Various

The stress that is Christmas. Honestly I've never really become aquainted with holiday present stress until this year. We keep things really simple and low key for Christmas because too much sends J into orbit. So J asked for a toy horse, coloring book and a baby bottle. I've ordered the horse online and we had already given her a baby bottle for her birthday (she had written her letter to Santa before her birthday). I'll pick up a coloring book sometime when I can arrange for someone to stay with her. The problem is "my" gift. She has wanted a dollhouse for so long even though she didn't put it on her list to Santa because she knew it was expensive. I wanted the dollhouse to be from me. Not Santa. I've been eyeballing a certain dollhouse for quite some time but never felt pushed to go ahead and buy it. I had saved the money to purchase it long before I became unemployed. Never occurred to me that they might be sold out. Bad decision.

Actually it's not the dollhouse that's the problem. It's everything that goes in it. Practically all the furniture is sold out. Dang. I was able to get the kitchen, living room and dining room. Everything else is gone. I found someone on Craig*s list that had tons of stuff for The Loving Family Dollhouse, that was used, but the timing didn't work out. I've surfed everywhere and can't find anymore stuff that's reasonable. Normally furniture for a room goes for around $12.00 for this particular dollhouse but the only ones I can find have scalping prices of $30-$50 a room. Ridiculous! I refuse to do that so I'm getting over my little fantasy of seeing her face when she realized her awesome mom bought her the coveted dollhouse. It's my own fault. I shouldn't have waited till the last minute. Dang it.

Moving on....if you don't have a copy of Brita St. Clair's book, 99 Ways to Drive Your Child Sane, and you have a radical kid, go buy it now. It's an excellent book and I've used tons of ideas out of it. Here's one to give you a taste: Say your kid loves to pee on the floor. Wait until they're safely out of site or asleep and sprinkle peas around the room. When the child is awake or home you "discover" the peas, get a bowl to collect them and show great delight over the child growing peas by peeing. "I knew this would happen one day if you just peed enough peas were sure to grow." Make sure you have peas for dinner (clean ones please) that night. The results can be hysterical. There are many gems in this book.

Therapy went really well today. J was able to show Kristy her "since she came home" photo album and was able to really process and articulate her feelings. I was very proud and J was too that she could "show" that she does have a good life, can smile and be genuinely happy.