7 days in a week

Cracking my mind over the perfect Christmas gift for a 13 year old cousin, I was thinking about my own childhood and how things have changed over the years. Kids no longer play Twister on the floor in the kitchen or stick their tongue between their teeth while making their best drawing ever in their Moleskine sketchbook. Contemporary children look at you in a very strange way if you give them a CD or knitted gloves for those cold winter days. Times have changed and so have the presents. It's not real easy to make a child happy if you don't want to buy them the 34th playstation game or give them an envelope with paper money (I hate money envelopes - nothing personal about giving money). But then what do you give them?

Do you remember the panties, printed with the days of the week? There were 7 of them..  (this child probably lost one.. what a tragic moment). Each one had a different color and image and of course every single one said what day of the week you had to wear it. I loved those panties! They were awesome! I remember my set of Holly Hobby underwear and how difficult the day started if I couldn't find the matching pair of knickers. You just couldn't wear your Thursday panties on a Monday! That was simply not done. The knickers would come in a plastic see through package, with a snap button in the middle. You could see all knickers were sitting next to each other, showing the days in the exact order. I'm pretty sure my sister had a similar package of knickers, probably with other images. I don't recall this kind of underwear existed for boys? I could be wrong though..

Anyway, back to the subject.. I still haven't found the perfect present for the 13 yo old, let stand the 12 yo boy. I know they would rather have money, but hey, I'm not giving in! I will find that one present they have been longing for (without being aware of that craving). Maybe I need to do some shopping tomorrow. I don't mind you helping out though..

It's so not me

Why are so many people so in to Christmas? I can't wait for the holiday season to be over. I really don't like December. It's a dark and cold month and there is too much fake activity going on. People are too friendly to each other this time of the year. More friendly than they would be in March or September. Why? Because it is expected of them? Because they want to belong to a group of other Christmas lovers? I don't know.. I guess I don't get it.

First there is the inevitable Christmas tree.. You just have to have a Christmas tree. Preferably the real thing. The kind that has needles that poke you, that get stuck in the carpet. Okay, real trees bring a nice smell to the house, that's correct, but that scent doesn't last long. Yes, fake trees can be real ugly, but there are real nice ones too. We have had too many pines in the house, that ended up in the backyard. Hubby would dig a hole in the backyard to put in the tree, once January appeared on the calendar (thank you!). The idea was, to use that same tree year after year (which we obviously never did..). Hubby wasn't very happy when he heard I mulched his Christmas trees, one by one (and yes, I truly enjoyed that! - evil me). So for a couple of years now, we have a real, fake tree!

Let's talk Christmas decoration. Where did we put it? What did the tree look like last year? Can we decorate it in the same way or should we get brandnew decoration? I prefer the last (just because I like to shop and maybe because I'm too lazy to go find the Christmas decoration box). Black, ivory white. Some shiny, some with a matte finish. I like it. Even though I'm not a Christmas junkie, I like the decoration we bought..

Christmas lights. AAAaaargghhhh! Exactly! The pain of every household! Have you ever tried to unravel wound up Christmas lights? You can't! Period! No matter how well you store it, they always seem to get tangled in the box, waiting for you to open the lid and laugh at you! So we bought new lights last year. Led-lights, of course. They don't get tangled. I don't know why. And I don't expect any explanation or reason.

Presents. Of course I like presents! Hello??? Are you out of your mind? Why would I NOT like presents? Give me one good reason? Picking out the right presents, is difficult. It's a challenge too. I always run out of time and inspiration. I would love a basket full of small presents in front of the tree, but it's never the case. We shake the presents, listen to the sound they make, in a desperate attempt to find out what's hiding inside. I check our bank account, to see what shops have been visited. I blackmail the girls, to find out more. But mostly, Hubby spills the beans and before he knows, he blurs out what he got me..

I admit.. The Christmas tree looks wonderful this year. It looked wonderful last year. And the year before. It's not my merit. I didn't do anything but buy the decoration. So the credit is all the children's. Merry Christmas to all of you. Don't expect any Christmas cards, because I won't send any. I don't like Christmas, remember? Unless you send me a card first...

Photo Lana Joos