'Zat You, Santy Claus?



My best friend will roll here eyes right now, but I've started my Christmas shopping already. No one's list is that clear yet--Miss Z can't write, or really say anything yet, so she can't tell me what she wants. The Mr. just mutters "clutter" when I mention gifts and begs me not to get him anything. And the X-Man requested an electric guitar (not on my watch), pretend candy corn (okaaaay), and a real shop vac (hmm, maybe Santa will bring Mommy one to clean out the pool shed).

So for Miss Z I ordered a baby doll from Magic Cabin a catalogue full of things I drool over. She has started trying to brush the teeth of her stuffed animals and give them snacks, so she seems ready. But shhhhh, that's her "Santa" gift. DS is a harder nut to crack this year. In the past there has been something obvious to get for him. One year he asked Santa for a guitar (acoustic, thank you) and a lollipop. He got a trike when he was two and is still going strong on that. There was a train table at some point which, of course, is never used for trains (the quote being "Mom, I wasn't made to like trains, I was made to like tubes and wires"). But it gets a fair amount of use as a platform for his contraptions, systems and installations.

But this year there is nothing obvious popping out at Santa (or Mrs. Claus I suppose--the cute and svelte version please). I did win an auction on Ebay for a Pippi Longstocking doll and her horse. This will go in his stocking and, if my hunch is right, please him no end. But other than that, I got nuthin'. The Mr. has muttered "coal" under his breath--not because he's particularly scroogy or because the X-Man is naughty (although he is often a pain in the ass), but because coal doesn't equal "clutter." I'm sure Mrs. Claus will come up with something. Maybe I should just head over to Home Depot and get some PVC tubing and a shop vac and call it a day.