Yuletide Greetings

The real countdown has begun. Christmas is in a mere three days. Shopping days have been reduced to two.
Today after daycare I will take Griffin and Bela out shopping for gifts for daddy and the caregivers. Brett and I have ruled out the notion of giving each teacher the equivalent of one week's worth of care. Such expected tipping was the topic of conversation on All Things Considered last week.
Split three ways, just for Bela, this would equal $70 each for Siony, Branden, and Leah. While they are certainly worth every penny, and we would love to make their merry days merrier, this is a wee bit excessive for our family.
I read something great in Body + Soul magazine yesterday about the wisdom of giving more than one actually has. Giving 'til it hurts is not very zen. In fact, I think the entire December issue discusses the Buddhist idea of attachment in relation to holiday giving. Attachment to the idea of the perfect gift is restrictive.
And perhaps it is why the shoppers at Target this Saturday and last were acting either crazed or dazed. Good manners seem to have fallen by the snowy wayside lately.
There was a great article about my favorite holiday movie, It's A Wonderful Life on nytimes.com this weekend. The movie airs Wednesday, Dec. 24 on NBC. The meaning of the film for moi is that if your children didn't exist, nothing else would really matter. Or something... This was also the feeling I had at the end of Break Up with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston.
Griffin turned six last week. Besides a big birthday party with fifteen of his best pals at Jumpin' Jax Bounce House, we celebrated his actual birthday with lunch at school together and a Christmas Concert at the High School. I have lived my entire life to sit in the audience of a holiday program. Truly. I nearly cried with sentiment.
Bela is beginning to potty train. She has tinkled on the potty several times now and picked out Dora and princess panties. Woohoo! I can't wait to live without diapers.
Yesterday we went to visit Santa and I got to practice non-attachment. It was to be my last gasp at a holiday picture that I could send to family members, big and small, near and far. All day long, Bela asked about HIM, but when we finally got to the mall she cried and hid her face. I think the sight of the big man, talking and looking oh-so-real, freaked her out. It happens. This is the same Santa, however, whose lap she sat on at three months wearing an overflowing cloth diaper. We didn't even pay for the picture package that year...
I am blogging from my office which made this funny article strike a little close to home. Read this day-in-the-life of an office slacker. Very funny! Now back to work until lunchtime when I plan to go shopping.