An RSVP Allergy

I've heard of dairy allergies. I know people allergic to peanuts. My whole freaking family is allergic to Penicillin. Until recently, though, I never knew there exists an allergy to replying. Are people all over the world suffering from this or just people on my guest list?

I recently planned an event and used an online invitation service. It allows people to respond quickly and easily whenever they have a free moment. It provides a link with all the information on the event in the very same place where one can click to confirm or refuse.

I found myself in a mild panic when, just days before the event, the majority of people hadn't even opened the invitation yet and of those who did, very few had replied. I've e-mailed. I've sent reminders. I've sent reminders using social networking sites. I've tried calling. Still, people refuse to RSVP.

I had two people call/message me to say they were coming. Well, thanks, but I really wanted you to reply through the site because it keeps a running tally of kids and adults so I have an exact number. It took more effort to call and send me a message than clicking the link would have taken.

Another person told me face-to-face that she couldn't come, but the site sent a reminder to everyone who hadn't responded. This person than replied to that message and E-MAILED ME to remind me about her conflict. The message she replied to had the link RIGHT THERE where she could have clicked to just mark, "No." It took her longer to reply than to click the link.

I was shocked to find that a number of people who didn't RSVP actually plan on coming. I had assumed they simply couldn't come, so they weren't bothering to reply. Then again, most of them NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT THE INVITATION.

This has made planning the event very difficult. I didn't know who to expect or how many.

Is this common? Are other people experiencing this as well? Have we just forgotten how to RSVP? Are the expectations different in different parts of the country/world?

Santa is dead.

Dear strangers,

Please do not ask my children if Santa is coming to visit them. If you should violate that first rule, then please, when they answer, "No," to your question, do not insist they must be wrong. When they politely, but firmly, continue to deny that a fat bearded strange man will break into our house, please do not insist that then my wonderful Jewish children must have been very naughty. Otherwise, I may be forced to teach my children to then loudly announce, "No. We haven't been naughty at all. Lying to children, however, is very naughty."

And yes, they would recite that and, knowing my son, recite it loudly.

Simple Pleasures

I had such a neat Shabbat. Last night, I was up reading until all hours. When I heard the baby start to fuss, I got her, brought her back to the rocking chair with me, nursed her and kept reading. When she was done, I put down the book, took her off, rocked her and just stared at her.

It was a sweet moment. I was awash in the oxytocin. TheBaby is so beautiful. I kissed her little forehead a bunch and ran my hand over her hair. We've known all along that she would be our last baby, so I've been lucky enough to make a point to savor these moments. I held her, felt her weight, and realized how much she has grown. I remember the 8 lb baby I pulled up and rested on my chest. That delicate little newborn has grown. Now, she's wearing 12 and 18 month clothing. She has these adorable gigantic thighs that just begged to be kissed and chubby cheeks that make you smile.

I'm finding a balance between wanting her to hurry up and begging her to slow down. I quite like this little island of balance. Here, I can enjoy her without reserving her spot in an Olympic level gymnastics class and also without trying desperately to shove her back in the womb (did I mention she's the size of a 1 year old? Yeah, not gonna happen. OW!).

Last night was so sweet because I was able to just rock there, taking her in, breathing her in and enjoying her.

Another simple gift idea

When I ordered my free prints for that photo calendar, I found myself with 2 extra photos. So I created a 4x6 photo with 2 wallet-sized pictures. I did two of those so I had a wallet-sized photo of each child. I planned on just sending them to a set of grandparents, but then I had another idea. We have TONS of magnets on the fridge. I keep all those advertising ones that come in the mail with intentions of using them for a craft, but I never do.

Well, now I did. I used double-sided tape (a thin layer of glue would be a more permanent solution if you have time to wait for it to dry), stuck the photos on and trimmed them all down. Now, we have wallet-sized photo magnets to send as gifts and they didn't cost a cent.

This is only a test

The reason for the season

This time of year, we tend to get overwhelmed by the crowds at the malls, the traffic, and the hectic nature of it all (we've barely been home since Chanukah started because we've been at so many different events).

So, this time of year especially, we feel it's very important to remember to give back.

Here's what we're doing this year:

We donated our old coats to our synagogue's mitten menorah. They asked for new or slightly used coats, mittens, scarves, etc. So that's where the outgrown coats went.

We donated bags and bags of clothes to a local Veterans organization. All my maternity clothes went there (fare thee well, old friends) along with a whole host of the kids' old clothes. They picked up about 5 big garbage bags of clothes.

Our kids give tzedakah at Sunday school, which, this month, is going to a local food pantry. They've given both money and cans of pasta sauce which they bought themselves with their allowance money (can't beat 25 cents a can).

In an attempt to simply, we instituted the rule that, for each new item, an old one must go. So, we're cleaning out toy and book bins and donating them to that same Veteran's group.

How about you? What are you doing this holiday season? How do you teach your kids to give back?

This blog post is written as part of the Twitter Moms Holiday blog prompt in association with Robeez.

Robeez will donate a pair of soft sole shoes to K.I.D.S. with every soft sole purchased through December 23rd

For anyone looking for a gift idea this holiday season, these are the Robeez I would love for my daughter.

BloWriNoMore

Well, I failed that blogging every day for a month thing. I think I probably should have gotten right back up on that horse, but I lacked the motivation. I know I would have been disqualified anyway since I missed a day, but I still could have used the forced motivation.

Sure, I'm talkative, but I don't see a need to be someone who blogs every day. Still, I welcomed the opportunity to do it because I've really fallen out of the habit of blogging lately. Forcing myself to write did help motivate me to write some recent posts that I'm glad I had the chance to explore.

I'm disappointed in myself for failing. I am NOT the type who takes failure well. The fastest way to get me to do something is to tell me I can't.

So I'm struggling to figure where to go from here.

December is in full-swing now, so I'm a little late to the party as far as trying to blog for another month. Plus, December is a rough month with Chanukah and winter break and all that jazz. Still, I may try it from here and dedicate myself to blogging every day for 30 days. I just need to prove to myself that I can do it and I'd really appreciate the motivation.

Don't worry. I have no plans on making this every day thing permanent. Hello! Did you see how I struggled with just one freaking month?