Monday, November 5, 2007

Do You Hear What I Hear

So every morning after Halloween when Kid has gotten up and settled herself on the couch while she "wakes up" I have been turning the radio on to our easy listening station to see if they have started playing their non-stop Christmas music programming. Last year the start date was the day after Halloween. I was initially completely shocked and appalled by that but if you know kids they love Christmas music... is that not a universal truth? it certainly is around here... and hey who am I to keep the kid from something so joyful. Unfortunately I've been basing this decision on last year and that was back in the good old days when I only had one kid so I actually left the house. It never occurred to me what a mistake turning that shit on in the house might turn out to be.

And not to turn you all off of having multiple children I should make it clear that having two kids isn't that much harder... it is just that this second kid is a crazy baby... or maybe it is all the crack that comes through my breastmilk... what I'm not the only mom who is smoking crack to stay awake right... Right?!?!

Well anyway this morning I turn it on kind of as a "hey lets check", they hadn't started it yet so I kind of thought maybe they had pushed it back due to massive complaints or something, well lo and behold they started it. I realized what a HUGE mistake I had made about a few beats into the FIRST fucking song... some Mariah Carey song. Mariah it is nothing personal.. but it is 8 in the morning and this is just not what I want in the background. Now I made my bed on this one and I pretty much have to listen to it ALL freaking day now. I don't know why I ever did this. I mean checking on the car radio would be one thing... but now I'm going to have to listen to this shitty Christmas rotation All. The. Fucking. Time. And if you are wondering why I don't just shut it off... well then you don't have a five year old who is perfectly capable of turning on the radio her own damn self!

Just when everything seemed dismal and potentially homicidal making Kid says "Now that you are putting the Baby down you can read me a book." Like the terrible mother I am I whine (yes really) "Ummm I haven't even finished my coffee" I was feeling a little guilty and just then the Charlie Brown Christmas Song came on and I said "Oh it's Charlie Brown!" Kid was sufficiently diverted and I thought "hmm this might not be so bad after all"

36 comments:

michelline said...

Can't you just pop in a Barney video? (That doesn't make me sound old, does it?)

Anonymous said...

Don't you have Christmas CDs you can pop in? Or if you have them ripped to MP3s like we do, play them on the laptop. Then you can skip the Mariah songs.

Mr Furious said...

I could probably make a Christmas playlist for the iPod easily enough, but you are going to run into the same repetition problem...

Better to just play other music, send Kid F up to her room to listen or throw the stereo into the fireplace...

Mrs Furious said...

I was thinking Mr F could go raid the library of all the tasteful and or funk oriented xmas music (there is some right?) and we could get a playlist going that wouldn't make me want to shoot myself!

Mrs Furious said...

(That doesn't make me sound old, does it?)

Ummm... if you say "video"... then yeah that automatically makes you sound old! ;)

michelline said...

Ummm... if you say "video"... then yeah that automatically makes you sound old! ;)

Just think - neither of your kids will know what a record player is. Tori's daycare had a record player they used for naptime, but they had switched to CD by the time Libby got there.

Mrs Furious said...

Hell my kids aren't going to know what a tape player is!

Anonymous said...

Hell my kids aren't going to know what a tape player is!

Yeah, Libby got her first MP3 player for her 6th birthday. She's never owned a cassette player. I think the last one we owned was in our car that was totalled in May of 2004 and I think we hadn't used it since we first got the car in 2002.

Mr Furious said...

Baby F might not even know what a CD is...

katieo said...

Ok. This is going to sound strange but are you SURE it wasn't Amy Grant? I turned on the radio the other day and was like, "AAAAAH!!! Not another grown-up Christmas list!" Which is so unfortunate, because I can take corny cheesy Christmas music in small doses. But I totally have to agree with you, not the day after Halloween 24/7.

I have my boys trained now when we walk into stores to say, "WHAT?? Christmas stuff? These people must be NUTS!! It's not Christmastime is it Mom??" really loud. take that Joann Fabrics, local grocery store, mall, and EVERYWHERE ELSE.

michelline said...

I have my boys trained now when we walk into stores to say, "WHAT?? Christmas stuff? These people must be NUTS!! It's not Christmastime is it Mom??" really loud. take that Joann Fabrics, local grocery store, mall, and EVERYWHERE ELSE.

Hey you, simmer down there. It's November, YES it's Christmas time! :) You all just avert your eyes and the rest of us will commence shopping.

Baby F might not even know what a CD is...

Good point. We still buy CDs because for the most part, they come without DRM. DRM is the main reason I haven't fully embraced online music sales. If I can get a DRM-free album from Amazon for $11, I'll wait rather than pay $10 on iTunes or the Zune Marketplace. (And no Zune cracks, you)

katieo said...

Chris. No way! It's November 5th!! I have waaaaaay to much to do before Christmas. Remember back in the day when holiday decorations came out the day after Thanksgiving? I swear, pretty soon, it'll be Christmas music after Labor Day, lol!

It's ok though. Go right ahead and commence your Christmas shopping but I must disagree. It's impossible to "avert" my eyes and ears. It's everywhere!

E. Broderick Photography said...

Not much time to comment--but I must agree--Mariah is totally a freak. Can't stand her. And her half-naked body...Funny to see you point out that she always prefers one side of her face.I don't think I ever actually noticed that, but now that you mention...
And I am a total Scrooge when it comes to Xmas music. I think I love it the very first time I hear it each year--for a few minutes. But 90% of those songs just suck. And I can hardly hold my tongue...Especially "Baby, it's cold outside." Hell--there are too many bad ones to even start...And the day after Halloween? Ridiculous.

Heather said...

After trekking 38 miles up the awful Calif. hwy 101 to the city yesterday to hear some amazing church music, imagine my disappointment when they announce that they're recording Christmas music for a CD. Dammit. I was so bitter I barely paid attention to the rest of the service. I love Christmas music -- during the Christmas season. We've got at least three weeks to go on that.

Mrs Furious said...

Chris & Michelline live in Florida... so I can see with the lack of actual seasons you might need the Christmas season to start a little earlier than the rest of us.

I'm with you Katieo we don't do xmas decorating until after Thanksgiving... usually the first weekend in December... otherwise our tree is dead by Christmas day. What are you doing about a tree, have you come up with any thoughts?
And speaking of store craziness... they had actually switched our Target over from Halloween to Xmas before Halloween! What is up with that?!?

Eileen yeah it's true Mariah will only show one side.. and my friend Alexis saw her on the street and said she was hideous :)

Mrs Furious said...

Speaking of Christmas music... I just got our Disney passholders magazine.. and it is going to rock at WDW when we are there! I am so freaking excited.
The Harlem Gospel Choir will be at MGM studios!

Mrs Furious said...

Awww... I'm sorry Heather!.. I actually followed your link and was very jealous that you can go there at all!

I actually took Kid to a new church yesterday and had the reverse situation.. they had an awesome teen rock band (I mean seriously really good) play all the music and hymns and everything... only to find out it was a special youth lead service that only happens twice a year... ah well...

eurydice said...

i heard xmas music in a store this week and was really weirded out. but otherwise i love it. in my younger days i used to work as a holiday cashier in the body shop (soaps and stuff) in the mall and really got into the tunes. nsync xmas... alright!

ps i tagged you on my blog for a bloggyinfo thing if you are interested.

Anonymous said...

Chris & Michelline live in Florida... so I can see with the lack of actual seasons you might need the Christmas season to start a little earlier than the rest of us.

I can't figure out why you guys are such bah humbugs about the Christmas season. It's only in America that the Thanksgiving thing comes into play. Take a trip to Europe sometime.

As to the decorations early, Chris and I do a TON of decorating. It takes weeks to get everything out of the shed and up in the house. We put up two large trees and 3 smaller trees. We also take everything out of both of my curios and replace it with only Christmas collectibles. Every room in the house gets decorated. Including bedrooms and bathrooms. We replace the portrait above the fireplace. In the kitchen, we replace all the canisters with Christmas versions and of course, we change out the dishes for Christmas ones. EVERYTHING changes. And while we're decorating, we're listening to Christmas music. We also have a lot of outside decorations.
To top it all off, Chris and I are out of town Thanksgiving weekend and also the following weekend. And we have a Christmas brunch party on December 8. We usually have about 50-70 people at our party. So we have to have almost everything done before Thanksgiving.

Anyway, why wouldn't you want to extend the beauty of the Christmas spirit as long as you can? It's the most wonderful time of the year, when people are supposed to be happy and relaxed. I don't understand how people can get so stressed about all the things they HAVE to do. Just relax and let the beauty of the season surround you.

Mrs Furious said...

Michelline...
that is freaking insane!!!! I mean I completely love it ...but you guys are so Christmas crazy it is like nothing I have ever heard of before!

Oh my god you should total come to Michigan.. we have the world's largest Christmas store!

I do agree with you...our house looks its best at Christmas and I often wish I could leave it all up. :)

Mrs Furious said...

eurydice,

okay I'll do it... is there a time frame... I might not be able to do it tomorrow.

katieo said...

"we have the world's largest Christmas store!"

Stop! You're making me homesick!

(and as far as the christmas tree issue, no. no plan. I'm not freaking out about it until I absolutely have to...)

Mrs Furious said...

what you guys don't come visit you parents?

last year I took Kid to Frankenmuth and did the whole thing... Bronner's, a fudge shop visit, and the chicken dinner. She loved it! I was trying to avoid it w/the baby... but it is sounding good... I might have to do it again.

one tree idea I have now is wiring the tree to our curtain rod in front of our windows and then only putting non-breakable ornaments on. I'm just worried about her eating the needles! (she's real oral)

eurydice said...

no time frame - it's just for kicks anyhoo...

Mrs Furious said...

eurydice,

good. I'm thinking of my tidbits. and of course the sad fact that I don't know 7 people!

by the way I'm interested in your Cauliflower Curry soup recipe!

katieo said...

(Oooo. Non-breakable ornaments. I hadn't even thought of that! I really am debating just not doing one. My "T" is SO into EVERYTHING, I just cannot imagine a scenario where the tree does not fall on him multiple times over the course of the season. But then again, I just can't bear to NOT have a Christmas tree!)

"what you guys don't come visit you parents?"

No! Well, we're working on it. (Think about it. Flying from here to there with 3 kids under 5...if money weren't an issue then maybe...but even then it's a pain to fly with that many little people. So much easier from Grandparents to come out here!)

I love Frankenmuth. Forget that it's a pain with babies! GO! For us! Last time we were out there, we we had SO much fun. And Bronners is just plain awesome. I agree, Chris and Michelline definitely need to come up JUST to go there. They'd love it!

Mrs Furious said...

They'd love it!

Hell.. they're livin' it!


We travel out to CT only once a year to visit my in-laws and then maybe once to visit my dad in NJ. It is a pain and it is expensive and that is not with 3 kids! You don't have enough arms between the two of you for all the car seats and other crap you'd have to take. I wish our parents would come here more....well... maybe not...

Anonymous said...

Neither of our kids were a problem at Christmas time. Tori was 14 months her first real Christmas and Libby was 8 1/2 months old. We had the same concerns, but found they really did leave the tree alone. It helped that we had tons of other decorations they could play with (stuffed Christmas animals that made noises or walked, etc) so they could be redirected to those. I would suggest a round baby gate (if it will fit) for the tree and then not putting any breakable ornaments on it this year. Don't put any ornaments on the lower tree limbs (no sense tempting baby more than necessary!) And no tinsel of course!! That stuff should be outlawed in houses with cats, dogs, and babies!

Anonymous said...

Chris and Michelline definitely need to come up JUST to go there

I would LOVE to visit. I'm a freak for Christmas. My birthday is 12/14 and I usually ask for Christmas decorations as presents. That way I can enjoy my gifts immediately :) Heck, I even get Christmas decorations as Christmas gifts. Last year my Sister-in-law gave me several beautiful (and large) Lenox Christmas pieces. I can't wait to put them up this year for the first time.
This thread has made me decide to pull out the curio stuff tomorrow night. I would do it tonight, but Libby has a T-Ball game.

Anonymous said...

Hell.. they're livin' it!


LOL! Not quite yet.

On another note, we've had our first real cold snap. The temperature today is getting up to 78, but the low tonight is going to be in the 40s and the high tomorrow is only in the 60s. I'm SO excited!!! Christmas weather!

(Go ahead and make fun of me now)

Mrs Furious said...

This thread has made me decide to pull out the curio stuff tomorrow night.

well this thread has inspired me to take down our Halloween decorations ;)....
that and it snowed today!
somehow the xmas music is much less annoying with a little snow in the air :)


oh and Michelline I expect to see pictures of your house once it is all decorate! Inside and Out!

Anonymous said...

It snowed today? Seriously? I am SO jealous. Last time it snowed here was 1989. Post a picture?? Pretty please?

And of course we'll post pics. Chris said he'd blog about it because we take so much crap from everyone :)

Speaking of his blog, did you see his latest post about our car accident?

Mrs Furious said...

michelline,

no.. I'll go right over.

I meant to ask you about the car accident you mentioned yesterday.. and then got sidetracked.

Okay I'll go and be back..

Mrs Furious said...

well I'm glad you guys are alright!

next time please just take the time to wrap them in some newspaper... I'd hate to think of how badly cut you could have gotten :(

although I certainly would have done the same thing...not anymore!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE Christmas music! I waIt for it all year, and listen to it every morning on the way to school.
Sweetie brought Savanna and I back to our Mom's on Sunday, and I made her turn on 100.3 and listen to the christmas music; even though she said she refuses to listen to it before Thanksgiving. She was totally singing allong though, there's no way you can't love it?
OMG and that Mariah song was totally stuck in my head all day too. Soooo annoying.

Mrs Furious said...

Hey Jasmine!

Oh Sweetie can't help but sing along to EVERYTHING! :)

Blog Widget by LinkWithin