It has been a long, long Fall! With winter right around the corner (well, tomorrow anyway) and snow covering the ground, it definitely feels like Christmas, or Yule, or Kwanzaa, or Hanukah, or Ramadan, or whatever you're celebrating this year. I will not go on a rant about the pathetic state we are in by trying to remain politically correct over the winter months. I am not even certain if the term PC really counts regarding this time of year. Anyway, I have some tips and recommendations for getting through in one piece with a boatload of children.
- Cut back on the amount of money spent on each child. Yes, I know that is obvious in the tumultuous economic times we are in, but do people really follow this rule? Can you say you have honestly cut back? I can't! I think I run through the holiday season blind, refusing to look at my bank statement, figuring I will clean it all up in January. Where does this leave me? Hyperventilating after all of the tinsel and wrappings have been thrown away. I promised myself that this year, I would get on top of holiday spending. And it is difficult in my household where three of the six children celebrate their birthdays in December. So, what did I do? I created a Christmas Club (now, that's not PC, is it?) at my bank and made a budget and then promptly blew it around November 15th.
- Skip online shopping. Now, forget about PC, this is environmentally disastrous. Trucks are flooding the streets this time of year with packages galore for each household full of children. I love online shopping because I can take Sam & Theo without worrying about a S.W.A.T. team being called in to negotiate Sam off of the rocket display and to pull Theo out of the ball bin. Unfortunately, online shopping means more money spent because of shipping and handling on top of taxes and actually being able to shop. When I am forced to go into a store, I have two options, fill my cart quickly and impulse buy or go in with a list and buy only that. I have tried both tactics and must say, the latter saves money, the former is more fun. Who knew why I needed that hot pink argyle table cloth that Sam added to the cart when I was not looking. It is mystery shopping at its best. So, yes, I prefer online shopping except when it goes awry.
For example: my favorite place to shop online is Amazon.com because of the price comparisons and all the different vendors. I would like to say shopping there has always been a pleasure and for the most part, it has. Amazon has wonderful customer service and I feel as though my purchases are protected and they are always polite and quick to ship even with the super saver shipping (my favorite thing about the site!). I usually do not venture out to the marketplace because I am timid. This year however, Sammy wanted a rocket for his birthday. Well, I don't know if a three year-old really knows what he wants specifically, but he likes rockets. So determined to find one, I scoped out the internet after realizing I couldn't find one for his age group at any local store. Oh Toy had just the thing. It was red (his favorite color) and came with an alien (everyone in our house likes aliens. Come on, I almost tattooed "The Truth is Out There" back when Duchoveny and Anderson were making big bucks on the X-Files. Thank the gods, I came to my senses. I wonder if everyone should have to be broke when they have a tattoo idea for at least six or seven month).
Oh Toy also had a little wooden tool set that I thought Sam would appreciate and perhaps this toy would distract him from Drew's real tools. Since Amazon.com itself did not carry the toy, I ordered it on November 18th. Ten days later, I received an email from Amazon stating that the item had not shipped within the designated timeframe and I should probably contact the seller by replying to the email from Amazon. So, I did that. It was November 28th by this time, and figured there would still be a chance it would arrive. I wanted it by the 6th of December.
Oh Toy did not respond to my email. I was busy busy busy over those weeks with Deirdre's performance in Portland Ballet's The Victorian Nutcracker. In between rehearsals, Thanksgiving, and my grandmother passing, I kept checking my emails and there was no response from Oh Toy. I emailed them again after Thanksgiving inquiring whether or not the toys would arrive by December 6th and still received no response.
I began to get nervous when I noticed the negative feedback showing up on their page for failed order fulfillment and lack of communication. Finally, I could wait no longer and canceled the order. I left negative feedback regarding my experience and luckily I did find another vendor on Amazon.com, Grim Reapers! And the rocket arrive within days.
And then the unthinkable happened, a box from Oh Toy arrived, shipped the 5th of December. I emailed the business and requested a return label. I was promptly answered with instructions to view the return policy at the website. Irritated that there was a 15% restocking fee, I called Oh Toy to discuss my dissatisfaction as a customer and was told that the manager would have to make the determination whether or not to allow me to return the items. Then I received an email demanding that I remove the negative feedback before Oh Toy would send me a return label. Of course, I am a feisty Aries and this set me on edge. I refused to remove the feedback because it was true and suggested that Oh! Toy send me a return label via email or that I would be forced to take it up with Amazon.com. I never heard another thing from Oh Toy.
In the end, I did report the incident to Amazon.com, who did refund my money. That is one of many reasons why I do so much business with them.
Yes, I could have bought a rocket near my home and saved myself a whole lot of headache. Now, I must persuade our local toy store to sell toys that my kids want. Sammy wants to be a spaceman. Or has Camille says, "Sammy is already a little Ass – tranaut".
- Go away. Yes, you, go away, stop reading my blog. Leave me alone!. No, no, I mean take the family and get the hell out of Dodge. We were forced to do this due to Deirdre's commitment to the Victorian Nutcracker. See, she had performances in Portland, Lewiston, and North Conway, NH. We decided to book a room at Purity Springs Resort in Madison, NH for those performances in North Conway. It was one of the best decisions we have made. It was a pristine setting against a snow covered forest and frozen water. We were forced to do the unthinkable, INTERACT with each other from teenager to toddler. And it was great. Well, for everyone but maybe Dee, because she was working. But, I think she enjoyed the pool and breakfast buffet.
- Make decorations for the tree. This was Camille's idea. She wanted a Victorian Christmas Tree like Samantha from American Girls. She likes Victorian and gothic things. I do not have any idea if that will still be trendy when she's a teenager. But, she planned our tree from paper fans, glittered pinecones, and beaded ornaments all in burgundy and gold. It is breathtaking, the quarter of it that is finished that is! I popped corn kernals, grabbed a bag of cranberries and sat down next to Sammy thinking I would have a meditative experience while Theo napped. Hah! Sam wrapped thread around his arm and leg until he cut of the circulation and looked like a giant popcorn ball while I yelled at him that he was ruining my trip down memory lane and then I remembered how much I hated stringing popcorn and cranberries when I was growing up! I have noticed over the years, my mother strings her tree with wooden cranberries. Wise woman.
- Ignore unpleasantness. When someone leaves a nasty message on your answering machine because you were out with five children doing Christmassy things like grocery shopping, dance lessons, Nutcracker rehearsals, finishing up your final week for one school of classes and preparing vacation for the other, cleaning, decorating, baking, cooking, nursing, do not, I repeat, do not respond. Do not call the person back, do not rise up to their bait. You will regret it, especially if you have to see this person at a holiday gathering!
- And finally, do what you can to create memories for your children. Bake cookies, even if this means making dough that sits for days or buying premade dough. Kids love cutting out cookies. Play in the snow, even if means making a snow angels with the three year-old, while the one year-old stands in the middle of the yard crying because he can't walk in his boots (at least, I think that was what was bothering Theo). Or just hang out and watch Dr. Seuss's "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". It can't get any better than that.
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