.

Listen to the Mustn'ts, child, listen to the Don'ts.
Listen to the Shouldn'ts, the Impossibles, the Won'ts.

Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me.
Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.

-Shel Silverstein

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Birthday Dilemmas

I am blogging from Ontario, Canada. I will be traveling here two or three more times this summer so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.


This week I am having a motherly dilemma. Thing 1 is having a birthday next week. Want to know what she has asked for?

1. An iPhone
2. A plane ticket to Austin Texas to visit her cousins
3. A pair of roller-skate shoes
4. A disco light
5. A razor and shaving cream

We usually keep birthdays very small—just a small gift from each member of the family. Most of you would look at this list and laugh at me, as you should, and tell me the answer is simple.

But let me explain my dilemma...
1. I want her to have an iPhone so she will STOP using mine! And, we are in the process of renegotiating our contracts so it would be relatively feasible to get her one. Except Daddy has insisted he is higher up the iPhone food-chain than she is so Option 1 is out.
Plus. Come on. An iPhone for a 10 year old? I can’t bring myself to do it.
2. I would love to send her to visit my sister. In fact, I would love to go with her. I think that is an awesome birthday present. And, thanks to my travel for work, I have enough frequent flyer miles to buy her a ticket.
But just because I have enough miles…should I? Is that too extravagant? Shouldn’t I save those miles for a family vacation instead?
3. I hate roller-skate shoes. The dog running around my hardwood floors is bad enough. Roller-skates? No.
4. A disco light? Seriously? Where am I supposed to get one of those? And…ew.
5. A razor? Heaven help me. She needs to, don’t get me wrong. She is starting to notice and getting self conscious so I can’t put it off much longer.
What is a mother to do? I have a bad habit of overindulging my children. I want them to have things. I do. But I’m afraid this time it’s gone too far.

I think we will end up with a razor, shaving cream and…WHAT?

Please give me some ideas!

I know. How about a Diet Pepsi and a kick in the butt?
There. It’s settled.

3 comments:

  1. Stay strong, Camille, and avoid overindulgence! Maybe you could find a small disco ball somewhere, and that could be the fun gift. You could awesome it up with some cheap bellbottoms from DI and a can of silly string. ('cause that's what I think of when I think of party.) Make her a mix CD with fun dance tunes to throw in. Seriously, thoughtful gifts are way better than expensive ones. (Thoughtful AND expensive is okay too, but more for mommies and not 10 year olds.)

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  2. Remind her that her fun cousins in Texas will be here in a few short weeks to play and have fun with!

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  3. #2 is completely my fault. I invited her so technically it would be a present to me and since you ne'er overindulge me, this would be the perfect time. Texas does a baby good. And she has a cousin that will teach her to shave and I have a disco ball I can give her. Oh and she can take our hand me down rollerblades, skates AND shoes. Being used and all it will keep her humble. So all you need to do is buy the poor darling an iPhone. Nothing says I love you like technology.

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