QUESTION 1: We went Christmas shopping tonight at the mall. I was looking at purses while B and H were goofing around in another part of a store, and B was looking for me. He decided that Toodles would help him find me. (Toodles is a flying/magic toolkit that Mickey Mouse uses to solve problems on the show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.) So B started calling out, “Oh, Toodles!” (The same thing Mickey says when he needs a tool.) It was really adorable. But the problem is that B really expected Toodles to show up. H told B that Toodles was sleeping, and B said, “Sleep tight, Toodles!” But we should probably have a better answer for why Toodles doesn’t show up, right? Do we tell him that Toodles is only on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse? How do you explain this kind of thing to a two year old?
QUESTION 2: My family opens all the presents and then opens the little gifts in our stockings. The stocking gifts are things like earrings, socks, chapstick, and candy. My mom fills everyone’s stocking, but she never put anything in her own stocking. At some point, I think about 10 years ago, I started filling my mom’s stocking. She is still surprised every year that her stocking is full. I like doing it and wish I had started doing it earlier. I can imagine the same thing happening to me: getting things for everyone else’s stockings but ending up with my own stocking empty. I don’t know whether I want to ask H to get me stocking fits or whether I want to buy myself little treats that I wouldn’t normally buy myself. Does your family do stockings? If so, who buys stuff for whom?
I’d tell him that Toodles only helps Mickey, or is only on the clubhouse.
I’m 36 yrs old and only in reading this did it occur to me that I have no idea how my mother’s stocking gets filled. My grandmother used to do it, but since she died two years ago….I have no idea. There is stuff in her stocking, but I have no idea if my dad took over or if my mother is wrapping her own gifts and opening them. Omg, cringe, shame.
My mom always filled her own. Now that I’m a mother, I think that must not have been too fun for her, but on the other hand she always got what she wanted. Rob puts the gifts in my stockings that are small enough for a stocking. I always ask for socks because I heart fashion socks so he puts those in there and then maybe something fun but I fill all the stockings with candy and small fun stuff for him and Luke.
I would tell B that Toodles doesn’t like malls.
at my husband’s house, we each buy something small for everyone else and stick it in, and then christmas morning we take turns guessing who bought what. i think we’ll continue even when the kids are old enough to ‘get’ santa clause, and santa will just bring the tree presents. or something.
oh, and toodles must have been busy helping mickey.
I think you could get away with saying that Toodles is Mickey’s special helper and only helps Mickey. As far as stockings, my mom does my dad’s and my sister’s and mine, and my sister and I do my mom’s, and my sister and I do our respective husbands’. This year Torsten and I won’t be there for Christmas though so I guess we will do each other’s and my sister will be on her own for my mom’s.
I think that was a good explaination. I mean, really…it’s not that important to go into the whole ‘it’s pretend’ thing quite yet. My white lies are catching up with me now that he’s four. I’m having to explain more and fib less. Darn.
It’s funny you mentioned stockings. We do Hanukah gifts and then just stockings on Xmas (hubs and I…we do Xmas gifts for kids still) every year hubs has filled mine…butbhes really busy and stresses at work so it ends up really last minute. So this year I’ve started buying screw things for myself to put in instead. I really don’t mind…I’m more a person who wants what I want and don’t care about the surprise.
Wow, sorry for the ramble.
In my family of origin, my parents filled the children’s stockings together, and each other’s stockings. Now that the children are grown/married, they (my parents) still fill each other’s stockings, and also their children’s stockings. The children (me and my brother) fill their own spouse’s stockings.