Consider yourself warned!
A guide for those who think they want children.
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Here we are, two weeks away from Christmas! Can you believe it’s almost here? I can’t. It seems like it sneaks up on me every year. And of course, I have not started Christmas shopping yet. You would think that I would know better by now than to wait to the last minute.
I know you people who don’t have kids are probably thinking, “Come on SassyGirlTye, Christmas happens at the same time every year. You know its coming. Besides, you have kids. I’m sure they remind you that ‘Santa’ is coming.” Well, that may be true, but believe you me, Christmas, as well as it’s cousin Thanksgiving, always seem to catch me by surprise. If I could just plan better, I could actually do the Christmas gift shopping early. But that never happens. There’s just so many other things going on. School starts in September, and I try to get back into the swing of things. In October, I have to mentally adjust to the upcoming projects and reports that will eventually be assigned. Next thing you know, its parent/teacher conferences, my daughter’s birthday, and Thanksgiving in November. Then I blink my eyes, and its Christmas. I wouldn’t be so bad if gifts were cheap and I had all the time in the world to shop online. I mean, why go to the store when you can shop from the comfort of your home and have it delivered to you? It doesn’t get too much better than that! But the things that kids want now are so expensive. Once you have teenagers, gone are the days of buying little trinket toys that you know are going to break in a few days, but you really don’t care because you got them from the dollar store. Gone are the days where you can buy $20.00 toys and not be too upset when you realize that the kids have lost interest in them and/or they are broken after a month. Nope. Once your kids hit middle school, they want the Xbox, Wii, PlayStation and all the games that go with them. After you spent around $300 or more on the console, you still have to get games for them to play!! The games are sold separately. Of course they are! Why include a free game in the box? Now mind you, these games cost at least $50.00 each. And they never want just one game. Nooooo! Are you kidding? They need at least two, if not more. And don’t try to be slick and look for a game that you want and try to pass it off as if you bought it for your kid. I can almost guarantee you that your child won’t like that game. Please. What were you thinking? When your kids become teenagers, they still want the expensive stuff … new cell phones, even though nothing is wrong with the old ones, IPads, sneakers, a gym membership. Yes, a gym membership. That’s what my 15 year old asked for this year. I actually don’t mind this one. I know that my son will use the gym membership because he wants to join the same gym where his friends go to play basketball, and I would rather have him play basketball at the gym instead of out in the streets. Here’s the thing, I don’t mind giving them nice things. In fact, I want them to have nice things. But let’s be real, these nice things are expensive and these kids don’t have a jobby job!!! And as my mother used to say, money doesn’t grow on trees … but wouldn’t it be nice if it did? I admit, unfortunately for the parent that pays the bill, that a cell phone is almost a necessity nowadays, but they don’t need the latest smart phone. You know, the one that’s newer than the phone the parent currently owns. An IPad can be used for school work. In fact, some schools want kids to have IPads or Chromebooks. The sneakers will definitely be worn, but, how many pairs do these kids really need? I only have two pairs and I’ve lost track as to how many pairs my son has now. And sneakers aren’t cheap!! I can pay my cell phone bill with the full retail price of one pair of sneakers. Side note, a few years ago, I introduced my son to the Nike outlet where he found a pair of LeBron’s for around $120. Now, every time we pass a Nike outlet, he wants to stop to “see what they have”. I appreciate that he has learned the value of a dollar, but no, we’re not stopping. Anyway, I digress. The point of all this is this, Christmas is here, and I’m not ready! I need another month, or two. So, if you plan on having kids, make sure you plan better than I did. Consider yourself warned! Please tell me, am I the only parent out there who is unprepared for Christmas, Kwanza, or Hanukah?
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SassyGirlTye lives with her two wonderful teenagers in Brooklyn, New York. No matter what she says in her posts, she truly loves her children with all her heart.
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