I REFUSE to raise ungrateful children aka Christmas Morning

*Warning: Ridiculously, obnoxiously, picture heavy post.

The Scene: Christmas Morning at Chateau de la Francaise, Santa, who spent most of the night putting together Playmobil products, has arrived and delivered a bounty of toys for all, both big and small.

Santa has set up scenes all over the living room. Here pirates fight off Crocodiles...
Enter the children, who are thrilled at Santa's arrival. However, remember the 2-9-9-9 Cars from my earlier post? Well, Mr. Boy doesn't see them under the tree, and grows increasingly more frustrated as he opens each gift. Promptly after this photo was taken, Mr. Boy threw his new Batman PJ's over his shoulder and proclaimed them "Stupid". Mr. Man & I looked at each other with a look oh "oh no he di'nt". With a flick of the wrist Mr. Boy is sent to Time Out. I know, I know.. Time out on Christmas? Oh yes indeed. Then we made him reopen his presents, be grateful, and say thank you after each one....
Then, after he practiced and perfected Gracious Present Opening 101, we pulled out a gift from far under the tree. It was the 2-9-9-9 Cars he so desperately wanted. His excitement was contagious.Then there was AK, who kept getting mad at us for making her stop playing with her new toys and open more presents. She got a new baby, to replace her well loved baby who has a skidmark on her head from being dragged down the driveway every morning. We learned that you can not simply replace toys, you merely add to them. AK now drags two babies around. We should have opted for the double stroller.. AK also ripped the wrapping paper off in dime sized pieces, so Mr. Boy had to intervene in the interest of getting through the gifts prior to 2010. Also, random thought, for months we keep trying to have Mr. Boy get dressed before he comes out of his room in the morning... however, he didn't get the memo that Christmas is Exempt from that rule. So just pretend he is wearing matchy matchy red PJ's. Santa brought Mr. Man and I lots of good gifts for the Wii. Knowing that Santa was bringing us good gifts, we decided to do a $5 buck gift exchange between us. Mr. Man did not follow the rules, however, I did. Here he is opening up his Sponge Holder... yes... a Sponge Holder, you know for Kitchen Sponges. It sticks to the side of the kitchen sink. Here is a little known fact, I can NOT STAND Kitchen Sponges. Oooo how I hate them. What? I know you are shocked, that I loathe a product that is a haven for germs. If I see one in the bottom of the sink, I get a ziploc baggie, and turn it inside out like a glove, pick it up and seal it up, then I walk it out to the outside trash. I can not stand them. Anyhow, Mr. Man loves Sponges. So.. as a gift from the heart, a place for Mr. Man to keep his beloved sponges.

I can't help but look at this picture, and think.. huh.. what happened? Mr. Man and I picked five gifts for each child back in November. We went shopping togethere on a Hot Friday Night Date in November to avoid the "Christmas Eve shopping at Walgreens Fiasco of 2006". Looks like Mr. Man and I had a hard time sticking to our list. We really don't want to raise spoiled children, but this picture is Exhibit A in the fact that we are failing at our cause. Here is AK with her loot, however she's sitting on most of her gifts. Then the family arrived, and my brother and I with Mr. Boy in between us, all rocked on Guitar Hero.
While my dad, who was hospitalized a few days after this pic was taken, snoozed with his favorite pal...
And the cousins snuggled the other dog.

And if you made it to here in my posts, you win the "Reader of the Year" prize.