Author: Wick

Just in case you haven’t noticed. I remember before children entered our life. The mental picture that came up with someone saying, “I’m a stay at home mom”. Oh really? Must be nice. You get to stay at home with the kids. Make cookies. Play in the yard. Just relax all day.

I gotta admit, even when we realized we wanted Sarah to be a stay at home mom. That for us, it was important, even if it meant sacrificing a little financially. I was a tad jealous.

Don’t get me wrong, I love our kids. Addie and Sophie, and even cousin Ella who visits a few days each week. They’re incredible. The wonder in their moments of discovery. The way the older ones get sooooo excited over running in circles in the kitchen, whether Barney is singing in the air or only in their minds. The way Sophie loves the older girls, and crawls as fast as she can to be a part of what they’re doing. I am jealous that I miss many of those moments.

But I’m not so jealous of the not so pretty aspects of these growing girls. The whining. The learning of the concept of “sharing”. The potty training, which is a lot more about potty going elsewhere than actually in the potty. The messes, with no ability to point blame, and no one to help you clean up but yourself.

Not sure if there is a “Stay at Home Parent Day”, but there probably should be. A weekday where any working parent switches spots with all of those parents who usually stay home everyday with the kids. They can go out on the town. Or they can just nap all day. Whatever they wanna do.

I officially declare that March 10th, will from here on out be called “STAY AT HOME PARENTS DAY“, to be observed in the way I’ve described above. Tell your friends, and your neighbors, and your friends friends, and their parents too. We’ve got over 3 months to get the message out.

MARCH 10th = STAY AT HOME PARENT’S DAY – The working parent must stay home with the kids, and the stay at home parent is allowed a free day to do “whatever”. If you agree and want to sign the petition, then GO TO THE ONLINE PETITION AND SIGN IT, then have all your friends do it too!!

I’m pretty against cards. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, they’re USUALLY a waste of money/time/resources. Usually my anti-card thoughts are reserved for Birthdays. You spend whatever you budgeted (or nothing) on a gift for someone, and then spend another 1 to 5 dollars on a piece of folded thick paper that says “Happy Birthday” on it, and most of the time simply sign your name somewhere on it. And just being honest, I usually throw cards away. Sometimes even directly after opening them. Unless they’re hilarious and contain the word “fart” or “booger” somewhere on them. Then I show my wife or a couple close friends. Then I throw it away.

Usually, I cringe a little. Mainly because, I already know WHO the gift is from. I know they are a lot more fun to listen to than this piece of paper, and I love crackers so much. “Crackers?” you may ask. “Crackers” I say to you. Cheez-Its specifically. They cost as much as a nice card.

Seriously though, Christmas Cards. I know there’s tradition, and good thoughts, and love and all that. Once in a while you get a home made card, or a card with a few sentences written in it. Once in a great while even a picture. Those I can get down with a little more. We have a meaningful card dance in my head together whenever it happens.

I’m a youth pastor at a church where a LOT of people like to give Christmas cards. We open card after card after card, some very ornate. Rip the envelope open, “what a pretty picture”, open the card, “aw, Merry Christmas” (already written by the company), and the person or couple’s name generically written at the bottom.

Hopefully this doesn’t offend, as some of my readers may be people who sent those cards. In those cases, I guess I can be thankful at least we have a little card station at our church, so you don’t have to waste postage too.

I am thankful for the thoughts behind the cards. But I encourage for Christmas or birthdays or other occasions in 2009, just call me. Or e-mail me. Or buy me some crackers. Or write a short letter. Doesn’t need to be pretty. Just needs to be from YOU. 🙂

..because I’ve seen it done oh so wrong…I figured I’d share this with the general public.
(from our friends at Wikipedia)

Gifts are wrapped, but are not labeled to reflect a specific sender or recipient. Gifts are typically inexpensive, humorous items or used items from home and sometimes, they are just plain trash; the term white elephant refers to a gift whose cost exceeds its usefulness. While the first use of this term remains an item of contention among historians, a popular theory suggests that Ezra Cornell brought the term into popular lexicon through his numerous and frequent social gatherings, dating back to as early as 1828.

All participants draw a number (from a hat, perhaps) to determine their order.

The participant with #1 unwraps any gift from the pile and then shows it to everyone. Each successive participant, in the order determined from the drawing, can either 1) “steal” an already opened gift (if there’s one they really like) or 2) be adventurous and go for a wrapped gift from the pile. If the participant chooses to steal, the person whose gift is stolen now repeats their turn and either 1) steals another person’s gift (they cannot immediately steal back the gift that was just stolen from them) or 2) unwraps a new gift.

This cycle of stealing can sometimes continue for a long time, until a new gift is chosen, at which point the turn is passed to the participant with the next number from the drawing. (An alternative to the drawing is to sit in a circle and take turns in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction.)

Since items can be stolen, the item in your possession is not yours until the game is over. However, this is often amended with a rule declaring a gift “dead” or “safe” after it has been stolen a certain number of times (usually two or three). This helps the process go more smoothly (avoiding, for example, the hypothetical scenario of the same gift being stolen by every successive participant) and limits the disadvantage of being among the first to choose gifts.

(I particularly like that they created links to explain “clockwise” and “counterclockwise” 🙂 )