DEAR SANTA:

So Molly (my 16 year old) gave me her Christmas list. The older they get, the less fun the list gets! No barbie to buy, no GOTTA HAVE IT toy. It made me remember my GOTTA HAVE IT toys! One of my favorite was my Chrissy doll (for me) and Kay got Velvet. The only stress that I had back then was waiting for Christmas Eve to come and waiting to see Rudolph's nose light up in the sky (yep, in Wyoming his schnoz can be seen in the dark of night). Now, the stress is finding something my kids want that they'll actually be excited for (it's just not the same once they pass that certain stage). I can get a smile and a thanks but no hysterical YAYYYYY. I've even gotten to the point where we go to the mall, they pick out what they want and I tell them to forget this evening of shopping, wrap up the presents and that's what's for Christmas. I've tried picking out the girls' clothes and they are always returned once I finally find the receipt. One year my darlings were laughing hysterically at what I picked out. I went to Victoria's Secret and asked the sales girl who was eighteen to tell me which PJs she thought my girls would like (ages 14, 18, 22). She picked out the coolest PJs (i thought) which were not inexpensive and I purchased these cool PJs. Well, Christmas Eve arrived and I was so excited for them to open up their pajamas. They opened up their gift, looked at each other, looked at me and broke out into hysteria. They'd never seen anything so hideous in their life, or so they said. Hence, I gathered up ALL of the Victoria Secret Reject PJs, took them back to said store, and will never pick out another item of clothing for ANY OF THEM. I thought I had good taste . . . obviously it's just in my mouth.