The undeserved gifts

I'm feeling like an evil mom right about now. Neither of my children appear to grasp the Santa Claus "naughty list" threat. Their behavior has been in a downward spiral since Thanksgiving. I'm not surprised - it's been this way every year. And of course they're going to ultimately win, because I don't keep receipts and I'm too lazy to do returns anyway. Besides, I actually sewed some stuff for Nicole this year (photos here) and it's not like I can take that back to the store.

So here's why I'm feeling evil - both kids have decided to change their story about what's on the top of their list. Everything had been at least ordered, if not wrapped, and none of the ordered items are the things they're now talking about. Nicole is telling everyone who asks that she'd like a DSI (a souped up version of a Nintendo game thing she already has). Jake has been asking for a "Cleaner Truck". No one really knows what that is. So I've decided, that when the children ask why Santa didn't bring them a cleaner truck or a DSI, I'm going to tell them those items came out of the sled due to some naughty time. They have to learn somehow, and it gets me off the hook. There may be some tears this Christmas, but I'm beyond caring. My children often fail to realize just how spoiled they really are, and this year they're going to have to start figuring it out. It's not like they're going to be hurting. They'll still have plenty of packages - and packages that represent things that were in fact on their mile-long lists at one point.

As always, I'll be more than happy to see December draw to a close. It's the worst month of the year for so many reasons. And when it's all over, my children might go back to becoming reasonably behaved human beings. At least, until Mother's Day.