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Home > December 25 and 26 - more visits to family

December 25 and 26 - more visits to family

December 27th, 2005 at 02:56 am

We spent today at my SILs house. All the cousins get together the day after Christmas - we missed it last year as ds2 had just been born, so it was especially nice to be there this year. We visit, eat, and do a Chinese gift exchange. The boys were great and charmed everyone, along with the other toddlers there Smile It was about a two hour trip, but the boys took their naps on the way there and slept on the way back, so it wasn't so bad. I hear a lot of controversy about regifting, but I regifted two items for the Chinese gift exchange - a tower of boxes filled with candy (NOT on the South Beach diet!) and a set of travel coffee mugs (duplicate gift) - both gifts were "stolen" in the gift exchange, so I don't feel bad about it.
Now, about Christmas...I really wanted to keep it simple for the boys, but with a total of 4 aunts and 4 uncles who all insist on buying for the kids, it's hard to do. But they did get a lot of clothes and books, some saving bonds and gift certificates...so I was really pleased. There are quite a few toys that I don't really want them to have (either we already have something very similar, or the toy is too big, or just really annoying!) so I am trying to decide how to handle that. I don't want to sound mean here - obviously if my boys really liked a toy, I wouldn't take it away, but I am talking about some toys that they have not even looked twice at. I can either try to return them or tuck them away for regifting. I think I will do a little combination of each. My family is really understanding about returning things. My brother got a near duplicate of a sports center that I just gave away on Freecycle because my kids never played with it, so I think I will take that one back. My SIL found two talking Dora dolls and bought them, one for her daughter and one for us to give to ds1 (who is absolutely in love with Dora). She asked me if I wanted it or if she should take it back - I told her I would take it (without seeing it), then asked her how much it was --- $40!!! I was about to tell her nevermind, but then DH said we should get it for him because he will want one when he sees his cousins. So we got it...and he has not looked twice at it...and I am really regretting letting DH talk me into it. But I guess we live and learn...maybe he will be more excited about it in a few days...
I don't mean to sound like a grinch here Smile I just really want my kids to not grow up expecting everything in the world to be given to them. They already have a lot of toys. They just don't need enough stuff to fill a room. Sigh. At least they were given a lot of clothes and books, which I will NEVER place a limit on!
I should get to bed...night all.
December expenses: $2918.72 + $11 (groceries for SIL's party) = 2929.72
December income: $3808.99 + $5 (DH's poker winnings) + $60 (gift from in-laws for Vegas trip) = $3873.99

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