I made a stop at Michael’s today, planning on buying just stuff to make a cake and nothing else craft related. (More on that story later, after Dan’s birthday has passed.) Instead, I found myself wandering through the kids’ craft aisle. There were some neat storybook kits, paint-your-own piggy banks and temporary tattoos that caught my eye. I only bought one thing, a Disney Princess art kit for our niece. As I paid, I patted myself on the back for finding her birthday gift so early in the year. As I drove home, I mentally ticked her name off my gift list. As I proudly carried the gift into our gift closet, I eyed the shelves to find a safe spot to store it.

Hm…there’s the bedside lamp I bought for her birthday. I guess this will be a Christmas gift.

Oh…there’s the art book and finger paint set I bought for her Christmas gift. I guess this will be a random “yay for you” gift.

Oops…there’s the exact same Disney Princess art kit that I am currently holding in my hands.

Alright, so maybe there’s a teeny tiny flaw in my system. I buy the gifts so far in advance that I forget I’ve purchased them. However, I’m choosing to view this as a good thing. Now I get to return the item and spend the money at Michaels for something else crafty! Yay me!

I’m all about positive thinking.

Actually, Valentine’s Day is in memory of Saint Valentine, a pope who was martyred. The holiday started off as a day to declare love and propose marriage. Somehow it morphed into candy hearts and overpriced flowers. Did you know in Korea that they celebrate a love-related day on the 14th of every month? I’m not entirely sure why I know that fact.

Back to the subject. Most Valentine’s Day celebrations involve Dan and I agreeing not to go overboard on gifts. I buy him a reasonably priced little gadget that I saw at Best Buy or at the As Seen on TV Store. The next thing I know, a charge pops up on our bank statement for 10-20 times what I paid. This normally leads to the following conversation:

Me: I thought we agreed to spend less than $20 this year!
Dan: …
Me: Hello?
Dan: …I don’t know what you’re talking about?
Me: That would sound more convincing if you didn’t phrase it like a question.
Dan: What do you mean?
Me: We said, nay PROMISED, that we wouldn’t spend a lot on Valentine’s Day this year. We pinkie swore and everything!
Dan: But you’re going to really like your gift!
Me: That is not the point! We made an agreement, you promised! And if I can’t rely on your promises now, what does that say for our marriage vows?! You promised then to obey me and stuff!
Dan: I’m pretty sure the word “obey” was never in our marriage vow.
Me: Neither was “make your wife look cheap.”

So this year, I made him uber-promise that we would not buy each other gifts. “Gifts” include flowers, anything in a velvet box, anything from a craft/scrap store and clothing.

“Gifts” does not include a pony. I’m leaving the option open.

Dan agreed to make dinner and I agreed to provide dessert! I’m thinking ice cream. Maybe Hershey’s chocolate sauce. Because that’s how classy I am.

No, I was not buying for Dan. Although I did find a geeky K’nex thing that he probably would have liked, I didn’t want to buy my husband’s gift from a toy store.

It was a little harder to shop this time because I didn’t have any clue as to what the kids wanted. Child #1 is a 7-year-old boy. When I asked for advice from a “toy expert” (seriously, it says it on his shirt!) he recommended anything that made a mess, made noise or had a million parts. My next question was what can I get a 7-year-old boy that WILL NOT MAKE HIS PARENTS HATE ME? Turns out, that’s a much shorter list. We ended up with a game and a magic kit. I can totally picture him showing off his magic skills on the playground and kids will be all jealous and he’ll be like “my favorite aunt bought it for me because she’s the bomb, yo.”

That’s how kids speak, right?

Child #2 was almost too easy to shop for. This little girl who’s turning 5 needed some Princess stuff, stat. We all know that I am good at buying cutesy girl presents that have abnormal amounts of glitter and pink. I found her gifts all in the same aisle practically but when I turned the corner, I was faced with this. It’s a pink Disney laptop. There was one left on the shelf and two ladies were literally bickering over it. A store employee stepped in to find a second one for the loons women and crisis was adverted. When I got to the check out line, one of them women happened to be right behind me. I gestured to the laptop and said “you’re going to make some young girl very happy.” She responded “yes, my 4-year-old will love it.”

… FOUR. YEAR. OLD?!

When I was four, I’m fairly sure my parents were hiding some of my Christmas gifts and rewrapping them for my birthday in March. Had I been given a laptop, I probably would have tried to throw it like a frisbee.

Anyway, child #3 is a year and a half. I fell in love with this little toy that says the name of fish and plays classical music. And then because I didn’t want my relatives to hate me, I also purchased books that made no music, had no flashing lights and were not annoying at all. Spoilsports.

When I arrived home, I triumphantly showed the gifts to Dan. As I piled them up in mini towers, Dan looked quizzically at them.

Dan: What are these for?
Me: Christmas, of course!
Dan: You’re already buying the Christmas gifts?
Me: *in a slight panic* There’s only 2 weeks until Christmas! I still have to wrap all the gifts, finish my finals, put up the decorations, prepare the house for my parents’ visit, send out Christmas cards, ship these gifts across the country, figure out something you want that won’t cost a fortune and plan merriment and festivities with all of my friends. *wheeze*
Dan: Is this a bad time to tell you that the 20 foot tree in the backyard blew over?

More on that later, after I am finished breathing into a paper bag.