The bags are such a cute idea. Two more thoughHave you looked at bags at dollar tree? It seems to me that they had some gift bags...or maybe use gift wrap to wrap the bags? I know they have Disney Christmas wrapping paper. But then that would not go with idea of the cute etsy bags.
I will give it some thought....
! I hear you...I need to get started on this week's DISNEY TO DO LIST...and my guys are sitting around watching football. I am praying that they take off soon and hit the dusk goose/crane flight to hunt! I finished up except for 2 little things on all my reveal advent gifts and I would like to get them wrapped today...no worries about Ab finding out...she never comes out of her room hardly!
! K is not even home yet he's still driving home with Emily from the Vet (she had her shots today so we can take her to parks and on walks now) and Damien is doing some homework! I was telling Ann-- you are really super good at saying your going to get something done and doing that and not getting off the beaten track! I have to be more like you! And I hope that it rubbed off on at least one of your kids because that's a value to them!
! I had a SUPER good dinner followed by an even BETTER dessert! For the most part Damien made the crumb cake all by himself! He got all of the ingredients into the bowl and while he mixed the cake I mixed the streusel topping! Then he poured it into the pan and then sprinkled on the topping (making sure to get the most on the pieces the he "called")
and a little side note- K took the first slices which were the ones Damien "called"!!! He should have cleaned his room faster! But it was very good and I'm so proud of him! He asked if he can take a piece to his teacher so I wrote her a note that I understand if she can't eat it (they aren't supposed to accept any home goods from the kids)! ?" and decide what I still need to buy/make!!! I am going to trade my mother in law tomorrow--- a piece of her grandson's first baked good for her camera so hopefully time will allow me to show you my Disney finds sooner!
for a productive day!! That always feels so great!!
Did you get through your stuff tonight??
. J and Damien like to trade Pokemon cards and then J later regrets the trades and wants his back and my son never remembers the ones he gave to J so J gives him whatever back. Damien doesn't fully understand Pokemon he only keeps cards he thinks looks cool! Anyway, my friend says that in the bath J was crying to his mom that Damien wanted to trade Pokemon cards with him and he didn't want to trade them with Damien, but Damien kept bugging him to do it so he did and those were his favorite and Damien just took them and didn't give them back. She went on to say that J is so upset that he said he didn't want to have play dates with Damien anymore and doesn't want Damien to be his best friend anymore either. Then she says that Damien has 5 of J's cards and J has 1 of Damien's. I told her that I am going to talk to K when he gets back on Damien's punishment and when Damien wakes up in the morning I will have him give me back the Pokemon cards and I will send them into the school tomorrow morning! She was happy with that and said sorry and she punished her son by saying that he's not allowed to play Pokemon with Damien anymore. And she said that because J doesn't want to be friends with Damien anymore she most likely will not have play dates with us any longer. This made me upset because they are in the same boy scout troop, soccer team, class and they even sit at the same table (1 chair away) in class but I didn't say anything but okay let me talk to Kaung (I always put everything on him)! Well K came home in not the best of moods (makes me come to think if he got the volunteer position or not) and on top of that he was tired! So I tell him the situation and I think he overreacted-- he went into Damien's room and woke him up and explained the situation then whipped Damien because we have told him lots of times not to bring his cards outside of the house let alone trade them with anyone! Damien in tears admitted that he did keep asking J to trade cards even after J said no but he said that they were looking at each other's cards and both of them were deciding which ones they wanted to trade. So Damien's story is this- J let Damien take 3 of his cards today, plus he already had 2 from another day and 1 that Damien only loaned him to defeat another kid and J was supposed to give it back. BUT Damien said that J took more than 1 card- J took 3 cards and Damien's little statue of Serperior. I called my friend back (now 10 at night) and told her what he said and she said right away "well he's lying because J only has 1 of his"
How do I rebut this? Well I try to hand the phone to K and K won't take it so I must talk because she said "Hello?" because it took me so long to say something without outright calling her son a liar! I told her I can honestly say Damien isn't lying because Damien doesn't lie when he's telling Kaung the stuff that has happened and Damien's not much of a fibber to begin with! Plus if he was lying he wouldn't have told us that he forced J into trading! Well mshe says that the one Damien "loaned" J's was J's all along because she remembers it and I told her, no Damien was given that by the 3rd grader that came to his party (I remember because that neighbor is being hit financially hard and that boy gave it to Damien as a birthday gift since they didn't have money to buy one-I would like to but she knows that family and I'm not going to tell her that part of the reason). Then she says it's late let's settle this after we all have a good night's sleep! I can't sleep I am upset! I feel bad telling her that her son's lying because I know in my heart that Damien is not! I tried to tell her "let's just tell both kids that whatever they traded is gone because they traded it and that's what happens when you trade" but she's not okay with this because her J is so upset! I won't let her son go through Damien's cards because I can't tell you the cards that he has and he has more than 100 and I really don't want him to say that something is his and have my son say it's not (like is already going on). I can't just drop it and say well your right no more play dates because I have to see them everywhere I go and really she is one of 4 friends I have that I talk to outside of everything else! And she's a talker to other moms in our circle and since I'm new (since I moved here the middle of last year) I'm the outsider! So I don't know where to go from here! I think that this is the stupidest thing I have ever heard of! I don't really know what Pokemon is and I seem to be in an argument about it! I'm not sure what to do! I am going to keep all of the Pokemon cards Damien has with me and I asked Damien not to talk about it in school because that's all I need is the kids I attend to in the class talking to me about it! Damien isn't allowed to have his Pokemon cards back until after our trip (which he thinks is Christmas time) and Kaung doesn't want him to have any play dates until after our trip as well, but to me that's too far-Damien admitted to doing wrong and he didn't lie when asked about it! He has other kids that he plays with, they are just in other schools because he knew them from when he was younger! He only has 2-3 other friends in his current class and they are all also friends with J! I am so sorry I bothered you with this but I can't even tell or explain how I feel about it right now! I feel it's a dumb thing to fight about and even bring into subject among adults, plus J has to learn when he gets older he can't take things back that he already gave away because he 2nd guessed himself! But I don't know how to tell C that without her getting upset enough to bring the argument around others but I know it's going to happen either way this turns out! And I just bought the house here I can't just up and go! And the PTO moms will now talk about me behind my back and smile to my face (which I see them do to so many others) and when they do that they also "forget" to write your name down for volunteering and your not in the conversations anymore! AUGH.... I HATED high school because of this junk and I am hating my son's friends because of it too! 
Hang in there... as much as I hate to say it... you both are going to be better off if you stay away from this family.
Ug, your story has brought back memories. There is always some kid who doesn't "trade" well. They make the trade and then go back on it. I know my boys each had their share of that experience.
I have had a couple rules when it comes to the kids and other kids and belongings...
1. If you loan or trade or leave something with someone else...expect that it is gone. Don't be angry, but just accept that it was the price of playing.
In other words, don't play with something you are not willing to lose.
2. If you do play with kids who think you break their things, take their things or the reverse, they break yours or take yours... you don't play with them any more. In other words, if it is a person you don't see eye to eye with. Because in someones eyes they are in the right while the other one feels they are.
I know that is easy to say.. especially for me when I wasn't a part of the PTA. I just steered clear of the parents of these boys as much as I could.
I am sorry that this is someone who is suppose to be a friend of yours too.
I am also sorry that you have to be the one to see where your child has been wrong while the other parent feels their child has done no wrong. (I have been there too) That is so frustrating and disheartening. For me it always made me feel bad, like why wasn't I the parent who just thought my kid was an angel.
including spats between kids and parents. I'm a firm believer in what goes around comes around and even though we distanced ourselves from one family in particular, let them talk about whatever they wanted to, true colors always come through. If it's not Damien that "J" is doing this to, it will be someone elses child... just give it time and be the one who can come out with their head held high because you kept your cool, class, and dignity. 
Awww I'm sorry Heather! Parents are so stupid sometimes! Present company not included.
Definitely been there, done that, too and as Ann said, sometimes it's best to distance yourself. We live in a small town so there are no 'secrets' here..
And if you want to know the 'end' to our story... all of our friends are intact and unfortunately, the other family are the ones who get talked about.
Ohhhhh Heather
I so can understand where you are coming at...forget about the boys that will all smooth over eventually...the parent thing, well I so understand first hand where you are coming at...been there the last year of my life...standing up to the mean mom and now on the outs with everyone else. I wish I could give you a real hug and tell you things will get better. I think this mama was just waiting for something to pounce on...my suggestion is to kill her with kindness and be the better person when you are around her...you did not have good feelings about her anyway nor her son. Hold your chin up high and smile, even when you feel like crying and hiding.
Your little guy did nothing wrong in the trade...just doing what little boys do...except for taking them outside of the house. Go easy on the little guy...and give him a hug!
PS...I hate Pokemon cards...I love to throw them away!
One more thing I forgot to add... sometimes... I wonder how much of the "I want it back" is the parent finding out their child "gave" something of theirs away and they are the ones who have the problem. Cards...are just one of those things that boys trade..use...abuse...etc. I think that some parents just don't like the idea of it being a trading game.
And just to be clear... I do not feel you or Damien are in the wrong here. I think that this mom is probably the one who is most to blame for this situation. I would stay clear of her as best you can. I guarantee she will be the one ever step of their development that has some sort of issue with what the boys are doing. Playing too rough... getting into too much this... doing too much that. Damien just needs to be able to be a boy..and enjoy his childhood. Sadly often that means messy, sticky, dirty and sometimes even dangerous play. Not that I am condoning all the mess..and danger... but sometimes we have to take a deep breath and realize they are boys. Sounds like this mom is always going to have a hard time doing that.
to you for having to deal with her.
It's okay it's okay! I tricked him! I said I think that there is something wrong with the tickers today because we have to wait for Santa to bring the tickets to us! WHEW!!! That little monster almost ruined my surprise for him! Okay okay I am going to finish up and mow the yard (plus pick up the leaves
) so that I can worry about only Disney the rest of the week!
Oh goodness Heather! As if you didn't already have enough on your plate without dealing with this! I'm sorry that she is acting with way.
But it does sound like she's upset about the trade not her child. Anyway
I am looking through emails and Dis now so that I have no excuse but do the yard when Damien goes to school! Well this little smarty pants looks for our ticker and says "wait mommy, why does it say 3 weeks and 3 days when I know a week is 7 days and I counted 7 days 3 times and that's not the day"
I am looking through emails and Dis now so that I have no excuse but do the yard when Damien goes to school! Well this little smarty pants looks for our ticker and says "wait mommy, why does it say 3 weeks and 3 days when I know a week is 7 days and I counted 7 days 3 times and that's not the day"
Little smart guy!!!! Good save though!
YIKES...what a smart guy...and what a fast recovery for mom! Way to go
WOW K said what's all this stuff when it was on the bed last night
! I have also printed out all of the trip pages for Damien I just want to print out some more activities to add to the binder for him and I decided I am going to get him the left hand binder since he's left handed and binders are hard for him to write in! I still have a lot of stuff that I have to get done (make the shirts, print out some stuff to decorate the car with, make the bags and so on) but I am also gaining more time as I cancel play dates and events I had planned for him (remember nothing for a month for "bullying" someone)! So I'm not worried about it! Most of it's just printing and putting the stuff together anyway! Tomorrow it's going to rain again so I think that since I can't finish the yard I am going to get started on the bags!
rolleyes1 although in a strange way it really helps you out). 
