Do your kids make Christmas lists? Mine have started early this year. We don't spring for many requests between birthdays and Christmas so everything they ask for after their birthday garners the response, "Put it on your Christmas list!"
Their tastes are getting more expensive. Here are some of this year's wishes:
- a hang glider (yeah, right)
- a trampoline (more likely, but not in winter!)
- an American Girl doll (do we have to start that?)
- a rock tumbler (more likely)
Then the Young Explorers catalog arrived and was promptly swiped. The cutting and pasting began. The "I Wants" are like a mosquito bite that itches the more it's scratched. I find myself feeling annoyed the more they talk about their wish lists. I remind them that they are loved, fed, clothed, educated and well cared for - isn't that all they really need? Aren't they grateful?
But - I find that the "I Wants" are also contagious. Their dreaming even gets me thinking about things that would be nice to have if we had thousands of extra dollars. List-maker that I am I do confess to keeping mental lists. Here are a few several ~
Things for DH:
- a snow thrower (have you seen how much these cost?)
- a garage make-over
- a pressure washer
- a riding lawn mower (except we have no where to put it)
- a generator
- hire out window washing
- hire out some interior painting
- a new car to replace his '96 Accord
The home improvement wish list:
- a new sofa (daily reading time has reduced the life of ours)
- granite counter tops
- ceramic tile the bathrooms
- a deck
- finish the basement
- re-do the flagstone patio that is constantly dirty and weedy and uneven
- re-do some of the garden beds and add a tall white lattice fence behind the east garden to block the view of our neighbor's weeds
The SAHM self-care dream items:
- new maternity clothes (mine are almost all 10 years old!)
- a spa package of regular pedicures, facials, and massages
- quality facial care products now that 40 is coming (next year)
- a professional weight loss program next summer after baby #5
- some new jewelry
- a gym membership and time to exercise
Financial "I Wants" should really come first before all the material wants. Achieving these goals would even free up a chunk of the monthly budget for a few extras:
- pay off my grad school loan
- pay off the van
Nothing urgent, just things that would be nice. Hopefully this is a little sign of detachment, right? My happiness does not depend on getting any of these items. Only a few eat at me a little - like the sagging sofa, dirty windows and the dark den on the north side of the house that could use a brighter hue of paint before daylight savings ends. But mostly, thanks to an abundance of progesterone these days, I am way too tired to get worked up about it!
I also try to avoid voicing these "I Wants" around the children because I don't want to set a bad example. Hopefully I am not the contagious one infecting the children!
Other needs always seem to come first before all the extras anyway - music lessons, winter clothing needs, fireplace cleaning, firewood purchasing and annual piano tuning are the biggies we currently face. Oh, and cell phones. Our Quest service is ending for good and we have to find another phone and another plan or be charged a de-activation fee. Looks like a somewhat necessary splurge (but not really necessary) will be made for I-Phones. Last year's version.
Each of us will probably get at least one thing we want this Christmas, all the time knowing that gifts are not what the Holy Day is really about. Christmas is about Jesus and while gift giving is one way of showing our love for one another, it is certainly not the focus.
The kids like to dream and so do I. I just have to remember a wise adage my mother taught me: If your outgo is more than your income, your upkeep will be your downfall!

