Can we fight over something? ;)

Here's one that inadvertently set off my friends on Facebook, LOL!

When it comes to Christmas gifts, we do the something to wear, something to read, something you want, something you need thing. We also throw in a 5th gift, which is a surprise--it can be anything.

So the number of gifts we give the kids are automatically "even" just based on that little rhyme. BUT, I mentioned that I had accomplished my big goal of the season in that the everyone had the exact same number of stocking stuffers. And the post exploded with people saying how their kids don't pay attention to things like that, etc.

My kids are practically all full grown, now, so it's not that I keep them even so no one pouts. It's down to this stocking tradition we have.

My eldest adores stockings. Oh my gosh. Favorite part of the entire day. We have relatively large stockings and I fill them to the brim, only with all of these little bitty doofy things. Gum, mints, candy, post-it notes, floss, stickers, batteries, cards---all stuff $5 or less, and until the recent inflation--a lot of items $1.00 or less, too. And I wrap them all in the bits of left-over paper from the "real" gifts.

Well, when my eldest was a toddler, they started this thing where we sit in a circle, dump our stockings and go around opening one thing at a time. LOL! I wasn't expecting it, so that year, I ran out of gifts before anyone else. And my sweet kid was so sad for me. They didn't understand why I didn't get as many. I think we made up something about my items taking up too much room.

But after that, I always made sure the kid(s) & DH had the exact same number of items, and I would tell that number to DH to be sure my stocking was equal as well. If he found himself short, he'd grab an unopened toothbrush or office supply and wrap it for me.

So, that's my yearly goal--even stockings so when we go around in our circle we all have the same number of silly gifts on our pile. And that's why a good number of my Facebook friends thought my entitled kids had lost the spirit of Christmas.

So feel free to take sides on the matter! I can take it.

I actually stopped wearing perfume as a young adult because I had experienced this so often and everyone always told me the same thing---that eventually people keep using more because they get used to the scent and think they need more.

And in my late teens/early 20s I felt like there was no way I wanted to be that person, so I stopped wearing any perfume at all.

In high school, I had a teacher for 3 years that always arrived to class after all of the kids, I swear he wore so much cologne, we could smell him approaching the classroom. It made your eyes tear up.

I've never actually purchased it, and in fact my one aunt (who passed away a few years ago) was the only person I know who did.

BUT, you saying this immediately brought back so many memories of her fighting with that roll, LOL! She always had to send food home with people, and she'd be trying to wrap up paper plates and bowls full of food and she'd always drag out that Press and Seal and grumble about it as she forced the leftovers upon you!