I Said I Wouldn't But I Did...

Okay so Christmas is over. There are still far too many cakes, cookies and pies lying around the house but we are doing our best to put a dent in them. All in all it was a wonderful Christmas; one that I will write about tomorrow. For now, here's a Christmas story that really, really, REALLY bummed me out.

So you all know that Frank was out of work for a while. Things got VERY tight around here. Nick ran up his cell phone bill AGAIN and I'm still unemployed. Festive times, right? Anyway, with the last bout of cell phone drama with the teen, he announced that he does not want anything for Christmas; we should take any money that he gets and pay off his debts and whatever else we might need the money for. I was VERY tempted to do just that but, being a sucker for a pair of big brown eyes, I could not imagine sitting here Christmas morning and having him NOT open any presents.

Frank got work, the burden eased a bit and I went and shopped for my boy. A few days before Christmas he announces to me that my present will not be here in time for Christmas. Is it back-ordered? No. Are we not confident with the postal service? No. Is he too broke to actually buy it right now? Yes. Okay, fine. I'm not thrilled and I tell him that he should not be spending too much (or anything) if he cannot afford it. This should have been the end of this story but like most teenagers, they don't know when to shut their mouths. Was he too broke to buy his mother a present to open on Christmas? Yes. Was he too broke to buy his girlfriend over $100 worth of gifts? Apparently not.

Now he tells his dad that my gift will not be here in time and Frank has the first assumption that I did - it's back ordered. So we talk about it briefly and when I tell him that no, it has nothing to do with mail and orders but solely because the boy did NOT order it because he spent all of his money elsewhere. This did not go over well at all with my husband. The thing that made it worse was that, okay, he has a limited income but he bought gifts for EVERYONE else - his brother, his father, his girlfriend, HER parents, AND her sister and brother in law. For all I know HER dog probably got a gift from him too! But mom? No, apparently NOT important enough to budget for.

Am I greedy? No. Am I hurt? Yes. Why? Well, why was it so important that everyone else have a gift and not me? No one knows. So we TELL him how disappointed we are and how hurt I am and there is no remorse. Nothing. Just a lame "sorry" and he thinks we're done. I let it go but Frank cannot. Then to make matters even WORSE (if you can believe it), on Christmas Day we are all just lounging around the house and I'm lying in bed reading a good book and the phone rings. It's my father in law calling us because he was still asleep when we had called him earlier. So Nick gets on the phone with him and is asked "So, what did you get your girlfriend?" He has no idea the Pandora's Box that he has once-again opened. Nick is walking around the house with the phone but decides to STOP and stand in MY doorway and replies "What DIDN'T I get her? Oh, I got her EVERYTHING".

Son of a....

Frank pretty much lunged up from the couch and practically tackled him. When he got off the phone, Frank was like "What is the matter with you???" The boy's response? "What? What did I do?"

The list is endless at this point, son. The list is endless....

*Today's Examiner.com article is on making your own homeschool yearbook. You can read about it HERE. Thanks!*