A Festivus Miracle… At the Post Office!
Ahhh, the post office at holiday time- it’s crowded, cold and s…l…o…w.
Yesterday afternoon my Little Man and I went to the post office to send out our Christmas cards. They were all addressed and done, but 1 Christmas card we send out goes to our friends in England, so we needed to wait in line for extra postage for that 1 card…
We waited in line which stretched the whole length of the post office. I heard an older man behind me mutter, “Can you believe they only have 2 people working right now?!” Another lady in back of me looked like if you locked eyes with her, she might haul off and hit you. Everyone was ‘busy’ and ‘in a hurry’.
There were no other children in the post office. People were taking time from work or shopping or cookie-baking or whatever else you do at 3:00 in the afternoon. And no one was pleased that the line wasn’t moving very quickly.
Then my Little Man started to mosey around the post office and broke into song,
‘Sleigh bells ring, are ya listenin’?
In the lane, snow is glistenin,
A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight,
Walkin’ in a Winter Wonderland.’
I looked around and everyone was a little calmer. My soon-to-be 5-year-old glanced around and continued…
‘In the meadow we can build a snow man…’
And the crotchety old lady a few people in front of me started to sway.
‘And pretend that he is Parson Brown…’
And a few people started to smile.
And the line started to move a little faster. And then it was our turn. We paid the extra postage and turned around and everyone looked at my Little Man and smiled. He then, as he is so prone to do, said good-bye to everyone in line and waved…
And then he locked eyes with that fierce-looking woman behind me. ‘Watch out’, I thought. And she smiled at him.
We walked out to our car and my son exclaimed, “Well, that was fun.”
And I thought I heard, as we drove out of sight,
‘Don’t get stressed, Have some fun,
Remember preschool- and you just might’.
Thanksgiving Tips and Healthful Hints
It’s Thanksgiving Week! In honor of all our cooking and clean up
BananaBlueberry is talking with Andrea Astrachan, Consumer Advisor for Giant food.
Here are some helpful hints for moms:
Q. What foods are bargains this month… what can moms ‘stock up’ on and save money on right
now?
Now is a great time to stock your pantry with items like canned soup and chowders, macaroni and pastas, baking items, canned fruit, maple syrup and stuffing mixes.
You may feel like you’ve had enough turkey for a while, but they are at their best prices right now. Buy one for Thanksgiving dinner and another to put in the deep-freezer – it will last six to eight months.
This is also the time of year when I stock up on supplies like aluminum foil, plastic bags and plastic wrap.
Q. What are some TIME-saving tips for making dinner?
• Plan meals for the week- make 2-3 meals and store in the refrigerator and freezer.
• Keep meals simple- shop for time savers like pre-cut or frozen veggies, grated cheeses, and bagged salads.
• On your way home, pick-up a cooked rotisserie chicken or turkey, or baked meatloaf; a loaf of whole grain bread; and a colorful salad from the salad bar.
• Try to cook one-dish casseroles or main courses like chicken cacciatore, meatloaf, and lasagna when you have more time; then freeze for later use.
• Dust off your crock-pot. Prior to leaving home, place chicken or beef, potatoes, carrots and onion with seasoning and water in the crock-pot. When you return, your dinner smells great and is ready to serve!
Q. Can you suggest alternatives to unhealthy, as well as boring snacks for kids- like chips and pretzels?
Absolutely. Cutting back on the sugary, high-fat and high-sodium foods frequently offered in school cafeterias and vending machines is a great way to teach kids healthy eating habits early on. Some of our favorite alternatives at Giant include:
• Select small-sized fruits or serve fruit in different ways, like individual-sized fruit cups and applesauce cups
• Help kids get their “3-A-Day” of dairy with low-fat cheese, low-fat yogurt and string cheese
• Give kids a do-it-yourself project by giving them granola, trail mix, cereal or fruit as a “stir-in” for yogurt, applesauce or cottage cheese
• Popcorn – place it in fun bowels, snuggle up on the couch and call your family room a move theater
• Frozen yogurt – many are so creamy, you would think it was ice cream! (Look for the calcium fortified ones!)
• String cheese (Kids love to pull the strings!)
• Carrot and celery sticks in a clear plastic cup with low fat ranch dressing on the bottom as dip.
• Puddings made with fat free milk with a whipped cream smiley face
• Jell-O shapes – made with a cookie cutter
• Fruit salad – but for little ones, bring to the table singing the popular refrain, “fruit salad, yummy, yummy!”
• Frozen grapes
• 100 percent fruit juice pops
• Rice cakes – spread with peanut butter or soy nut butter on a rice cake. Make a face with raisin eyes, shredded carrot hair, dried fruit mouth or banana slice
Note: Popcorn, baby carrots and frozen grapes are choking hazards for children under the age of 4.
Q. Would you like to add any information or more tips for Moms?
For moms looking to get the best value as they shop, I’d offer these tips:
• Store brands are comparable (or better!) than national brands at a better value. Look for all of our Giant brand products: Giant Food, Nature’s Promise, Simply Enjoy!, Care One, and Companion Pet Food.
• Using the unit price on shelf tags helps you find the best value among comparable products.
• Try Big Buys. Meats in large quantities are not only great for large families, they help save money. Freeze portions for later use.
• Individual packages of snacks may cost more than larger packages. Repackage into single servings at home.
• Sometimes the salad bar is actually less expensive if you only need a small portion and the remainder of an entire package of the item will go to waste.
Thanks Andrea and Giant for taking the time to give moms helpful hints this time of year!
Are your Holiday lights up yet?
I’m serious.
Yesterday evening, we drove home from my parent’s across Montgomery County. My Little Guy counted 7 houses that HAVE UP LIGHTS… one had the whole almost annoying display of reindeer, Santa and various 4-foot-tall candy canes lit up in every color light imaginable (I didn’t know they made purple candy cane displays… but who am I?).
Thanksgiving is a little late this year, I know this because like everyone, I can look at a calendar (duh) but also because we were at my parents house to celebrate my mom’s birthday, and last year, her birthday was on Thanksgiving.
I even saw a Christmas Tree up and decorated through the window of 1 home, complemented by outside lights framing their window and house.
It’s not Thanksgiving yet! Give Thanksgiving it’s due. Besides, where the heck do you get a tree before Thanksgiving? It has to be fake or you cut it down yourself on some mountain or foothill (I think it’s pretty cool I just used an incredibly random word like ‘foothill’ in my blog).
On the other hand, maybe I am a little jealous… my son’s birthday is December 18th, so we don’t decorate until AFTER HIS BIRTHDAY, the morning of December 19th. We have a tradition now, which I’ve blogged about.
I still have my Thanksgiving scarecrow in my front yard and suddenly feel very silly still having various pumpkins around my home…
But you can’t overlap holiday decorations so these people who have up their Christmas decorations have had to pack away their Thanksgiving decorations already, and Thanksgiving is THIS Thursday, IT HASN’T HAPPENED YET…
And we know they have Thanksgiving decorations because if you have Christmas decorations, you certainly have Thanksgiving ones because it’s frankly, an easy holiday to decorate for- get some gourds and mums and keep out a couple of fake pumpkins from Halloween and you’re done.
Has anyone else seen Holiday lights up in their neighborhood? Have you decorated for Christmas or Hanukkah already? Is this a singular cosmic phenomenon that occurs when Thanksgiving is ‘late’? Do people then choose to forgo Thanksgiving decorations for the NEXT, BIGGER HOLIDAY?!
Do moms literally sit down with their calendars and decide to take down Thanksgiving decorations BEFORE Thanksgiving?
WHY AM I TIRED?
We’re home from the beach. We had a great week with PERFECT WEATHER!
This morning my son and I went on a brisk walk(with the jogging stroller),
got school shoes (note to self: NEVER wait til the week before school to go to the area’s best and most popular kid shoe store; you will end up going next door to the toy store and buying your son a toy to play with while you wait),
had lunch, did a little grocery shopping and went to Cabin John Park.
Right now I’m on my 4th load of laundry.
I spent all last week lounging on the beach…
so why am I so tired?
GONE TO THE BEACH!
I am at the beach this week… in a big beach house
with my parents,
my brother and his wife, their 1 1/2 year-old son
and my husband and 4 1/2 year-old son.
I’ll try to post when I can although I cannot promise because we are all going to be fighting over the dial-up- no wi-fi.
On a cheery note- I have not been to the beach FOR A WEEK in 2 years…
I’m looking forward to making sandcastles,
sitting in my beach chair… and that’s about it 
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!
Happy Independence Day!
May you enjoy great barbecues,
Have fun trips to the pool,
And great weather this weekend…
We’re off to the beach!
WHAT ARE THE RULES OF THE EASTER BUNNY ?!
On ‘Easter Eve’ (I just made that up),
the eggs had been dyed, baskets were ready and I was putting my 4-year-old son to bed.
I told him he should go right to sleep because we had a big day ahead of us, the Easter Bunny was coming. Then he started asking very specific questions about the procedure involved in hiding Easter eggs…
“Mommy, does he hide them tonight?” I told him yes (whoops, that’s Santa), so then he immediately pulled up his black-out shades and looked for the infamous bunny.
So I told him that the Easter Bunny hides eggs in the morning too.
“How does he hide all those eggs?” Well, he’s super-fast. He can hop so fast that’s it’s magical.
At this point I’m screaming inside my head, “Nicole!! What are you doing? Why aren’t you better prepared for these questions?” And I’m a planner for gosh sakes; I plan lunches for the week, all weekly dinners… I make lists!
We happen to be lucky enough to have lots of bunnies in our neighborhood. So then my 4-year-old asks me if those bunnies around our house are related to the Easter Bunny. “Yes, they are. They are the Easter Bunny’s helpers. They help him hide eggs sometimes.”
Then that voice inside my head comes back, “You better be careful Nicole, you are making up rules as you go along… And remember, 4-year-olds never forget!”
I took a deep breath. Relax.
Kissed my little guy good night and tucked him in.
Then, downstairs, my husband asked me about hiding the dyed easter eggs. Yes, I told him, we’re hiding them, along the the store-bought plastic ones.
Then my husband, completely seriously, tells me that doesn’t make any sense, because how would a bunny, now a ‘magical’ bunny, as I’ve just made him, get inside to get those eggs to hide.
I look at John and tell him, “The same way he gets in to ‘magically’ fill our son’s Easter basket… He jumps in a window or something.”
“Nicole, this really doesn’t make sense.” He’s right…
But wait, I forgot about our old friend – the whole ‘suspension of disbelief’ thing that is in its prime in 4-year-olds!
Hoorah!
But, as long as we’re on the subject:
Are there any official rules of the Easter Bunny?
Or did our parents make them up and now we are responsible for making up our own?
I want to be better prepared for next year
MERRY CHRISTMAS
This time of year is perfect for reflection and giving thanks…
Thank you for wonderful family and wonderful friends,
Tacky decorations and solemn amens.
Thank you for cookies and thank you for cakes,
And all other holiday goodies… for goodness sakes!
Thank you for Santa and thank you for elves,
And thank you for thinking of more than ourselves.
Thank you for giving and receiving cool things,
And all the joy this season brings.
Thank you for the promise of a perfect 2008,
And the fullfulment of resolutions that people make!
I’M A SINGER!
American Idol: watch out! But wait… I’m too old.
Oh, well.
Now that my son sleeps in a big boy bed, rocking before bed has ended. This was his decision, not mine.
But a new routine has started. I sit on the bottom end of his bed and sing 2 sets of ‘Jingle Bell’. By the way, that’s not a typo, I know it is supposed to be plural but my son insists that it be sung in the singular.
Then I sing ‘Jolly Old St. Nicholas’. And the other night it happened. He asked me to sing one more song, a special song. The only Christmas song I could think of was ‘White Christmas’, so I started singing.
I’m sitting there singing, ‘I’m dreaming of a White Christmas…’
and then I start thinking – ‘gosh, I hope I know all the words to this song’…
Then I start thinking- ‘gosh, this is a VERY hard song to sing’
Then I start thinking- ‘wow, I am singing so flat’…
Then I start thinking- ‘gosh, I am butchering this song’.
And then my son’s eyes light up and he is smiling.
He thinks the song is wonderful.
He thinks my singing is wonderful.
He asks me to sing it again.
I do.
He is smiling so big.
I finish my rendition of ‘White Christmas’ and lean down to kiss him good night.
He looks at me and says- I kid you not-
‘Mommy, I know what I’m going to dream about. I’ll dream about a White Christmas!
Thanks, Mommy. Good Night.’
He turns over and goes to bed. Done. What a nice night!
THAT EXTRA HOUR
It’s official… The clocks have been turned back.
It’s cold weather time, talk turns to Pilgrims and Native Americans in nursery schools, and Dad is raking leaves today.
I love ‘gaining’ an hour. It used to mean an extra hour of sleep, but now it means an extra hour to get things done or having another cup of tea. It’s a quick run to the grocery store, changing decorations from Halloween to Thanksgiving, or a long, hot shower.
An extra hour couldn’t have come at a better time.
Don’t mean to scare anyone- but Thanksgiving is in less than 3 weeks and Christmas is just over 6 weeks away. Hanukkah is just over a month away. There is a lot to do, no matter who you are.
On the other hand, it is a beautiful time of year. It is chilly- translating into more jumps up on your lap from children wanting to get warm. Holiday music plays at the mall. Lots of decorations that at any other time of year would be considered tacky- are awesome! I love candy canes and I get to see them everywhere this time of year. Fires in the fireplace (okay, we don’t build fires in our fireplace because we have a 3-year-old, but it’s a nice thought), baking cookies (okay, I haven’t done it in the past, but I am planning to start this year… add to ‘to do’ list) and roasting marshmallows (I love the idea, but the whole fire thing again- I think we’ll pass).
But getting back to my point, it’s a cool time of year.
Remember it’s Thanksgiving time. It’s time to give thanks. Thank you for little feet around the house. Thank you for little hands, even when they are making messes. Thank you for being busy, being a mom.
Hey, and I’ve got a birthday party I have to come up with the week before Christmas for my son… so say thank you if you have kids with summer birthdays!
Happy Holiday Season!
-
I Was In The 2012 Show !
Check Out …
-
Nicole’s Book
Design Credit:
