I just have to say we have successfully navigated Christmas! Although the boy is not home he still received a Christmas gift from Mommy and Daddy. Unlike his birthday we decided to do it a little different. For his birthday we bought him a set of Duplo blocks. Of course we bought the gift so who was going to unwrap it? So it sat on the table during his party for everyone to look at.
Well... Christmas is a little different. In anticipation of the arrival of a child we started our own family tradition. We, like many others, now open our gifts to each other Christmas morning. (Gifts were previously opened on Christmas Eve with Derek's family). Anyway, I had this grand idea that we would each purchase a gift for the boy and wrap it so the other could unwrap it. My grand ideas always have a way of being modified. Last week I went into Teaching Toys and Books and saw the mother of all Christmas gifts. The gift that would dub me as the coolest mom ever! The most beautiful wooden Radio Flyer Trike! Packaged in it's little red retro box it called to me. Of course the trike was over the set spending limit so I changed the plan a little. I consulted with the better half and we decided that we would spend the money for the trike and then we could assemble it Christmas morning. This is sounding fun, huh? I thought so.

At this point in the story I am going to remind you that I have never before been a parent.

The trike was a little expensive at the toy store so we decided to try to find it cheaper at "Mega Toy Store". In the unwritten parenting instructions it NEVER states "avoid Mega Toy Store during Christmas at all costs." I nearly had a panic attack somewhere around Tonka Trucks. Of course the did not have the coveted trike (as the internet informed me). The next stop was Mega everything store. Also no trike. Did I mention this was on Wednesday?

The next plan was to return to the original toy store to buy said trike on Thursday. Evidently that whole job thing got in the way. (see earlier post about D's gift) So that left Friday. Yes we went into a toy store the day before Christmas Eve.

Can you guess what happens next? Yep! Out of the Radio Flyer Trike! They had the wagon and the rocking horse, but no trike. I was damned determined to get my son a gift that we could assemble Christmas morning. So we asked the nice lady if they had any in the back and of course she said no. Instead she told us they had lots of Kettler Trikes. Kettler! I had never heard of Kettler. I don't want that, I want a Radio Flyer. She takes us to the catalog and shows us photos and tells us about the features of the Kettler trike. Ok, this woman is good. She is selling me on a different trike! We mull this over for a moment and decide that maybe this one is better than the RF. SOLD!!!

We leave the toy store with our new little gift for the boy. Proud parents we are! We then realized this is first in the many bikes to come. The last minute shopping for the perfect gift that everyone is out of. We are so proud!

So here it is Christmas morning. Like planned we had our breakfast, opened our gifts from each other and started in on the trike. I am here to tell you this is the coolest bike ever. It is fully adjustable, has a little dump bucket on the back and has an optional attachable handle so parents can push it if little legs don't know how to pedal. Wanna see it?Doesn't my kid have the coolest bike on the block? Jealous aren't you.

Merry Christmas to all! We'll let you know what we got later. For now I want you all to bask in the glow of my marvelous gift!

Lisa, the best mom ever