Last year, we didn’t tell her Santa brought presents, and we have never explained to her that if you ask him for something for Christmas, he just might bring it.  I think it was just easier, considering the likelihood of us EVER spending a Christmas at home, to just skip over that part of the myth so we didn’t have to answer any questions as to how Santa Claus knew she was at Mama and Papa’s house.

I think this would be the year to introduce it.  She’s a lot more aware of things, her memory is improving, and we are going to be home on Christmas Day.

But, I have to admit, I never really believed in Santa, and it didn’t bother me.  I still enjoyed “playing” for my sister who did believe.  We still got what we “asked Santa” for, and I always loved the stocking presents.  Now, as a parent, I have a hard time lying to my child.  I have heard stories of kids who found out Santa was a myth and they would be angry.  For the first time, they realized that parents lie, and they had a difficult time trusting their parents after that.

We’re not religious people, and I already have a hard time with Christmas in general.  I have to admit that I feel like a total hypocrite.  I justify by telling myself that we celebrate the meaning of family on Christmas.  That we celebrate loving and being loved, and all the trappings are just symbols of that.  We don’t believe in ghosts, but we celebrate Halloween.  We don’t believe in saints, but we celebrate Valentines day.  We’re barely Irish but we celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day.  So, Christmas is just another holiday that is an excellent excuse for everyone to get together.

Santa is definitely an important part of the Christmas tradition.  But I am still on the fence.  I think we could go one more year without having to include the “he brings you presents” part of the myth, but some day we are going to have to discuss this with Chloe, and I am just not quite sure what I am going to say.  Thoughts?  How important is Santa Claus?  And if we tell Chloe the truth, how likely is it that she will ruin it for some other child who does believe?

But, I got nothing.

All I can thing of are updates, so here you go…let the randomness commence.  (Da ta da daaaaa)

• Chloe is still kicking butt with potty training.  She had an accident on Friday of last week, but hasn’t had one since, and she wore her “big girl panties” to school yesterday instead of a pull up and kept them dry ALL DAY!  She even tried really really hard last night to poop on the potty.  (with minor success, but I won’t go into details.)
• She still likes her school, she didn’t want to go yesterday when I told her it was a school day, but she is always happy when I drop her off and she is always smiling when I pick her up.
• The nerves have begun.  We fly to Denver on Saturday for a week, and even though I KNOW everything will be fine, I can’t get the queasy feeling out of my stomach.  John is even flying with me both ways this time, so I really have NOTHING to worry about.  And yet, I worry.
• That being said, I can’t wait to go back to Denver.  I really miss everyone and I can’t wait to see you!
• My sister bought a house!  She and Jeremy (aka: Wormy) closed on Friday.
• My brother accepted an offer on his house, so if all goes well he will be homeless soon.  A fact that he is extremely happy about.
• I’m going Karaoke tomorrow with some of the ladies from my Mom’s club.  I’m a little more excited about this than I should be.  I LOVE to sing, but I wouldn’t say I am very good.  I just hope the DJ has my repertoire, or things will get ugly.
• Ellen, Annette and I (all Colorado transplants) are making a pilgrimage to Chipolte today.  We still can’t find decent Mexican food out here, and we are suffering from withdrawal.  Its an half hour to fourty five minute drive, but it is WORTH IT, DAMMIT!
• I hope John doesn’t mind me telling you this, but he layed down his bike.  For those of you who aren’t into motorcycles, that means he lost control when he was accelerating out of a turn and tipped his motorcylce on to its side.  He’s fine, a bit bruised and banged up, but otherwise fine.  His bike, on the other hand, is damaged.  He’s going to have to do some repairs before he can ride again, which considering its starting to get really cold here is pretty good timing.
• Our plans for New Years in Italy are coming along swimmingly.  We have now filled the Villa with:  Robert and Becky, Karsten and Sonja, Devon and Monica, James, John, Chloe and I.  We anticipate that Chloe will do swimmingly, as she has proven herself to be an excellent tourist.
• Chloe’s new favorite movie is “Sleeping Beauty.”  She especially loves the end of the movie when Princess Aurora and King Phillip are dancing.  Either John or I have to dance with her, and she calls out the color of the dress and attempts to sing along with the song.  (Kind of like this:  “I saw you, na na na BLUE! a dream na na PINK! na eyes na na BLUE!.”)  Oh, and she calls the fairies, “Berries.”

Okay, I’m done.  Thanks for caring enough to make it to the end!

• I used to consider myself an “artist,” I drew, painted and dabbled in sculpture.  But decided when I was in High School that I wasn’t skilled enough to get anywhere.
• I also wanted to be a ballerina.  I was in dance for 12 years.  However, this dream was derailed after my back operation.
• I was really only popular in high school because I drove a minivan.  And most of my friends didn’t have a license.
• I got all of my “cough” PE credits in college doing “beginning dance” and Aerobics.  Even then, I had to make up classes, so I talked my best friend, Matt, into attending aerobics at the college gym.
• I have a green belt in Karate.  But, I was terrible at sparring, so I had to quit.
• I LOVE kick boxing, but I have never sparred.
• My freshman year of college, I was a drama major.  I realized very quickly that I wasn’t good enough to compete with my classmates, and changed my major to English.
• I actually enjoy cleaning house.  Not every day, but if I have good music, and loads of free time, I really enjoy dancing while vacuuming, dusting, and wiping things down.
• I got my first job as a teacher after a substitute saw me teach a special needs class (while I was doing my student teaching) and thought I would be perfect for the job.  She called Intercept (the alternative school I started in) and recommended me.
• The only time I taught general education was when I was doing my student teaching.
• I used to smoke.  Sadly enough, I started smoking when I was 17 because, literally, “all my friends were doing it.”  And, I hated it.  So, I decided, rather than to fight it, I would join in.
• John and Karate helped me quite smoking.  John hated it, and I couldn’t compete in Karate as a smoker.
• Even though I say I chose “Chloe” because it is a Greek name, and is another name for Demeter, who is the Goddess of the harvest and Persephone’s mom, I really got it from watching Smallville.  I always loved the “Chloe Sullivan” character, because she was really smart and she wasn’t afraid to show it.
• I was named after a Bond girl, Tiffany Chase, from Diamonds are Forever.
• I used to be obsessed with actors James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando.

That’s all I have for now.  Tag, your it.

Her latest ploy, “Mommy, poo poo on the potty!”

She KNOWS that no matter what I am doing, I will have to drop everything to take her to the potty.  (Oh, and poo poo really means pee pee, she’s has them mixed up.)

Last night at dinner, I took her to the potty 4 times, and John took her once.  When we are at home, if I am cooking dinner or doing the dishes, or basically any activity where I am not paying 100% of my attention to her, she will tell me she needs to go potty.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am EXTREMELY proud of her.  And she is proud of herself, too.  After each time, she’ll shout, “I did it!”  The waitress at the resteraunt asked her how she was doing, and Chloe excitedly announced, “I poo pooed on the potty!”  The waitress just laughed and congratulated her.

But, does the child really need to pee five times in one dinner?  John and I decided that this is one of the times when we have to give in.  We can’t afford to assume she is just manipulating.

Which, she knows.  Oh boy, does she know!

She was so cute when she was playing with it that I started to feel guilty that my parents may never get to enjoy WATCHING her play with the toy they so lovingly picked out.  This is one of the major downfalls of living in a different state then the grandparents.  So, I turned on the camera, just so they could get a glimpse of the joy I have every day.

I worked in the Best Buy customer service department for four years during college.  It was a perfect college job because it didn’t require a whole lot of thought, or commitment, and I could transfer back and forth between Fort Collins and Aurora. However, it was no picnic.  If you want a hard cold look at the psyche of the American consumer, work in customer service.

Oddly enough, I think it actually prepared me for my work with difficult children.  Anybody who has worked in costumer service can tell you that it can be stressful.  Customers can be unreasonable, rude, and at times violent.  I actually had a lady throw a phone at me once, a phone that was AT LEAST five years old and there was NO WAY it was still under warranty.  I also had security escort out another customer because the printer he sent to service came back saying that the warranty had been voided due to something he had done to it.  This is what I loved about that one, he was cussing me out at top volume, while holding his five-year-old’s hand.  Excellent lesson for your son, sir.

The Christmas season was the worst.  I am still traumatized, it is one of the reason I try to have all my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving.  People really suck at Christmas time.

One time, I was running the register because the cashiers were backed up, and we literally had every register manned.  There was a guy in line who was bitching to his kid.  “Pay attention, this is what happens when you don’t have a college education, you end becoming a cashier for minimum wage.  You’d think they would try to find people who could actually do the job.  Jeez this is taking forever.  Maybe they should train these people better so the lines wouldn’t be so long,” and on and on and on.  The funny thing is, the hold up wasn’t me, it was the little old lady three customers in front of him who was counting out the change down to the penny.  When he finally got to my register, I told him off.  I explained to him that I was in college and this job was helping to pay for it, I had plenty of training and was actually a senior in the customer service department, and if he didn’t want to wait in line, he shouldn’t shop during one of the busiest times of the season.  He asked to see a manager, and I said, “I don’t think that’s going to get you out of here any faster.”  Luckily, my manager was nearby and had heard the exchange, he totally backed me up and suggested that the guy find another store if he didn’t like the way things were run at Best Buy.

Why am I telling you about this?

Last night I had a dream where John, Chloe, and I moved to New York.  We were living in a tiny apartment and couldn’t afford the rent, so I had to go back to work at Best Buy.  I was in the warehouse listening to the drone go on and on about where everything was, and I felt so old and out of place.  But, at the same time, I knew the ropes so there was a sense of superiority.  A feeling of “I got this.”  When I woke up, I was surprised to find myself in my bedroom in New Jersey.  It seemed SO real!

I think the dream was brought about by my PTSD when it comes to the Christmas shopping season.  They’ve already started playing the music in the stores, and it triggered the fear of having to return to working in retail.  I would do it if I had to, but MAN it would be painful!

However, we are having some issues with her pooping on the potty.  So, all of you veterans parents out there, any suggestion on how to make this more comfortable for her?  She only seems to be able to poop standing up (usually in her diaper.)  She has tried to poop on the potty, but for some reason, she just can’t.  I am starting to worry she is going to get constipated.  Because of this concern, yesterday I put a diaper on her after she tried three times to poop on the potty, she pooped with no problem.  And today, after trying twice on the potty, she finally gave up and pooped in her underpants.  (And, quite honestly I can’t blame her.)

I am just not sure how to cross this physical barrier, so any suggestions would be helpful.

Other than that though, she is doing remarkably well, and barring any setbacks, she should be potty trained by the time we go to Denver in two weeks.

(Disclaimer:  I fully anticipate its going to take much longer for her to go overnight, and I am aware that children usually have setbacks of some kind.  I am also aware there will be good days and bad days.)