The only clear option after yesterday’s hearty post, is to offer you up something light. Also known as rambles. Also known as me writing whatever comes to mind. Also known as a list.
** I bought Henry and Clara some Lil’ Critter’s Fruit and Veggie gummies at Trader Joes. They’re gummy bears covered in sugar. The recommended serving size for children is 2 gummies. I took that to mean that the adult size serving is 4 gummies, to which I’ve taken the recommended allowance every.single.day. The bottles’ have gone.
Or is it half full?? See. See what I did there. AHA!
** Another amazing Trader Joe’s buy? Sweet Potato Gnocchi! Sautéed with chicken and spinach, this was the perfect winter meal. Sprint to your nearest TJ’s and buy this stuff!
** It rained yesterday. So instead of piling clothes on the kids, running to the car, driving in the rain, running into the gym and being wet and mooshy, we stayed home and I did this workout.
I nabbed it off of this lady’s Pinterest page and subbed in 10 pushups between each exercise. Made for a pretty good workout. Try it.
** Because I can’t leave well enough alone, around noon, when I grew tired of playing Henry in Dr. Seuss matching game (he lets me win), I piled clothes on the kids, ran to the car, drove in the rain and dumped them on Travis’ sister.
Then I ran 3 miles outside in the rain. Time – 23:18. It was wonderful. And so worth the mooshiness.
** I have a confession. We don’t do Santa.
PLEASE LISTEN CAREFULLY – I don’t judge anyone who does. I even get the whole “growing your imagination” thing.
You see – Henry draws “up-ta-saurs” on his coloring paper and tells me that this is the boy “up-to-saur” and not the girl one. I actually think our imaginations might need to be reigned in a little.
Don’t worry – my kids still get presents. We just don’t lie to them about where they came from. (can’t wait for the comments on this one.)
** The better acquainted I come with this blogging community, the more I know that I’m right where I’m supposed to be, doing what God has called me to do. To encourage. To offer advice. To share stories. To teach about fitness. I’m thankful to have “met” each and every one of you.
(Must try to redeem myself after dropping the “No Santa” bomb.)
** Chemicals wreak havoc on my digestion system. I haven’t drunk a Coke or Diet Coke in 2011. I also haven’t chewed gum. When you think about it, gum is a rubber ball that traps all of the teeny food particles in your mouth. Once trapped, you knead the rubber and particles and saliva together with your teeth. That’s just gross.
I don’t think I’ll have any gum in 2012 either.
** Two things that bother me about commenting on blogs (which BTW, THANK YOU for your comments yesterday!) –
1) When you leave a comment and then get every.single.other comment that is posted on that particular post.
2) When you leave a comment on a post and blogger responds, but you get no notification that they did so.
Wondering now, actually, if Lindsay’s List falls into either of those two categories. Hmmm…
** I think that’s enough Thursday rambling. Tomorrow is “Christmas Adam”. Which means there are only two night’s sleep until Santa comes CHRISTMAS!!
(now she’s just being ridiculous.)
**Wanna win a Gymboss timer?? Go enter my giveaway! Ends Friday night!**
QUESTION: Give me one of your Thursday rambles. Anything.
splendid…lindsay
No kids here yet, but my husband and I have talked a lot about Santa and what we want for our kids for Christmas. We’ve definitely settled on NO Santa because it detracts from the reason we celebrate Christmas. We’ll explain that St. Nick was a great man who gave gifts to others (and that’s a wonderful thing!) BUT we celebrate because God gave us the BEST gift of His son Jesus!
I read one bloggers perspective which said something along the lines of — why would we lie to our children about Santa and then years later explain it was all just pretend and then expect them to trust us 100% about God when we also can’t “see” Him. Really made me think!
YES! Me too! I just didn’t like the lying part! Or the distraction.
A couple of years ago my kids were being rotten.. little… brats… I know its hard to imagine but my husband got so mad at their lack of gratefulness that he yelled “And… Santa isn’t even REAL… who do YOU think buys you all the presents you get? US.. your mom and I that’s who!”.. it was one of those “omg… did you really just do that?” moments but yes he did.. somehow my kids still believe in Santa though. I love that you don’t do the whole Santa thing. I think that the spirit of Christmas has lost is true meaning at times. This year we have really tried to focus more on the giving, and Jesus with the kids!
Way to be out there with your views, and still open to everyone else’s. We need more discussions like this in the blogosphere.
AGREED! To be open, but still remain seated is a great thing.
We did Santa growing up, and I probably will when we have kids as well. I think it’s a lot of fun, but it’s also best to focus more on the reason for Christmas – the birth of Jesus.
agreed! And I did Santa as a kid too!
I love your rambling posts. They make my day and make me feel like we’re sitting around drinking coffee and chatting. :)
My random thoughts from this post: I chew way too much gum, you are DEFINITELY doing what God wants you to do, that Gnocchi is ridiculous, I need to try that 100 workout pronto (hope I can fit it in with the boys around), this community IS awesome (and so are you)! :) Hugs!
How awesome would it be if we COULD just have coffee and chat!!! One day!!
I explained my background on my blog today…I am Jewish but my mom isn’t so when we were kids Christmas literally just meant Santa to us and spending time with my mom’s family and cousins. I didn’t learn about Jesus until I was much older and actually learning the difference in actual religious beliefs.
I’m Jewish but I honestly can’t remember what my parents taught me about Santa. I don’t really remember going around telling my friends that he wasn’t real. I need to ask my parents what they told me about him.
i didn’t know you were Jewish! Happy Hannukkah! (hoping I spelled that right!)
Ugh, I think my nice long sweet comment went to spam. Again. After I just said, “let’s hope it doesn’t go to spam.” Your blog hates me! ;)
lol..I ALWAYS check my Spam folder, so you’ll never get lost forever. I DO think it’s pretty comical though. ;)
I freaking LOVE the 100 workout, but I did 10 burpees at the end instead of 10 min of running because I don’t run. :) Santa fan, over here. We did Santa when I was a kid and I’d totally do it if I had munchkins of my own. But I completely respect your decision not to! :) And I used to get notifications of your replies (as least I THINK I did, I may be crazy), but I went and checked yesterday’s post (thank’s for retrieving that out of spam!!), saw your reply there, but got no email. Bizarro. And here’s to hoping this one doesn’t go to spam. *crosses fingers*
We don’t have kids yet, but we aren’t planning to “do” Santa either. I think starting them young on Jesus is better in the long run.
AGREED!
We do the santa thing, but don’t go overboard with it. I think it’s something that each family decides to do and there is no judgment from me :)
EWWWW on the gum, I never thought about it like that.
YES! It is annoying when you don’t get an email if there is a reply to your comment :(
My ramble … the search button on pinterest is “temporarily down” not cool
pinterest down!! How will we waste time? ;)
Those two things that bother me about commenting bother me as well. Another bothersome issue: when I am first to comment on a “big” blog’s giveaway post (example: a PB Fingers giveaway a few months ago) and about 10 people enter as well by replying to my first comment instead of posting their own. LAZY and annoying email notifications!
I’m not judging you for the no Santa thing, everyone is entitled to their own opinion! I myself would definitely keep the Santa thing going with my kids, but at the same time if they started asking about his “realness”, I’d probably use that to tell me that it’s time to tell them the truth. I still remember the moment I found out – I was a late believer and was so upset!
I actually really love that you don’t “do” Santa with your kids…Though the ultimate purpose of Santa is to represent the kind and giving St. Nick, that definitely got lost in translation…Christmas isn’t about Santa or even getting a ton of gifts from him on Dec. 25th, and I think it’s fantastic that you’re focusing on teaching your children about the true meaning of Christmas because that’s where all the joy is at!
**for the record, I don’t get notices if/when you reply to my comments either, and now I’m really curious about what my own blog does…
hmmm…I’m going to have to change my email notification thing then! I usually always respond. grrr.
haha – love that little kitty!! :)
Christmas List Ramblings: I need a donut pan after seeing all of the holiday donuts being made in bloggy land…a new pair of running shoes would be great as well….Some sunshine and warm weather wouldn’t hurt — ya hear that, Santa!!!! ;) hehe
I’ll take some of that sunshine…its a rainy day here in NC!
that cracks me up about the gummy vitamins. my husband makes me buy the gummy vitamins or he won’t take vitamins. i tell ya, he’s just like a little kid. he justifies eating twice as many as the serving says because they’re for kids, just like you said you do. :) i’ve never had the particular kind you bought, but the ones i buy are pretty darn good.
I am going to sound stupid, but I guess I just assumed everyone “did” Santa. ha! I don’t think it matters either way though (We don’t have kids so I never really thought about it). What I do find funny is how tramadic the realization is when you find out he isn’t real! I am acutely aware of when I found all the presents in my grandparents basement with notes saying “from Santa” several days before Christmas….it rocked my little 8 year old world :) Either way, getting the family together is what really matters. happy holidays!
yes – the family bonding time is what matters!! Saying thanks to God for his many blessings!
They’re your lovely children, so you certainly don’t have to explain why you choose to do things the way that you do! What matters is love and magic, no matter where it comes from.
(From a first grade teacher’s perspective though…please do your kids’ future teachers a favour and tell them NOT to tell everyone else that Santa isn’t real. Because one year I had to field about a dozen phone calls from upset parents and explain that “I’m sorry Susie told Joe during recess – when I wasn’t even with the kids – that his parents were lying to him about Santa being real. And no, I can’t teach a lesson to the whole class saying that Santa really exists.” Ugh.)
re: comments, I like Intense Debate because it emails my responses to people, but for some reason I can’t get it to work on my new blog. So I respond to all comments, but I’m almost positive that no one actually goes back and sees them. I don’t sign up for comment notification on your blog, but I usually come back to see, since I know that you usually respond to comments. Merry (almost) Christmas!
lol…I’m going to homeschool so I think we’re safe. But we may have a problem with cousins and such.
Oooh…super interesting. I’ve always been interested in homeschooling. Although rumour has it that you have to have babies before you can actually homeschool them. Ha!
lol…you WILL! I’ve been praying for your womb. (that sounded weird, but it’s true!)
i get no comment reply notification from you! and yes, that’s the only reason i am commenting today. haha. sorry, i have been more of a reader lately :) love you.
So as I’m typing this now, it’s not being sent to your email address?? hmmm. dang.
I wish people would get emails when I reply to their comments but I remember reading on Averie’s blog that if you have “.wordpress” in your url you can’t get the plug in that sends people an email or something like that.
haha! This is a common topic today. I just left a comment on another blog about it. Peter and I had a BIG discussion about whether or not to do Santa. Basically, we compromised to do Santa with the kids because i love the anticipation and excitement of that part of holiday traditions. BUT we explain that Santa is simply a man wanting to show love and kindness to little children like Jesus did. he wants to live like Jesus, just as we all should. That’s the big overarching description of Santa. Plus, we make sure to talk more about Jesus and do regular Advent/Nativity readings and talks more than “be good because Santa is watching” crap. Lastly, the kids get just a couple gifts from santa and a couple from us and have to participate in charity giving through our church. So, there’s Santa but he’s just in the midst of everything else. I completely understand not doing it though. We’re actually the only ones in Peter’s family that do.
I think that that’s a wonderful compromise, Tina! And I like that you aren’t including the “Be good for Santa” thing! That’s a huge problem I have with it (and Elf on a Shelf).
Ugh! Hate Elf on the Shelf!
What the heck is Elf on a Shelf?
Elf on a Shelf is a behavior-improvement toy for Christmas. The thought is that the elf is watching over the kids and noticing if they do something bad and then it tells Santa. Freaky and scary.
Am I bad that I wish I had an elf on a shelf for my fifth graders? No? Yes?
lol…YES! Do they still believe in Santa in fifth grade?
Ahh, yeah…that sounds like a better classroom behavior tool than Christmas focus.
Ok, so I LOVE this idea! But I’m also struggling with it a bit. (I’m trying to decide what to do with my kids, so help me out!) If you tell them that Santa is full of love and just wants to be like Jesus, and then later they find out he’s not real, do you think that they will believe the same for Jesus? ahh I don’t know. lol
Good point…that’s why we just stay away from Santa. Proponents would say, “What’s the harm?”, but I say, “What’s the positive?”
I’m okay with Santa for little kids (and don’t judge those who don’t tell their kids about Santa ;)) but now that I’m in my late-twenties, I’m tired of my mother-in-law putting “From: Santa!” on all presents!!!!
I’d never considered not lying about Santa to my future kids, but it makes perfect sense! Maybe one day, but I’ll have to fight my mother-in-law I’m sure :)
I do just have to wonder if your little ones will end up telling all of their friends that he isn’t real?
And I stopped trying to subscribe to your comments below once it started giving three options (two of which say basically the same thing…notify me of follow-up comments by and via e-mail). It was just more confusing! And like Katie said, I don’t mind coming back to see what you said back to me!
I grew doing Santa- Travis didn’t. So I understand how it can make Christmas more magical. But we really want to be purposeful about how we teach Henry and Clara about Christmas. Santa really shouldn’t have a part. But like I said, I don’t judge anyone who does it!!
No Santa?! =) I get the not lying thing, but I just love Santa. I believed way past the “it’s okay to believe in Santa Claus” age, so I think that’s why. I’ll still be your friend, even if you don’t believe. But don’t blame me if you get a little cole in your stocking this year. ;)
I used to get emails when you responded to comments, but when I try now I get subscribed to comments. I think the comments plugins are crazy on blogs, way too confusing! :)
lol..where did the whole coal thing come from anyway?!?!
I totally appreciate people who don’t do the Santa thing. We have discussed this one many times and we explain to our son that Christmas is about Jesus and that Santa is based on Saint NIck and all of that, but it is hard when everyone around you keeps asking what Santa is bringing my son. We try not to make a big deal about it, but my hubby likes the excitement, so we sort of do both. We read him books that explain the real Christmas, we talk all about it a lot. I even ask him if Santa is real and then we let him enjoy it on Christmas morning if he wants. Weird a little but we find it is working right now. :-)
Guess what? My mom never had us believe in Santa either. She didn’t like the idea of lying to us about a fictitious character, and she worked so hard to provide for us (she was a single parent, by and large) and wanted us to know that she gave us those gifts, she worked hard for them and wanted to shower us with love during the holidays. And that’s how she did so. I totally agree with it and would love to go that route if we have kids one day..may have to work on the hubby though, he’s big into Santa so this might be a bit of a battle. ;-)
I don’t see any real HARM in doing Santa, unless you’re making him THE FOCUS! Which it sounds like you wouldn’t. Hope hubby comes around – thats what half of parenting is, meeting in the middle with your spouse.
I never did Santa growing up, either. My imagination is up and running just fine…thankyouverymuch.
Also, I don’t get emails about your responding to my comments, but maybe I should check one of those little boxes under the “post comment” button. That would probably solve it…but I have no problem coming back to your site and see what you say back to me. :-)
Love you.
We DID do Santa – Travis didn’t. My mom is coming around to the idea. We make Jesus a birthday cake instead!
I love that idea!