4 Things That I’m Thankful For

As the holiday season begins, I wanted to share a few things that I am thankful for:

1. The 2012 election cycle is over

As a resident of Ohio, I was bombarded with political ads for almost a year.  By the time it was all said and done, my daughter could tell you all of the names of the candidates and why to vote for or against them.  According to her, word was even out on the playground about whose parents were voting for who.  Funny and sad at the same time.  On another note, I’m also thankful that I won custody of my uterus.

2. I’m not putting up a Christmas tree

Living green things and me just don’t get along.  I have never been able to keep a plant alive for longer than 10 days, much less a tree!  The thought of having to provide water, food and shelter for one more is overwhelming.   But since we moved to Ohio, I have not even put up the artificial one—and I don’t miss it.  Hey, don’t judge!  We don’t spend Christmas there anyway and I make sure Journey gets to help decorate a tree—somewhere.

3. My child has outgrown Nick Jr.

I have mixed feelings about my baby growing up so fast, but at the same time, I am glad that some milestones are behind us.  Although I will miss some of my favorites like Mrs. Spider’s Sunny Patch Kids, Jack’s Big Music Show and Wow Wow Wubbzy—I don’t care if I see the irritating Wonder Pets or the oh so annoying Fresh Beat Band ever again!  And what’s the deal with Max and Ruby?  Clearly, the grandmother or Ruby’s Bunny Scout Leader should have called child protective services on the parents of this nortoriously unsupervised duo by now. But anyway….

4. I will have an extremely well-behaved child for the next 30 days

I love having an arsenal of threats to use this close to Christmas!  Even the mere thought of Santa not stopping by still carries a lot of weight around my house.  And I plan to take full advantage.  Last year, I added an Elf on the Shelf to the mix, which made it even better.  Each night after she goes to bed, the elf “reports” the day’s behavior to Santa.  Between the Elf on the Shelf, Santa and Santa’s elves, Journey thinks she’s under surveillance 24/7 from now until Christmas Day.  Then her payback begins.
On a serious note, I am so thankful to be spending another holiday with my friends and family with “no link broken in the chain” as my grandmother always says when she blesses our meals.  In case you don’t know, it means that we all lived to see another year and are able to gather in good health and good spirits.  My daughter also recorded a video to share what she is thankful for.

Happy Turkey Day!