1m2aSandbox

The verdict is in, and the hot new must-have accessory this winter is –

Sunglasses.

Maddie’s had a couple weeks now to break – I mean, break in – her new toys, and she’s ready to offer up her stand-out favorites. As a reminder, Maddie’s 18 months old right now.

Maddie and I have been sick with a cold for the past several days, and while it hasn’t been the worst one ever it’s certainly been the longest one ever- going on ten days now – and my creativity has been sorely taxed. I’m one of those moms that won’t take her kid to the playground until the child is free from a cough or runny nose; I wouldn’t wish a toddler with a cold on my worst enemy. Add to that the fact that Maddie didn’t really feel well enough to run around the park, and we had a long several days of a sick, listless, but still stir-crazy kid.

And apropos of nothing, but if there’s one thing worse than having to take care of a sick toddler while you’re sick as well, it’s having to take care of a sick toddler while your sick AND PREGNANT as well. Without Sudafed or even Motrin to help me out, I’ve been suffering through my drippy nose and raspy cough and sinus headaches cold turkey. I actually found myself thinking one night, “In the grand scheme of things, how bad could it really be for this unborn child if I take ONE DOSE of Nyquil? I mean seriously, it’s not like I’d be doing a line of cocaine!” In the end I chickened out and resigned myself to a sleepless night; my doctor’s so strict I’m not allowed to use most brands of cough drops while pregnant, so the thought of confessing the Nyquil to her was too much to bear.

But I digress.

If you’re not au currant on our history with Elmo, read here and here.

If you are familiar with Maddie’s longstanding love affair with the Red Menace – I mean cute lil red guy – then you’re probably bracing yourselves for what comes next. Fear not – nothing new has been added to our Elmo-stuffed household.

But something I thought could be gotten rid of has been raised to level of favored toy.

Remember how I said that Maddie would have nothing to do with the hot new TMX Elmo? Apparently that’s not entirely true.

There was a remarkable drop in holiday
mellowness last week, right about, oh, December 26, and I
can’t help but notice that it happens every year. The nation
virtually shuts down for the last week of December, but for some
reason it’s seen as slothful or lazy to simply enjoy the
downtime and do nothing; we have to briskly pack up the tree and
lights and hit the organizational sales.


I understand that some of us often procrastinate household chores,
which in this case means still having a bald tree up in the middle
of March. So I can see the attractiveness in using some vacation
time to get a head-start on post-holiday cleanup. But can’t
we take a few days to enjoy the slowness of everything? We spend
all of December “getting ready” – the baking, the
cleaning, the gift-buying and wrapping – all for that one big
day. Why don’t we simply enjoy the fact that our to-do list
is done, and we’ve nothing that really needs doing for a
while? It’s not wallowing, it’s simply being in the
moment and coasting. Those same neighbors who glared at us as
Grinches for not having our lights up the day after Thanksgiving
are now giving us the Stare of Shame for still having them up three
days after New Year’s. Three days! Don’t we at least
get until the weekend??

You’ve successfully survived the holidays, but your house ain’t looking too good. In fact, it looks like a Toys R Us at closing time on the day after Thanksgiving: toys strewn everywhere, assembly instructions hanging from the chandelier where you threw them in frustration at 3 a.m. on Christmas day, and empty packages of batteries littering every square surface. And of course, then there’s your child, who’s now completely acclimated to the whole tree thing and expects tinsel and lights for the next 364 days.

Or maybe it’s just my house.

Seriously, what do you do now? How do you get your toy volume back under control, and keep your baby from discovering Post Holiday Blues?

Well, I’m back and can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve posted. I had meant to post a bit more often last week, but found lying on the couch watching videos with my hubbie infinitely more appealing. Sorry.

And not that it’s been a while since I’ve had time to watch movies, but did you know they made a sequel to that Pirates of the Caribbean movie? It was pretty good. Apparently there’s going to be a third one as well; can’t wait to watch that one next Christmas.

I think my slug-like inability to sit down and write pretty much sums up our entire Christmas vacation. With Brian off from work all week and me errand-free, Maddie was in hog heaven, basking in all the adult attention.

And of course, there was Christmas itself.