Ok, Forest Gump.), $100 iTune gift card, a violin and a silk dress with a robe to go with it.  I’m thinking that last one is a peignoir or something. She had been in my mom’s dresser the last time we visited and came out wearing a satin dressing gown looking like Madame Butterfly.  Well, we’ll see what happens. Oh, and I almost forgot. She keeps asking for a mystery gift, but won’t say exactly what that is.  She just wants another gift that isn’t on the list.  That leaves it open to interpretation, but I’m guessing she’s thinking of something that lights up, beeps, or requires batteries as opposed to, say, new underwear or socks.

And V? She’ll get some clothes, some books, but really? I’ve forgotten what kinds of things you  buy for almost 2 year olds.  Given that she has two older sisters and access to their stuff, she really isn’t into the Leapfrog Learning Table or the Peek-A-Blocks that would be my go-to items for her. 

I don’t want to totally go overboard with toys and games and stuff whose novelty will wear off before the wrapping paper hits the garbage can.  However, I don’t want anyone to be disappointed on Christmas Day.  I’ve got that all Angel and Devil thing going on — on the one hand, let’s remember the reason for the season. On the other hand, I want to give my kids great memories of Christmas morning.  That’s not to say the two are mutually exclusive, but you know what I mean.  I feel like Kronk — and if you don’t know this movie, we’re going to have to break up until you watch it.

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I’ve got about two weeks before I toss in the towel.  I’ve already selected the gifts for our Angel Tree recipients and that liked to kill me!  I don’t know why it was so hard picking something out from a list that practically spelled out what the kids wanted.  Again, I didn’t want any disappoint on Christmas.  The Hubs and I are going to exchange gifts this year, too.  We’re keeping it small and putting a cap on the amount we can spend. He gave me a few ideas and I’m trying to cull my Amazon wishlist into something reasonable. What I need is for him to put a parental control on my computer so that I’ll stop fooling around with BuzzFeed, Twitter, Tumblr, Gawker, Jezebel, Refinery529, Celebitchy and everything else that keeps me from writing.  I’ll put that on the list, along with a nap, and a Chipotle gift card and it could be a very Merry Christmas Indeed.