do something different

BAM!

we're in december.  how did we slip right from thanksgiving smack dab into christmas?  there's usually that week after thanksgiving to wrap our collective heads around the prospect of christmas being right around the corner...but this year?  no such luck.  we're in it.  up to our necks.

this year, more than others, i think the chaos is going to be intense.  fear of the marketplace and the resulting increase in the "buy! buy! buy!" marketing is going to drive us bonkers.

so, this year, do something different. 

i saw this clip over on robb's site:

it got me thinking...we DO spend a load on our kids.  that's typically who we spend money on each year.  we've pretty much given up on trying to buy stuff for all the adults in the family and now it's just "buy for all the kids".

realistically, how many new toys to the kids really need?  up until a certain age, they'd rather play with the packaging more than the toy itself.  after that, sitting down with mom and dad and making something together would go down as equally cool.  grab some cardboard boxes from a local store and make a house/fort/spaceship or try your hand at putting making a clipper ship from cardboard scraps.  seriously, i can't imagine anything cooler than getting a kid's creative wheels spinning by making something with them out of mundane objects.  and for those older kids?  well, they're old enough to understand making a 'toy' sacrifice for the betterment of someone less fortunate.

so this year?  consider doing something different.

me?  i'm going to see if my nephew would like to join me in making a cardboard robot for thunderclap.

soundtrack for this post
	lick: hipsters: wax:	One Special Gift Low Christmas