Do I Really Have To Buy My Kids MORE Toys For Christmas?

I never used to get too frazzled about Christmas or the preparation involved, but today for the first time, I started to feel the fear; the anxiety of not finding the right gift for a loved one, the frettings about what to get the boy's teachers without spending M's college fund, trying to navigate the busy stores (and parking lots) only to find that what I had been looking for was sold out, of course not to mention all of the crabby shoppers and crazy drivers. I think I will start my Christmas shopping earlier next year - like around Chris' birthday. This experience reminds me of how I never really worried about studying for tests until I got to college and then all of a sudden I found myself cramming the night before the exam - only to discover that one night wasn't enough time to learn everything I needed to know. It took me eight years of college to finally figure out that you need to do a little bit every night - and I think I am going to have to start viewing Christmas preparation in the same way. I am going to have to spend at least four hours per day for the next ten days to get everything done. Good luck to me. Now you will know why your Christmas card arrives after Christmas or your present looks like a three year old wrapped it (because a three year old probably did get told to wrap it).
Speaking of child labor, Chris and I spent the evening with the boys clearing out the toy mess and have instituted a draconian toy policy; each boy gets ONE toy box and they can cram as many toys as they can into it. When they get new toys (Christmas, birthdays, or by the grace of Chris' generosity) they can choose to take old ones out to make room for the new ones or they can save them for later and place them in the boxes in the garage. That way, everything in storage in the garage becomes new again after a few weeks of being out of sight AND we will be able to actually live in our house rather than only using it as toy storage. Won't that be nice?
Little T spent the day perfecting his stomach crawl. He is getting faster and more mobile by the hour and I fully expect him to start crawling very soon. It's really fun to watch! He also spent about 20 minutes talking to the baby in the mirror on our entertainment center. He thought that was a pretty handsome little guy and had quite a conversation with him.
E is feeling better today - we knew it right away in the morning when he crawled up in bed with us (as I kept my distance) and asked for "purple hereal (cereal)". We knew he felt better for sure when he started picking on M after breakfast - he's my little instigator - causing an all out pillow fight.
M spent the morning "helping" Chris and Grandpa Randy fix the car and the afternoon making a huge mess with his toys - but he actually did help us organize and put them all away. Goodbye toy mess!