The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I'm sure you're all dying to know if my daughter got the whoopee cushion from Santa and the answer is YES. The best 88 cents I ever spent at Wal-Mart was the highlight of her day. She and her sister have figured out ways to slip it where we don't expect and erupt with laughter with every deflation.

So, for some reason, Mom in Progress and I ended up giving a pretty techno Christmas. In fact, it was a very remote control Christmas. When all was said and done, I took an inventory of the batteries we needed to buy before the big day and it went like this: 45 AAs, 24 AAAs, 10 9V, 4 Cs, 2 Ds. I know, it's scary.

What was even scarier was when we took the girls, the Thursday before Christmas, to see Santa. We had prepared the lists and had been over it a thousand times -- Skylar was going to ask for the two-wheeled Barbie scooter and Fiona was going to ask for the Shimmering Lights Ariel and Carriage. And what to our wondering ears did we hear but both of them ask for the dolls that go skating on the rink. Apparently, they had seen it on Nickelodeon the day before. News to Mom in Progress and me. Imagine the horror.

So, of course, if they ask Santa for something, it has to appear because he said he would bring it. So, as Mom in Progress got them settled into the booth at the Red Robin to order, I was outside frantically navigating the voice recording mayhem at the local Target to ask if they had the elusive and now mandatory skating doll thing. After much to do, I got through to toys and they had one left. "Hold it!" I said, and ran over after dinner and snagged it. A remote controlled Bratz skating rink complete with doll. And they love it.

What the girls love:

- Classic board games (the most used gifts so far!)
- Bratz (all of them)
- all of the RC cars
- the whoopee cushion
- Barbie Dream Townhouse
- Polly Pocket
- the almighty Mac Mini

Among the stuff Mom and Dad in Progress love:

- Classic board games (we've played as a family every night!)
- Lincoln Logs (quiet, creative play that tales me back to when I was a kid)
- Barbie dream townhouse (inspires good role play)
- the almighty Mac Mini

Among the stuff we could do without:

- Barbie dream townhouse (because it has a flushing toilet that gets flushed every time they walk by it)
- Tawny -- Barbie's walking, whinnying horse that has no volume control

We've all been taking a big fat break this week. Mom in Progress and I haven't even been checking in at work (don't tell anyone!) and we've had a blast playing games with the girls. P.S. I'm just as good at Perfection as I was years ago! ;-)