Tis The Season!

It's been a painting-fest in our house this week. Paprika has taken to watercolors, and it's all she can talk about!

Well, that's not true. The other thing on her mind? Christmas!



Now, you would think that because we don't have a TV and the girls don't watch commercials that we would somehow be immune from Christmas commercialization. Nope.

Here's why...

First, we go to Target. And about 15 seconds after Halloween ended, they put up all their Christmas decorations. So, now whenever we go to Target, we are reminded that Yes! Christmas is coming!!! It's time to buy something! I would leave the girls home and go by myself to shop, but 99% of the time, Mr. Mustard is working during all of the hours Target is open...so that's not a possibility. So, the three of us shop amidst the overwhelming Christmas presence. And we don't even go near the toy aisles. I have to admit that it all is pretty festive and sparkly. I can see why the girls get so excited. Ah, to be four and one!

On our last trip to Target, Paprika wanted so badly to get some Christma stockings, but I reminded her that we already had stockings at home. And that is how I found myself at home an hour later, three weeks before Thanksgiving, hanging up all of our Christmas stockings.



But even more so than Target, it's the insane barrage of catalogs we've gotten in the mail. I think whenever you have a child, you get put on a list and then every toy manufacturer on the planet sends you catalogs. And to you they're disposable catalogs...but to your child they are magical books of possibilities. Yes, Paprika has been carrying around the catalogs, calling them her "magazines" and picking out all the things to ask Santa to bring her.

And before someone asks why I don't hide the catalogs from her, it's because we have a mail slot (not a mail box), and when Paprika hears the mail go thud on the living room floor, it's a race to get there to see what's come in the mail.

On the other hand, I am a little thankful for the catalogs. Without them, Paprika makes up incredible gifts that she wants- toys that do not exist, not in any store, anywhere. For example, right now she is obsessed with the Madeline books. But instead of asking for Madeline, she wants Pepito...Madeline's obscure friend. Well, so I looked online for Pepito and all I found was a $150 collector's item 8 inch plastic doll on Ebay. Not going to happen.

That's just one example, of course. There are soooo many more. For example, she also wants an Anastasia dollie- you know, from the 1997 movie Anastasia. We let her watch that movie once back in August, and ever since then she's been saying she wanted to ask Santa for an Anastasia dollie. So, I went hunting. And, well, the doll she wants (also on Ebay) is a licensed collector's Barbie doll that costs $100 or more. For a Barbie. Who she will cut the hair off of two days after Christmas.

So, there ya go. I am grateful that the catalogs are mainstreaming Paprika's interests. Haha. Not really, but sorta. And I am grateful that our trips to Target have gotten us in the holiday spirit and we've started decorating early this year.

I think as long as we keep the focus on the real reason for the Season, and not the commercial hoopla, we'll be fine. The excitement these girls have for the season, to celebrate, and to be joyful is infectious, and that's where I want my focus to be!