Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even the worst Mommy in the world.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that St. Nicklaus soon would be there.

And yes, he will be there, only he won't be bringing the vacuum Jack has been asking for the last few months. Why, you ask? Why wouldn't St. Nick be bringing the ONLY thing Jack has asked for? Because Jack has parents that are heartless. We are stubborn. And we are not willing to have our child be selfish and ungrateful, which is exactly how he's been acting the last few weeks. Lots of "you're a bad girl!" shouted at me...lots of hitting and kicking and talking back...and the kicker - I said I wasn't sure what would happen with his presents if he didn't behave and he said, knowingly, "oh, I'll GET presents...." That was the straw that broke our heartless backs. Because he's right. Of course he'll get presents. And withholding any of them wouldn't mean a thing unless we withhold THE present.

So our plan is this...we're going to write him a note from Santa saying that he knows he wants the vacuum and he can get it soon, but Santa isn't pleased with his behavior recently, so Jack will have to earn it.

I was feeling more bad-ass than anything - like we're doing the right thing and teaching him a hard lesson but that it will be worth it. But all day he's been going around telling people that he's getting only one present and that it's going to be a vacuum. And he's so thrilled about that. He said it again before bed. So I left him reading books with Chuck and I came out here and hopped on the internet to find out what stores are open this late on Christmas Eve because I don't know if I can handle the thought of disappointing him like this.

Stay tuned.