Whew...

Elections are over and what's done, is done. I'm just glad that other important things can occupy my thoughts (until the end of January at least). No more Obama-infomercials and I think it is safe to say that the word "maverick" will be out of circulation...those two things alone are cause for celebration.

Now I can think on things more pressing. Things like Christmas.

We have decided to scale gift giving way back this year. When I first started thinking about revising our 10-15 gifts per child tradition, I was in the midst of cleaning out the cubbies in the playroom. I had stumbled across two Christmas gifts still in their packaging. Two gifts that were stuffed into the darkest corner of the entertainment center and promptly forgotten. This was towards the end of March.

As I carried the toys to the laundry room and stacked them in with the other Goodwill donations, I had the fleeting thought "next Christmas will be different, obviously they don't need all of this stuff". I didn't think about it too long though, it was March after all.

Then came June. Cammie turned 5 in June. All that she could think of for her birthday present wish list was a new bike and Webkinz.

July followed with Sophie's 8th birthday. Again, a new bike and Webkinz were the only things on her list.

Hannah turned 11 in August. She hadn't outgrown her bike and so the only thing on her list were more Webkinz. After a few weeks of prodding, she said that "she guessed she could use a new purse".

In September, I began asking everyone what they wanted for Christmas. None of the girls could think of anything.

So, this year they will all be receiving 3 gifts each... two from Mark and I and one from Santa. I was expecting some protest from the kids just on principle. Instead they said "okay, we don't really need anything anyway". And, that seems to be holding true.

Forrest has two things on his list...a new skateboard deck and a PS3 game. Chloe and Sophie want an American Girl doll and Webkinz and Cammie would like a Gamboy and Webkinz. Hannah wants Webkinz and "maybe something else". They realize that they have enough and that amazes me.

Mark is still not convinced that I can hold to the 3 gift limit...but I just can't buy them toys just for the sake of spending money. I'll let you know how it turns out.