The Christmas crowds

It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but walking through the aisles of any supermarket, I am alerted to Christmas’ near presence by the abundance of displays filled with Santa Claus, advent calendars, stockings, and tree ornaments.  Alright, most people aren’t expats, so they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving over here anyway.  But I’m sure even over there in the U.S., aisles are filled with Christmas stuff.  And Thanksgiving stuff.  And probably bargain priced Halloween stuff that didn’t sell out in time.

Daniel and Hannah on Christmas morning last year.

Last year I left my Christmas shopping until the last minute and had to go out two days before Christmas and brave the crazy Christmas shopping drivers.  Seriously, stuff gets wild that close to Christmas.

This year, I have a new plan.  I’m going to shop online – starting at Quicksales.  I’ve already ordered some of Daniel’s beloved Thomas the Tank engine characters.  That way, I don’t have to take the kids shopping with me, ruining their surprise on Christmas morning, I don’t have to buy everything all at once (which is good for the budget, obviously), and I don’t deal with crazy Christmas drivers.

For their main present, the kids (and I…) are getting a puppy. I’ve researched the best breeds for kids, and I’m getting very excited.  I grew up surrounded by animals, so it seems natural to me.  We were thinking about getting a cat, but settled on a small dog because they are less likely to scratch and bite when you pull their tail or annoy them.  Kind of important when you have a two year old and a four year old.  Even puppies I can shop for online (crazy, right? But breeders have websites, and since we want a particular kind of dog, that’s the way to go), from the comfort of my own home, while the kids are sleeping and won’t have any idea what their present will be.

I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when they come out of their room on Christmas morning and see a puppy with a bow tied around her collar.  This is the first year that Daniel is old enough to understand what’s going on at Christmas time, so I’m even more excited about Christmas this year. Plus this is the first year we will be waking up to Christmas morning in our own house. Hannah is going to be so excited about the puppy, but I wonder which Daniel will be more excited about, the puppy, or more Thomas trains.  He does love Thomas trains….

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What to get your young one this Christmas

I’m struggling with this very concept right now. Not for Hannah, I know what we’re getting Hannah for Christmas, but we don’t know what to get for Daniel. I’ll just have to read this weeks guest post:

With so many new toys on the market with so many different designs it’s hard to know
exactly what to look for this Christmas. Try to consider what kind of personality your child has; are
they sporty, love learning, or do they love the latest toys?

The Classics:

Going with the tried and tested winners is always a safe bet. Some of the great classic gifts
are the ball and catcher’s mitt, toy cars or western style toy guns for boys. Classic girl toys are dress
up dolls, butterfly wings, and princess dress ups. Action figurines are great; it’s just working out who
their favourite characters are that’s the hard part. Lego is one of the most popular toys ever created.
Lego blocks are a simple idea, but in the right hands can become a source of endless entertainment.
For those unfamiliar with Lego, you simply fit together different size blocks to create whatever you
want. The only downside of Lego is the mess. You do NOT want to step on a rogue Lego block on the
carpet; TRUST ME. It hurts! Lego and other creative toys can help your child’s mind to grow by
helping to build their creativity and thinking skills.

The New:

Technology is at the forefront of the latest toys. There are plenty of new games for console
games like X-Box and Nintendo, as well as plenty of other new software. One of the most popular
computer games is Minecraft (note from Sheri: This game is not just for kids, Aaron and I play it a lot! We love it!). This game allows the child to build their own city and create all kinds of fun and exciting places, while battling away skeletons and zombies. This game has recently been released on X-Box, and has become even more popular. If your kid loves computer games, and loves
to create; this game might be for them. More great toys can be found at oo.com.au.

The latest and greatest toys don’t always have to have the newest hi-tech gizmos inside them. Some
of the newest crazes take the classics and put a different spin on them. Action figures like Ben 10
are very popular with children, particularly boys, following the success of the TV show. These action
figures often come with matching watches so kids can play along too.

*This post was written and sponsored by oo.com.au

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

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Copyright 2012 Sheri Thomson

Braving the crazy Christmas shoppers

Why is it that at Christmas time, everyone seems to forget how to drive?  Or maybe it’s just that those people who don’t usually get out and about haul themselves out of bed to go in search of the perfect Christmas present/Christmas food supplies.  You know the ones, they have their licences, but they pretty much suck at driving because they hardly ever do it.  Either way, people are crazy.  Crazy I tell you.

There are lines to get in parking lots.  Then once I get there, I can’t actually go anywhere because the cars going the other way don’t get that the aisles between parking rows are actually 2 way streets.  They seem to think it’s perfectly ok to drive right down the middle of the lane/aisle/road/street/whatever you call it in a parking lot.  I finally get to the end of the aisle, ready to turn left and go to the next aisle when another stupid car with an equally obnoxious driver decides that it would be awesome to turn down the aisle I am about to exit, but instead of turning into the left lane as they should in this country, they decide to cut the corner and turn into my lane.  The cars in front of obnoxious car are still waiting in the aisle as traffic is appalling, so now no one can turn left, or even move because obnoxious car is blocking the whole lane.

All the crazies come out at Christmas time

There are no car parks anywhere, I’ve driven all over the over crowded parking lot full of useless drivers and didn’t find a single one.  I decide to high-tail it out of there as I didn’t want to go to that particular shop in the first place.  I only did to make YaYa happy.  I started turning left, to the final stretch of pavement that led to freedom.  But then one of those I-shouldn’t-actually-have-my-drivers-licence people going the other direction decided that he would move forward at the same time.  No worries right?  A 2-way road in a parking lot can accommodate cars travelling in both directions.  It can, but not when Christmas drivers are out.  This particular annoying man felt that he should take up his lane, and half of mine as well, because, well, let’s face it, driving in his own lane only is just a silly idea.

I couldn’t finish turning, so now I am blocking all traffic going the other way.  Fine, I’ll just wait until annoying man moves forward, (and hopefully, gets back in his own lane as he does so), then I’ll continue turning.  Annoying man rolled down the window on his hotted up blue Holden and glared at me.  GLARED at me.  Like it was my fault he can’t figure out how to stay in his own lane.  Wanker.