A Thank You and a Year End Review

On this final day of 2011, we would first like to thank our faithful readers; Thank you, thank you, thank you, for continuing to visit our blog, leaving comments, and inspiring us with ideas, queries and quandaries. Second, we would like to indulge in some year-end reflection and review, with this month-by-month list of some of the most popular posts of 2011.

In January, we started the year wondering, Will 2011 be the Year of the Tiger Mother?

February brought on musings about grammar with The "I"s have it.

In March, we took on the term MILF in Here's to You, Mrs. Robinson.

In April, we discussed friendship in the digital age with, Friend, or Facebook Friend?

In May, we asked you all to consider Letting your child make the call.

By June, we had moved on to proposing revolution in So crazy, it just might work.

July was a good month for royal watching, so we pondered The Princess and the Pantyhose.

In August, we were blissfully sacked out in hammocks, drinking Mai Tais. Just kidding. We were really shaking the sand out of towels, slathering sunscreen on small bodies and otherwise trying to keep our children busy.

In September, we pondered The Meaning in the Missoni.

October is a serious month, so we asked, Is Academic Redshirting the Last Conversational Taboo? 

In November we enjoyed the frivolity of 11/11/11.

In December, the hand's down most popular post was this (tongue-in-cheek) Last Minute Gift Idea.


So there you have it: that's what been on our minds this year. Thank you for thinking it through with us and hope you'll come back in 2012: Who knows what we'll have to ponder! Happy New Year to all!


Frivolous Foliday




Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday of your choosing.   For your amusement over the next couple of fun-filled days, here are 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'.

picture from thefw.com

Last Minute Gift Idea

Still searching for the perfect gift for the modern child?   You may be interested in this decorative item for his or her bedroom wall.   Frame and mounting are optional.  Who knows, they may even thank you when they're 40.


Found on our friend Kim's facebook page
seems to be from a real school in India  www.schoolofsuccess.in

Holiday Card Psychology


I met an armchair expert yesterday for a cup of hot chocolate and to discuss the psychology of holiday cards.  She lacks any relevant crediantials but is opinionated and has been around long enough to know how things work.  She was wearing dark jeans, ballet flats, a navy wax jacket and red tartan scarf.  I am only telling you this because this is how they do it in Vogue.  We shall call her Madame X.  Here's what I learned.

Madame X, thank you for sitting down with me. What can you tell our mannerly readers about holiday cards these days?
Well, Darling, like most aspects of life in these modern times, it's completely out of control.

How so?
Surely you have noticed how the fabulosity factor has overtaken the once genuine and sincere craft of connecting with people and wishing those far away from us a Merry Religious-Observance-Of-Their-Choice and a Happy New Year?  Now one starts by trying to come up with  a collection of words one hopes to be slightly festive yet completely inoffensive to the entire planet.  From there it is all about the glossy photos and beauty shots.  How many people even write notes on their cards any more? 

Not many I know.  Although some send a printed letter.
Yes!  I mean NO!  And what do those printed letter say?  Lalala... we spent the winter skiing, the summer beaching, our children are brilliant (!) fabulous (!), and as you can judge from the attached 32 picture photo collage, dramatically good-looking.  


So, you are an advocate for fewer pictures on a holiday card?
First of all, I know you talked about the rule of three in this blog at one point.  And really, never is this more true than with a holiday card. 

Meaning there should be no more than three photos on a holiday card?
Exactly.  And really just one.  If one is keeping score, and trust me, this has become something of a sport in many houses, maximum points are give for one good photo of everyone over many good shots of each family member. 

But what if there is one child, shall we say,  hamming it up?
That my dear, is what we call "representative of the moment" and something you might want to consider saving for his/her rehearsal dinner. 


Did you see the piece in the WSJ today about the holiday photo card industry?
Yes.  It was a good study of this phenomenon.  Ironically, it did not discuss the e-card option as found on Paperless Post.  This is the method to which I hope to be migrating in the near future.  Not only is it much less cher (my Dear) but green as well.  En fin, as for having oneself featured in that article, you know what I say, fools names and fools faces...

So I take it you are not a fan of Reality TV?
That, my friend, is another topic for another day.  


Thank you and Merry Christmas.
 Merry Christmas to you. 

Santa: Don't ask, don't tell?



For families who celebrate Christmas, Santa can be a pleasant diversion and a means for promoting good behavior, when children are young. But as they get older, the family might settle into an uneasy equilibrium. The children are old enough to know better: they couldn’t possibly believe that a man could deliver presents to millions of homes in a single night, powered by a few flying animals. Yet, perhaps, they are also wise enough to not question the clandestine delivery of presents which do not require a thank you note!  It might be hard for a modern mother to know: Do they know? Or not? Will they be humiliated in eighth grade when they are the last of their classmates to discover the truth?  Should we sit them down for a talk?

When there are multiple children of different ages, it becomes even more complicated.  If an older child asks directly, “Is Santa real?” in the presence of his younger siblings, the modern mother faces a conundrum: spill the beans to all of the the children, or lie to her 8/9/10 year old.  Alternatively,  she could take an existential approach: “If Santa doesn’t exist, then he can’t bring you presents, so if you would like to take that risk, you may.” And thus, the whole Santa thing evolves into a “don’t ask; don’t tell” situation.  Healthy? We’re not so sure. Effective? Yes. The older children become complicit in the Santa phenomenon, or maybe they just suspend disbelief for a few more years. Either way, the show can go on, even if it includes a knowing wink. 

* Santa image from allposters.com 
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