Monroe Parenting

Dave and I recently took Caitlyn to the theater to see Disney’s new movie ‘Enchanted.’ If you have little ones, I guarantee they will love it! Even though the movie is mostly live action, it has all the characteristics of a Disney princess movie, complete with big dancing numbers, fabulous songs and cute animal sidekicks.

There’s even a throw back to other Disney movies if you’re paying close enough attention. There’s the whole Snow White aspect with the forest creatures helping Giselle do chores; there’s the wicked stepmother, also from Snow White, who looks exactly like the evil old hag in the movie when she tries to give Giselle the poisoned apple; there’s some Sleeping Beauty in there with the kiss from a true love to break the sleeping spell, and there’s definitely some Little Mermaid since Giselle has red hair and looks a little like Ariel. (There’s also a scene involving a fish tank and if you listen you can hear The Little Mermaid theme song playing in the background.)

I have been unable to get the “How Do You Know” song out of my head for days now, but it’s actually a pretty decent song. (Caitlyn and I found a clip of the scene featuring that song on YouTube if you want to check it out.)

There’s not many movies I would be willing to sit through more than once at the theater, but we will most definitely be going to see this one again over Christmas break. And who knows, maybe next time we’ll see if Keegan will sit through it, too!

Caitlyn has been going through a clingy, Velcro-like phase lately. She has just been mauling me — I sit down and she’s in my lap before I can even get settled. I plop down on the floor to watch a movie and she’s pasted against me like glue. I’m cooking and she’s wrapped around the bottom of my leg, sitting on my foot. You get the picture.

Anyway, I dropped the kids off at my mom’s this morning and I happened to sit down on the couch for a minute when Caitlyn attacked. She shouted, “I’m going to maul you!” before she launched herself at me. I pulled her back so she could look at me and asked, “Caitlyn, do you even know what ‘maul’ means?”

She said, “Yeah — to shop! I wanna go shopping! Take me to the mall!”

How could I have forgotten about Christmas cards??? Well, I did until I read Paula’s latest post at Monroe on a Budget. I guess final exams and writing papers amid holiday festivities has kept me too busy.

Usually, we get Christmas photos taken at a local photo studio and my husband will use the pictures to create a family card to send out. (I’m never allowed to just go out and buy any….he has to make one.) But this year, since I didn’t even think about it until now, I realize that we may have hit a roadblock. I forgot to schedule a photo session for the kids.

At this point, there is no way that we could get in somewhere, have the photos taken and then get them back in time to create Christmas cards. With any luck they would come back probably about a week and a half before Christmas, and that’s just cutting it too close.

So now, I have to find a place I could take the kids that would make a good Christmas backdrop. I can just use my digital camera and get some good photos, but where to go? I thought about the Toledo Zoo, but it will be cold and hard to get a good picture in the dark. I also thought about taking the pictures in front of our own tree (I still might) but who really wants to see all my “stuff” in the background? Taking the pictures outside is not really an option because there’s no snow (ew, who wants mud for a backdrop?), and all you would see is the kids bundled up in coats and hats.

So any suggestions??

Caitlyn and I finally got all the ornaments put up on our tree this morning, but not before I accidentally dropped Keegan’s personalized Christmas ball in the garage and watched it shatter into a million pieces. We had it made during our family vacation to Frankenmuth back in May and it cost a pretty penny. I guess we’ll have to order him a new one, but in the meantime Caitlyn informed us that Keegan could share her ball and that it now belonged to both of them.

After that announcement “the kids’ ” Christmas ball got the special spot right in the middle of the tree.

I am pleased to report that I am still awake now at almost 3:30 p.m. and going strong after a morning of insane super shopping. Or, as I like to call it, “hurry up and wait.” I’m pretty sure that Stephanie over at Behind the Headlines has summed up my day quite well already, but she didn’t get down everything!

My sister and I showed up outside of Kohl’s at 3:04 a.m. That’s right — 3:04 a.m. We watched as the line slowly started stretching toward TJMaxx and we were bouncing from foot to foot to keep warm. When a sales associate came outside to tell us she would let us in 10 minutes early if we belted out jingle bells, we wasted no time in shouting an off-key rendition. And then, sure enough, one door was opened at 3:50 and we started marching in single file.

Lauren and I had our game plan ready — she would grab a cart and head over to the pillows that were on sale for $3.99 and I would sprint to the small appliance section and grab my KitchenAid mixer. It worked like a charm!! The key to success in situations such as that is not to dally. Get your stuff and get out before the line to check out gets too long. We were one of the first people to check out and we were back in my Escape at 4:03. The only problem then was where to go next??????

Nothing opened again until 5 a.m., so we just hurried through Kohl’s to wait outside another store for 45 minutes. We wanted to go to Old Navy next to take advantage of the free MP3 player deal, but since there is no direct entrance from the mall into Old Navy, we got in line outside Sears. More foot hopping and weaving back and forth occured as we stood in the cold and waited and waited. I also had Keegan’s stroller on me just in case carts were scarce (which they were, especially when we got to Target later).

We were one of the first people to Old Navy and we ran about gathering the shirts on sale so that we could get to the cash register and nab our free gift. Only problem with that was there was supposed to be someone handing out 39 bracelets when people came in (nothing to this effective was advertised anywhere) and only those people would be eligible for the MP3 players. We saw NO ONE handing out anything, so we were pretty ticked off. My sister was so mad so threw down the pile of shirts in her arms and refused to buy anything.

Since we were already at the mall, we hit Bath and Body Works next and picked up a couple of the Wallflower refills on sale for $5. It was so early that the store was virtually empty, which meant there was no long line to wait in. Awesome!

From there we went over to Wal-Mart and picked up the 10-cup coffee maker for $3.98 and kids sweatshirts for $3. I’d tell you what else we got there, but since certain family members of mine read this blog, I don’t want to give away the surprise of their Christmas gifts!!

My sister was getting antsy at this point to get to Target and grab some of the great DVDs they had on sale before it got too late. This is where we met the roadblock of our day. I had to bring the stroller in because there was no carts available anywhere, and that should have been our first clue that inside the store might be a little crazy. As we ran around and got DVDs for $5 and others for $9.98 we noticed the line that wrapped around the inside of the store. It went through electronics, past the toys and around the shoe department all the way back to women’s clothing. Oh dear.

We took turns waiting in line so the other person could find the sale items we had on our lists. Lauren found my wet/dry vac for $19 while I was in line near the Christmas items. Although the line was long, it only took us maybe 40 minutes to get through it. And that was the longest wait we had all day.

We also went to K-Mart (not too busy at 8:15 a.m.), Meijer (who still had the mega packs of diapers for $10.99 available), and finally Carter’s, where jammies were half off. Whew!!

I got home around 10:45 a.m. and took a short nap before joining my family for lunch at CiCi’s. The plans to go to Taylor were nixed so that I could stay awake long enough to do my homework while Dave and the kids assemble our fake tree.

This definitely feels like the longest day ever!! But so much fun!

Okay, okay. So I’ve finally been pressured into writing a post about Black Friday. … Since Paula over at Monroe on a Budget has thrown this ball in my court, I guess I need to run with it!

I have been one of those crazy people jostling for deals in the pre-dawn darkness on the day after Thankgiving for at least 10 years now. It started off as a lark just to see what the big deal was all about, but now my sister Lauren and I are hardcore about it. And there is a fine art to the Black Friday shopping — you can’t just get up that morning and go. (Well, I suppose you could, but you may miss out on the the deals!)

The first thing we do is make a list of what we’re looking for and then cross reference it with what the ads are offering. Sometime in mid-October, Web sites start popping up with the Black Friday ads for numerous stores. (My favorite site is www.blackfriday.gottadeal.com)

But the madness doesn’t stop there. Then, you have to figure out a plan based on what time the stores are opening up, so that you can maximize your shopping efforts. Sometimes we even plan around what stores are giving away but that varies every year.

For instance, this year we are starting at Kohl’s, which is opening its doors at 4 a.m. Now that doesn’t mean you show up at the store at 4; that means you get there by 3:30 so you can be one of the first people through the door at 4. (And on a side note, it would be helpful if stores would have some kind of rope marking off the line to discourage line jumpers — a.k.a. people who show up at the last second and cause fights to break out because they want to push their way past others who have been waiting for awhile.)

Kohl’s has advertised the KitchenAid Mixer of my dreams for sale at $129 — regularly priced somewhere near $300. I’ve been drooling over one of these for a long time so that’s why we’re heading to there first. Children’s clothing also will be marked down 50-60% off, and that’s always something that I’m searching for. Toys are not high on my priority list this year……

Then, we are heading over to Old Navy, which is opening up at 5. See how we’re working this? By the time we get out of Kohl’s, Old Navy will just be opening up and we get there in time to snag the good stuff! They have kids pullovers and puffed-sleeve shirts on sale for$7 and cardigans for $15. And — here’s the kicker — you get a free MP3 player with any $20 purchase!! Woo hoo!!

Since we’ll already be at the mall, we’ll most likely hit Bath and Body Works (still unsure what the sales there will be, but last year they had Wallflowers for $6 and if you get a coupon in the mail you get a free lotion after spending $10.)

And then from there, we’ll hit Target, Meijer, K-Mart and Wal-Mart, in no particular order. As the morning progresses, the shopping loses a bit of its frenzy because a lot of the sale items will be gone by 10 a.m. Still good deals until 11 though, so keep hunting!

For parents with young children, there will be great deals at many stores on pajamas and sleepers — either half-off or Buy One, Get One. Even if you’re not going to give them these for Christmas, it’s a good bargain just to pick some up. And at Meijer, Pampers Super Mega-Packs of diapers will be on sale for $10.99 –limit two.

Oh, and another tip that I learned the hard way last year — even if you leave your little ones at home, bring the stroller anyway, especially if you’re walking through the mall. Who wants to carry all those heavy bags when you can push them instead?! At bigger stores you can utilize carts, but in the mall you’re stuck unless you bring the stroller to stash your bags in.

And finally, don’t forget about the smaller stores that will have great sales, too! For parents, Carter’s at the Outlet Center will be giving out scratch-off cards that will take up to $50 off your purchase. They also will be giving out free 4×6 photo albums with any purchase.

Who knows if we’ll be able to hit every store on our list before the sales end at 11 a.m., but we’ll sure have fun trying!

Dave, my sister Kendra, and I went to the RRCA last night to see their production of “Chicago.” First, just let me say that I thought the actors were phenominal. I was especially impressed with the actresses who were playing Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart — great job.

Now, this brings me to a small problem that I had. If you’ve ever seen “Chicago” then you know that it revolves around scantily clad women, sexual inuendos and graphic murder scenes with some foul language thrown in here and there. Having said that, why would someone bring their young tweens to such a performance?! There was a family with a girl who couldn’t have been more than 10 seated in front of us and I wanted to flinch at some of the language that I knew was coming. And how do you explain some of those sex scenes to a young girl who has no clue what is going on up on stage? As I wondered this, I looked around and noticed quite a few younger people in the crowd.

Perhaps I’m just being a prude, but I sure wouldn’t want to expose Caitlyn and Keegan to all that until they are mature enough to understand what is going on…..

What do other parents think about this??

How could I not even notice that my own son’s eye color had changed?? Keegan’s eyes have always been a really dark navy blue and I thought that perhaps they eventually would lighten up and take on the same blue hue as Caitlyn’s eyes. And I thought I had read somewhere that once babies pass the 6-month mark that their eye color would stay pretty much the same.

However, the other day when I was playing with Keegan the sun hit his face and that’s when I looked really closely at his beautiful little eyes. And imagine my astonishment that they were no longer blue!!! They now are a very light brown with tiny green flecks — a lighter shade of his daddy’s hazel eyes.

Well, that will teach me to pay closer attention to things!

In the midst of cleaning yesterday, Caitlyn and I accumulated two very full bags of library books to take back. Since the only place close to us that’s open on Sundays is Ellis, away we went. Only one small problem though: I forgot until we encountered an overflowing parking lot that the Writers on the River event was going on from 12-3.

Oh, well. We thought we’d sneak in, return our books, grab a few new ones, and out the door we’d go. Except I wasn’t counting on coming face to face with all the authors, or the books they were selling and signing. Since we were already there, we figured we might as well “check it out,” as Caitlyn likes to say.

And just our luck, the very first table we encounter is one of Caitlyn’s favorite authors, Lisa Wheeler.  She has written numerous children’s books including one of our favorites “Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum” about animals who keep getting stuck in a wad of pink goo. In a way, she reminds me of Ann Arbor author Nancy Shaw who writes the popular Sheep series……..very catchy, rhyming passages with cute animals. Anyway…..

She was very nice and autographed a copy of the book for Caitlyn and then asked Caitlyn what her favorite animal was. When she said elephant, Ms. Wheeler then made up a rhyme about an elephant getting stuck in the gum. Caitlyn thought it was just great.

We also bought Ms. Wheeler’s new Christmas book “Where, Oh Where, is Santa Claus?” for Caitlyn and Keegan, and then purchased a book about crayon kids from another author at the event. It was very exciting to be there surrounded by all those authors and to meet the people behind our favorite books.

We will definitely make sure we are there “on purpose” next year!!!

Yesterday morning I looked at Caitlyn and said, “Mommy doesn’t have to go to work today. And I don’t have any homework to do either.”

Her eyes got large and she said, “You have the day off today?!”

Sure did, so I asked her what she wanted to do. We could do anything at all that she wanted….playdoh, build forts, make/eat cookies……….

She looked at me and said (in all seriousness), “Mommy, I want to go grocery shopping!”

*Groan* What a weirdo! So, I took her with me to Aldi’s to stock up on pantry items, lol. Now there’s fun for you!