Day 6 & 7: The White Elephant Gift

Apparently this is going to "get better". We still aren't there, but I remain hopeful. Things were pretty busy around the Womack house on Friday evening - both girls had a Christmas party at church. As I shooshed them out the door, dressed as Red Fish and The Lorax, I breathed a sigh of relief. One more day. Done.

I was on pick-up duty from the party. I was pretty proud of myself, I managed to unload two pieces of junk worldly treasures in the annual white elephant exchange among the Jr High and Sr High group. There was a twinkle in Little Miss' eyes at pick-up. She couldn't wait to tell me that The Teen had "stolen" the Jurassic Park DVD series and they were now OURS! I suppose this is big news, but I saw the angst coming about 3 minutes out. On and on she went. "It was so cool; Tommy didn't see it coming; Everyone laughed; I knew she would get it; and WE CAN'T WAIT TO WATCH IT." Oh, wait you will, Little Ones. As we drove home, it dawned on her that watching it was not in her immediate future. It was as if we were in a cartoon and a storm cloud was only above our car. That stinkin' white elephant. He did it again.

In the excitement of The Teen's gift, Little Miss forgot to mention that she won two gift boxes of candy and a mug filled with chocolates. The next morning, I had an early hair appointment and Kevin went on a bike ride. We unplugged the modem (again) so the "sneaking" wouldn't be a temptation. There may have been some mental high fiving at being sharper than the kiddos. When I went to wake Little Miss up the post haircut/10:30am (Day 7), shiny candy wrappers surrounded her silky hair and a Christmas mug balanced on the post of her headboard. Ahhhh. I then turned and nearly tripped over her middle-school issued laptop on her floor. Hmm - neither of these items were present upon tuck the night before. Seems that Little Miss had crawled out of bed in the middle of the night, gathered a "snack" and some entertainment. No need to unplug anything. In the middle of the night, she apparently found the end of the internet and then went to sleep. And, the fast begins again.

We tried to keep busy throughout the day. I must admit, there was less asking for media than in previous days. Since it was Saturday, the good doctor suggested watching one of the new Jurassic Park movies. I agreed and there may have even been some family bonding. Evening closed out with some Barbie playing and laughter. We are close. So close I can almost smell it. Media free living - we're coming for you.