SURPRISE!?
Feb 4, 2009 Friendship, I Forgot to Tag, Random, Thoughts and Perceptions, Wicked Wisdoms
I am horrible at surprises. I do not do holiday’s of any kind that have to do with gift giving well. This would explain why I always wait til the last possible minute to purchase gifts. Not because I am a procrastinator, (I am) but because the longer it sits, wrapped and tucked away… The longer I think about what the gift-give-ee’s reaction will be when they receive it.
The thing about it is, I love giving gifts. Like, LOVE it. As much as possible, I try to give someone something thoughtful. But, I have to do it right when I think of it. Otherwise I forget, or get it and then like it so much that I keep it for myself. (shut up) Regardless, I simply need to get the gift and then go directly to the person and hand it over. The “I have a surprise for you” build-up is not how I get down.
Also, I am horrible at mailing things. I have bought people cards and magnets… weird shit like that that I have never mailed. I dont mail Christmas cards, or Bday Cards… usually anyway. The intent is there, I just do not do it. I guess being in the military for as long as I was burned me out on the mail system. When I was out to sea… I lived and breathed for mail call. Literally.
It was like a tiny explosion in my vagina when they would call “Mail Call” over the intercom. Did I run to get mail? You bet your sweet asses I did. Every. Fucking. Day. And when they would call it TWICE?! Ahfuck. Sweet Emotion.
My vagina just had a mini explosion at the memory recall of this.
I am bursting with excitement about a gift that I am soon going to be able to give. I have managed to keep it secret for a couple of weeks now, but I am soon going to burst with excitement. Even after sharing it with someone special… I still want to shout it from the rooftops, sharing my excitement with the receiver (s) of the present. But I wont. It would ruin the moment. I think that if I did tell, it would be selfish. Me needing to share it would ruin their opportunity for the surprise factor. And just because I am not good at it doesn’t mean that they aren’t bad at being surprised.
*sigh*
Dont even ask me. I am serious. Just remind me that it will be better in this situation to just wait it out until it is time to give the gift.
Are you good at keeping those kind of secrets?
What about giving gifts?
Do you like to be surprised?
Have you ever ruined the surprise before? Was it on purpose or by accident?
Tags: gift, giving, mail call, secret, surprise, sweet emotion
Green Jello Surprise
Dec 25, 2008 Parenting, Random
Do you remember when you were a kid and you would wake up on Christmas morning and it was as if the tree vomited beautifully wrapped gifts out into the family room floor?
The immense buzz of not knowing exactly what is inside of each carefully wrapped present is indescribable.
I cannot remember a Christmas where I didn’t get at least 1 of my wishes sent in form of a Santa Letter. My grandparents did a great deal of the Santa’ing in our family being that we were financially strapped for most of my tweenage years. Regardless, I always remember being so grateful for what I received. It meant a lot that ‘Santa’ was listening, and in the long run, it meant that much more that Santa did not always come through with each and every want that I had.
As a kid I probably whined that I wanted this and that and only received this, but deep down I knew the reason why.
Life lessons are funny that way.
I look at the people in the world that have everything and for a split second I become a bowl of green jello, wishing that I could be them and have what they have. I imagine the things that I would do with the money in their checking accounts, and the balances on their American Express Cards… giving my kids the lavishest holidays imaginable.
Only for that split second though because the Today’s happen. The genuine gratitude from an 8 year old is something that I wish I could bottle up and prescribe to every single ungrateful snob I know. (I know too many ungrateful fucking snobs, I swear) Xavier did not get a single thing on his list because we 1) couldn’t afford it or 2) couldn’t find it and he was still absolutely elated. He beamed and hugged and thanked us for giving him the ‘best Christmas yet’. He got an Mp3 player with 200 songs already loaded on it, and he hasn’t taken the earbuds out of his ear all day.
That brings me back down from my envious pedestal in the clouds to certain reality. My kids are grounded. They don’t need extravagance. And I do not want to give it to them. I want them to remember Christmas as more than presents. I want them to give more than they receive. Because, that is what the holiday season is about to me. Even if that gift is as small as a compliment or sharing a special recipe or memory with someone who needs a smile. I constantly remind X about the feeling of good that comes with helping out someone less fortunate than we are. We have been the less fortunate before, and because of others believing in the spirit of giving we were able to get through some of the toughest times of our lives.
I hope that because of these moments, he will remain well rounded and appreciative of our firm stance on what we believe to be important.
I had a great Christmas. A relaxed day of great food and family. Being that D and I already spent our gift money on our date, there wasn’t much for us to open. To be honest, this is the first year that it truly did not matter to me. Call me all growed up, but all of the Christmas’s before… I really wanted something special for me under the tree.
Little did I know, there actually was something special. *grin*
I got a Flute for Christmas. An immaculate flute that has barely even ever been touched by the previous owner. I think I maybe mentioned it one time….. that I would love it to have the ability to play again… and there it was, under my tree. For me.
Maybe one day my CharliBear will take after her band geek mommy and I can pass it down to her. Until then, I will be practicing. I might even let those close to me hear me play again.
I am off to give D his belated Christmas present. A blow-job. Wrapped with a pretty pink lipgloss bow. 
What did you do for Christmas this year?
Did you have anything under the tree from Santa? (I dont want to hear ‘nothing special’ either.)
What charity do you most support? If you could do one thing for that charity, money and time being no object… what would that be? *Be creative peeps. *
Tags: band geek, elaborate affair, flute, green jello, immaculate, morals, mp3 player, music, Parenting, surprise
2-Mommy, 0-Sneaky Kid
Sep 9, 2008 Parenting
I love being a parent. I really love watching my kids learn and grow to be these functioning members of society. To know that because of my guidance, my kids will make the right decisions most of the time is beyond rewarding. But with any job, the added perks make it that much more rewarding to put forth the 110% effort into.
Wait, what?? There are added perks to parenting? Of course there are! Any seasoned parent knows that beyond the reward of your child’s successes comes the perk of catching them in the act of something sneaky. Bottom line, children are intelligent little shits. They, just like most of us adults, revel in pulling something off.
Even the littlest defeat is a win for the child. Unless, they are caught off guard.
*insert doom-filled parent music*
Case-In-Point:
Rewind to yesterday. Mommy (me) had to take the day off to car shop because of the stolen vehicle incident left over from the weekend. It took longer than anticipated to get our asses out of the house (thanks Charli) so Mommy and Dad decided to go and surprise Xavier at school to get him out a couple of hours early. That way we didnt have to risk him being home alone if we were not finished as quickly as we would have liked.
So we roll into the office and have him sent down from class. The first thing I noticed was the fact that he was not wearing the brand new Nike’s that Dad had bought for him for his birthday. He was wearing some random pair of Jordans that didn’t even match with what he was wearing.
Me: “Who’s shoes are those?”
X: “Anthony’s.” (his best friend)
Me: “Oooooh. You are so busted.”
X: “Are you gonna tell dad?”
Me: “No. You are.”
X: “But, Uh, I trust Anthony to take care of my shoes so we traded.”
Me: “Save it for Dad.”
We head out to the truck with X’s head low and my smile beaming. I was stoked to have caught his ass in the act; totally off guard and just plain busted. I could see his brain moving, trying to come up with the best reason possible to have needed to trade his new shoes for his friends. Little did he know that his excuses didnt matter. His plan to switch shoes on the bus, and act like nothing ever happened was spoiled. Even better was the fact that his partner in crime had no idea that X was gone for the day. So not only was Xavier busted, but I was almost positive that his parents would not appreciate this sneaky shoe trade plan either.
Obviously, the very first thing D noticed was the shoes. All X could muster as an explination was that he “trusted” his friend to take care of them. D interrogated and grilled like he always does, sending X deeper and deeper into the hole he dug with his excuses. Finally, after an “I’m disappointed in you” comment from his dad, he just put the verbal shovel down and gave in to his being wrong. (and, being just like his mother, I am positive it was one of the most difficult things he ever had to do.) I can only imagine how his bff felt when he was frantically looking for X at the bus stop, attempting to trade back shoes before he had to go home as previously planned.
And, just as I predicted, we received a knock on the door shortly after we got home. BFF’s mom was just as pleased as we were to see her kid wearing someone elses shoes. He didn’t have time to react either, being that she was home to greet him at the door to his surprise.
2- Mommy, 0-Sneaky boys.
It is these small victories that make being a parent so worth every minute.
Are you a parent? Do you have any of these little triumphant victories to share?
Do you remember being a kid, and being totally busted by your parent like this? Share those too!
Tags: best friends, excuses, kids, lies, mom and dad, Nike's, plans, surprise
