So we have a family that we are good friends with, who happens to have a son the same age as ours.  They are good friends, too.

The boy is an only child, and actually has four sets of grandparents, so he is definitely not lacking in the Christmas gift department.  And truly, like my son, he pretty much has everything he needs.  His parents have more than once told me they are of the mind that he has more stuff than he could ever possibly use. And if he did want something, it would probably be too expensive for me to buy it for him on my own.

I called his mom last week, and told her I had an idea.  I wanted to run it by her, and to make sure that she wasn’t thinking I was trying to wriggle out of gift-giving.

Instead of buying him yet more things he didn’t really need, I told his mom that I was thinking of taking the two of them out on a special outing, such as to an amusement park or a really fun place they don’t normally get to go.  He wouldn’t be getting a gift, per se, but getting what I would like to refer to as a “treat.”

His parents both enthusiastically agreed, and although it was of course my idea, I felt bad for a nanosecond that I wouldn’t be giving him an actual gift on Christmas.

What say you?

Good idea, or does it just look like I’m trying to get out of getting him a present?

Because truly, I’m not.

Hello my dears, apologies for my absence last week.  Things got a little confusing for a bit, and then sickness hit both myself and my husband at the same time.

The overwhelming consensus was that the leopard-print polyester shirt intended for teens was a big bunch of fugly, with 53% disapproving.  Another 26% felt that it was criminal to charge that much for something that looks like a bargain-bin find at the Salvation Army.  Only a small 9% total felt it was fine, or could possibly look cute on someone less than 14 years old.

As the big holidays creep ever nearer, I want to know what you do in the kitchen.

Oh internets, you never fail to amuse.

via

Thanksgiving seems like such a long time ago, does it not?

It seems that almost all of you are in it for the stuffing, with 48% of the vote.  Dessert and alcohol tied at 14% (imagine that) and turkey came in with 11%.  Which is suprising because I don’t know all that many people who are crazy about turkey.  NOBODY voted for sweet potatoes, which boggles the mind. Your house must not feature the ones my sister makes.

Today I wish to ask your opinion of this rather highly rated shirt from a popular tween store called Justice.  I want to warn you that it is made of polyester.

Oh my.

As marvel pointed out, I do believe this was the first time in CDF history that the vote was unanimous.

Sorry, Vince Vaughn.  Maybe I should have chosen a picture of your younger, hotter self.  Or perhaps Pierce Brosnan is practically unbeatable.

We’ll see.

Sometimes I come across a celebrity dad and I smack my forehead in wonderment that I haven’t featured them yet.

And this next contender is one of them.  A successful soap opera actor in his own right, he is also known as the husband to Kelly Ripa.  Also, he is almost painfully handsome.

VERSUS

I’ve made peace with the fact that I’m never going to rise to any Doocian levels of fame.

I just toil quietly here in my little corner of the blogosphere, riding the coattails of the boss, and simply hoping to brighten someone’s day, somewhere.

But then I found out that Kourtney Kardashian has a mommy blog.

Granted it’s a video blog, but it launched only a few days ago and already almost 3,000 people have fanned it on Facebook.

I’m not bitter or anything.

But I think I’ll retreat into the kitchen and drown myself in some spiked eggnog now.

First of all, make sure you’ve got one. This is a pretty handy checklist for those that aren’t sure.

The Munchkin is not 100% introverted, and there are actually probably very few who could be described that way.  But he falls just on the majority side of introverted, and that’s good enough for me.

First of all, know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being an introvert, even as our society rather absurdly celebrates the extroverted, who apparently are always ready to flip over tables and dance drunkenly on camera.

I try to keep his introvert tendencies in mind when we go places and not force him to do things he doesn’t want to do.  But, that doesn’t mean I will allow him to never have to address or speak to people, which I think is an important life skill.  Well, to do it politely and efficiently, anyway.

So a while ago when he wanted to purchase something with his own money, I made him go to the cash register and pay for it himself.  He freaked out.  I informed him that the people working at the store were nice people who were not going to bite his head off, in fact, quite the opposite.  He continued to freak.  We struck a bargain where I stood beside him the entire time, but he was the main contact with the employee.

It worked well, and since then he has somewhat overcome his fear of cash registers, and has no issues with paying for things by himself.

Wait until he learns I want him to join Toastmasters.

I would classify myself as someone who used to be more introverted, but somehow became extroverted.  First my Dad helped me out of my shell when I was young and too terrified to speak to adults I didn’t know well, and then my husband (a bona fide extrovert) pushed me over the edge into extrovert territory.  Or at least someone who is able to fool people into thinking I’m an extrovert. Pretty soon I was talking to anybody and everybody, and soon found myself able to easily conduct employee trainings for large groups of people with aplomb.

So I know the path my son walks, and I’m here to help guide him through it.  I don’t expect him to be an extrovert any time soon, but if I can get him to the point where he doesn’t freeze at the thought of talking to strangers (i.e. employees in a store) and can carry on a brief but interesting conversation with almost anybody, then I will consider my job to be done.

If he grows up and would rather stay home and read rather than go out clubbing, then I might just thank my lucky stars.