UO Thursday | 9.14

rainafire77

My UO is actually popular on here but not so much on FB. It's annoying to see so many people posting potty shots of their kid and say "the tech said its a penis. Do you think that's a penis?" Seriously? Why are you sharing pictures of your baby's US genitals on the internet and asking strangers to confirm whether or not its a boy or girl? On my FB birth month group, there are hundreds of these pictures! People even dig up the US pics of their older kids to compare "well this was DD2" and "DS1 was not shy". Talk about it but have a little respect for your kids to not private shots online!

babymakes9

@SarahFoley725 we started the elf thing a few years ago before it was super popular, and it was fun,  but now the elf is expected to bring presents and activities and treats,  and make big messes and no way ours does that! Heck,  I'm lucky if we remember to move the darn  thing everyday! It has become way to much. 

@meatballs37 what is wrong with you! Mt. Dew if life! lol. It is the thing I'm missing most this pregnancy.  But I think its a farmer thing.  All the farmers around here drink it And black coffee religiously (yuck) and i never liked it before we started farming here... orange soda is also awesome although orange crush is the best by far, who ever invented grape soda wad just wrong. 

@smorzandoj totally agree with chores for everyone in the house.  It's how responsibility is learned.  Other tasks are offered for pay or allowance,  because if  we are honest you don't get paid to wash your dishes,  or vacuum the floor of your house when you're an adult. 

@sabriel1 that lady sounds so gift grabby! I would have been highly annoyed if i got those invites.  Diaper raffles aren't a thing here,  i have never heard of them until recently on here.  I do think the idea of celebrating with the father to be as well as the mother to be is nice. It is his Kid to and lots of dad's these days are super involved and excited. 

Also i have 2 B girls, but not on purpose,  and it's super annoying when using initials for things like marking clothes or ordering food,  I couldn't imagine a whole family with the same letter!

UO: i do not like when people expect to be given things for free because they are pregnant. Or throw a "fundraiser" for being pregnant,  or a gofundme like thing.  The majority of people aren't in a financial position where money is no object,  but the rest of us budget,  skrimp, save, watch the sales and buy 2nd hand to get what we need/ want.  Why on earth should i give you,  some stranger new things for free or give you money for being pregnant? 

SunflowerMama428

I hate elf on the shelf and santa. ill save ya'll my rant. 

winnie1122

I hate elf on a shelf too, but alas, DH is way too excited to do it so I'm letting him. We'll see if it lasts beyond the first year lol.

mayapple44

@SunflowerMama428 I am not a fan of santa or Christmas in general really. Im not religious and I feel like christmas has turned into a giant marketing ploy to get consumers to buy as much stuff as possible at one time. I do like the "spirit" if christmas and family togetherness. 

meatballs37

I am totally team use months for your kid for the first two years. They change so much, which is why you have appointments with the pediatrician every few months those first two years. 

And a big NO to potty shots as well. I asked for the US pics for the boys this time because DH couldn't be there. And he was holding out hope they might be girls. We will not be sharing them. And maybe this leads into another UO of mine. I don't really care for "gender reveal" parties. To each their own, it's just not my style. To me personally, it says "Come to a party so I can tell you if my kid has a penis or vagina." 

eggplantface

I hate the potty shot not just because it's their genitals on the internet but also because the U/S tech is the one who will make the call. If they can't, how can we? If it's inconclusive for them, why would you trust non-professionals to make a conclusion? It screams AW to me. At the very most show your friends and have them guess if it's that important.

I'm not an elf on the shelf fan just because I think it's turned into this competition among parents to see who can have the most creative elf on the shelf set up and then share it all over FB to get attention (can you tell I hate people who purposely seek out attention?). I don't want to do it just because it seems like a hassle. Plus I'd expect my kid to be well-behaved all year, and if he's not then we've got some work to do. Santa I can get behind though, I don't see harm in that. I'm still on the fence about whether or not to be up front about his being make believe or let him figure it out on his own like I did. I bet H will be Team "Santa's real!"

mbirdie

Big no to diaper raffles, potty shots, and elf on the shelf over here.
I must confess that we will most likely be naming our kids with all the first letter. This played a big role in choosing DDs name, we made sure there were plenty of other names we liked with the same first letter. My 2 siblings and I all start with the same first letter and my DH and his 5 siblings all start with the same first letter (different than mine). It's overly "cutesy" and my grandma always had a hard time with it, haha, but I'm not ready to give it up! I draw the line at rhyming names and we are choosing a name for this LO that sounds totally different than DDs.

sugarcoateddonut

My UO (a day late, sorry!) is that I don't like french fries. I will eat them if someone makes them for me as to not be rude, but I just don't get the hype lol.

mayapple44

To clarify, I will play the santa game for my kids. I just dont want the focus to be gifts. I want it be be about traditions, family, and thoughtfulness. How I do that im not sure yet because DD1 is 2. But I do know that MIL/FIL have already spent $350 in her for xmas. No exaggeration. Add in Santa, mom and dad, and other family members things get excessive fast. And I feel like it is unnecessary and adds to this "entitlement trap" that we fall into.

3plus1equals4

My UO: I don't view Santa as a fun game or story. I think parents are just straight up lying to their kid for years... until the kid realizes it was all a lie. I also think it takes away some of the purpose of Christmas  (even if you aren't religious, but do presents to people you care about) 

My kids have been raised knowing that we exchange gifts with others on Christmas and that each gift is picked out with love. We won't have to do a talk later where I explain it was a lie, but for "fun." 

eggplantface

@mayapple44 YESSS I know my in-laws will spoil this kid rotten, because they've done it to their other two grandkids. I shit you not, those kids have a freaking bouncy castle. Permanently. Not just for parties. That's just too much. I'll give them one holiday to see how it goes, but if they go overboard we will have a serious discussion about limits, expectations, and teaching our kid to earn things he wants. Especially a freaking bouncy castle.

SarahFoley725

3plus1equals4 said:

My UO: I don't view Santa as a fun game or story. I think parents are just straight up lying to their kid for years... until the kid realizes it was all a lie. I also think it takes away some of the purpose of Christmas  (even if you aren't religious, but do presents to people you care about) 

My kids have been raised knowing that we exchange gifts with others on Christmas and that each gift is picked out with love. We won't have to do a talk later where I explain it was a lie, but for "fun." 

My ex felt this way. He always said if we got married we wouldn't do Santa, Easter Bunny etc because it's a lie. People lie harmlessly to their kids all the time. "Sorry honey that game is broken right now, they're out of mac and cheese today, the toy store isn't open right now" etc. to each their own though.  

mayapple44

@eggplantface good luck with setting gift limits with them! We tried and they said " its our money we will do what we want with it". They even take the toys out of the boxes and put them together so there is no returning them. We even tried suggesting they put half of what they would spend into a college or other savings account for her. Nope. 

3plus1equals4

@SarahFoley725 I don't do those either. I just tell them no if they ask for something that I don't want them to have/do. I think those types of lies just set kids up to get in a habit of lying.  

SarahFoley725

@mayapple44 @eggplantface oh man that's some craziness. My MIL is obsessed with gifts but has done a decent job with DD. I told her she doesn't need a bunch of crap, please put money in her college savings. She got pretty offending by my use of the word "crap" even though it wasn't directed at her gifts necessarily. DH doesn't get crap, just me lol. She gives me dollar store stuff and the free gift with purchase for Christmas every year. It's straight up offensive. 

alwayssomethingnew

Completely on the hate Elf on the Shelf bandwagon.  I never did it with my kids but my sister did with my niece.  True story -  couple years ago, just before Christmas, my sister and niece came down to visit.  Her elf moved to the chandelier in DD1's room.  No one noticed until one of the kids smelled something bad.  It was fairly traumatizing for elf face to be melted to the light bulb.  The elf had an emergency room made with towels and stuck in the freezer.  (Don't ask me why.  I was just a witness to the mania.). Then I watched my sister in a furious text marathon with our other sister back in their hometown to find a replacement elf just a couple weeks before Christmas.  Absolutely ridiculous!

corcola

@soulcupcake @3plus1equals4 @SarahFoley725 thanks for explaining. it just never made sense to me. I will try to make a huge leap and equate it similarly to pregnancy where we talk in weeks bc so much is changing, but when I explain how far along I am to my coworkers (all guys) I usually round to the half month bc weeks don't make sense to them, nor is it relatable. I've been focusing on learning a lot about pregnancy and new borns bc i'm way behind the power curve, but it sounds like I need to get up to speed on 1-3 years as well? 

soulcupcake

lainikins said:

Yes! My son started asking for an elf last year (when he was 4) I said no and he moved on. We barely even talk about Santa in our house. He gets enough of that from other sources. We are not religious, so for us Christmas is about spreading love and thinking of others. When it comes time to explain Santa, we are planning on saying something along the lines of sometimes you want people to know who a gift is from and sometimes you want to remain secret. Santa is in all of us and allows us to spread love and happiness without revealing who it is from.  My Christmas UO, I can't stand tying Santa to behavior. 

Also, I hate drinking anything carbonated. The bubbles hurt my mouth, I do not get how it enjoyable. Also, I have a caffeine intolerance, so most sodas are off limits anyway. I will make the exception for the occasional root beer or cream soda though (caffeine free). I vigorously stir it with my straw or poor it very roughly to release as many bubbles as I can. I am strange. I know. 

@lainikins - We don't do Santa, either, in that he's real and all that jazz. We've always treated him as we do other characters from folklore and mythos (including superheros). They understand the origins of "Santa" and still enjoy the festivities and everything associated with the character. My dd3 adores Santa, but we don't tell her he's real, and the same for other fantastical characters.

I think Elf on the Shelf is entirely creepy and manipulative.

magnolia305

As a preschool teacher, it is the worst when some "santas" bring new socks and other "santas" bring power wheels and the kids at school want to know why. I feel like big gifts should come from the parents, not Santa.  My MIL and FIL sign "Santa" on their gifts at their house--I will ask them not to this year.  First, it's annoying.  Second, how do I explain that Santa at grandma and grandpa brings nicer/more gifts than Santa at our house?? Jerks. 

eggplantface

@SarahFoley725 My mom totally gives me the "free gift with purchase" she accumulates throughout the year for Christmas! And she doesn't hide it, she straight up tells me. Finally I said "Mom, if you don't want that crap, neither do I. Please stop." @olitwinturbosnprincess LOL at the elf emergency room.

babymakes9

eggplantface said:

I hate the potty shot not just because it's their genitals on the internet but also because the U/S tech is the one who will make the call. If they can't, how can we? If it's inconclusive for them, why would you trust non-professionals to make a conclusion? It screams AW to me. At the very most show your friends and have them guess if it's that important.

I'm not an elf on the shelf fan just because I think it's turned into this competition among parents to see who can have the most creative elf on the shelf set up and then share it all over FB to get attention (can you tell I hate people who purposely seek out attention?). I don't want to do it just because it seems like a hassle. Plus I'd expect my kid to be well-behaved all year, and if he's not then we've got some work to do. Santa I can get behind though, I don't see harm in that. I'm still on the fence about whether or not to be up front about his being make believe or let him figure it out on his own like I did. I bet H will be Team "Santa's real!"

 To me Santa is real, as in st. Nicholas, a historical man who brought presents to good little girls and boys, and we carry on his spirit.  In our house Santa fills the kids stockings and brings 1-3 presents (depending on kids age), and we get the Kids 1 thing or so, and each kid gets their siblings a gift.

My in laws do Christmas eve at their house and usually give each kid something to wear, and something to do/ play with.

 My mother is the problem.  She is one of the money spent=love  people,  And  buys way to much stuff.  I've told her not to,  I've suggested she follow the in laws example,  but she refuses and tells me i can't stop her,  and that she is old and lives far away (que eye roll). She has bought the kids computers,  i pads,  very expensive dolls,  designer clothes,  etc.   Because of her,  the rest of us all buy less,  and Last  year some of the kids were very upset because they put a lot of time and thought into the gifts they have and felt she

rainafire77

Elf on a Shelf is evil! It's just become this competition about what treats the elf will bring. I have friends last year who do it and are pissed because their kids classmates were bragging about what the elf brought them nightly and their kids weren't getting gifts from their elf so they thought they were "bad". One kid burst into tears because his friend's elf brought him a weeks vacation to Disneyland during winter break and all he's gotten was a candy cane. It's just another Pinterest mom competition and I don't do those.

On the other hand, I'm all about getting one to do the other stuffed animals and toys ganging up on him and escorting him out of the house scenes. 

mayapple44

@lainikins Im interested in more of how you treat santa as a regular fictional character. Does that mean you never do gifts from "santa"?  

soulcupcake

mayapple44 said:

@lainikins Im interested in more of how you treat santa as a regular fictional character. Does that mean you never do gifts from "santa"?  

@mayapple44 - Gifts come from us. However, the year I got my husband a lightsaber I put from "the Force." We exchange gifts on Yule and usually leave a couple for Christmas Day when we're at my in-laws.

winnie1122

My parents did Santa the way I plan to do it. They told us the story, said it was just a fun tradition and the gifts were actually from them, and we all had fun with it and none of us believed Santa actually came down the chimney and all that. They did tell us not to go around telling our friends that they were dumb for believing in Santa, they knew how fanatical some parents are about it. I ignored that rule though and got in a yearly argument with my best childhood friend about it haha. She was a loyal Santa believer until she was like 11 and her parents finally broke the news. Our Santa gifts were only what fit in the stockings and they were just fun little things like candy, socks, and movies. We opened big gifts from parents and family on Christmas Eve at our family get together and spent Christmas day having breakfast and opening stockings and enjoying quiet time with just our family. Santa was never a major part of our celebration, but we are Christians so my family focused more on Jesus' birth anyways. My mom still went overboard on gifts though, she just can't help herself and she's trying to do it with DS even though she doesn't have extra money so I'm trying to figure out how to convince her she doesn't need to get fancy gifts for any of us. 

sugarcoateddonut

olitwinturbosnprincess said:

Completely on the hate Elf on the Shelf bandwagon.  I never did it with my kids but my sister did with my niece.  True story -  couple years ago, just before Christmas, my sister and niece came down to visit.  Her elf moved to the chandelier in DD1's room.  No one noticed until one of the kids smelled something bad.  It was fairly traumatizing for elf face to be melted to the light bulb.  The elf had an emergency room made with towels and stuck in the freezer.  (Don't ask me why.  I was just a witness to the mania.). Then I watched my sister in a furious text marathon with our other sister back in their hometown to find a replacement elf just a couple weeks before Christmas.  Absolutely ridiculous!

LOL! The elf on the shelf just seems like a lot of unnecessary work.

Christmas is busy enough, why add another thing to the to-do list?

chucksmom15

I hate Elf on the shelf.  It's creepy and I'm too lazy for that.  My niece and nephew have one and the amount of time their parents spend on it's activities are ridiculous.  Plus it brings presents?!?!  Give me a break.  They also leave carrots out for the reindeer which their dad has to go out and find in the grass after they go to bed.  Just thinking about it is exhausting 

babybro218

sugarcoateddonut said:

My UO (a day late, sorry!) is that I don't like french fries. I will eat them if someone makes them for me as to not be rude, but I just don't get the hype lol.

Whaaaat?!?! I'm sorry, I just can't comprehend this statement. French fries are my kryptonite. 

jennifer_m21

I love french fries!

Actually, anything potato. Sweet potato, regular potato, home-style potatoes, hashed browns, mashed potatoes - I think I have a potato obsession.

eggplantface

rainafire77 said:

Elf on a Shelf is evil! It's just become this competition about what treats the elf will bring. I have friends last year who do it and are pissed because their kids classmates were bragging about what the elf brought them nightly and their kids weren't getting gifts from their elf so they thought they were "bad". One kid burst into tears because his friend's elf brought him a weeks vacation to Disneyland during winter break and all he's gotten was a candy cane. It's just another Pinterest mom competition and I don't do those.

On the other hand, I'm all about getting one to do the other stuffed animals and toys ganging up on him and escorting him out of the house scenes. 

Wait, the elf brings presents? I thought his only job was to go tell Santa if they were naughty or nice.

clc515

sugarcoateddonut said:

My UO (a day late, sorry!) is that I don't like french fries. I will eat them if someone makes them for me as to not be rude, but I just don't get the hype lol.

I'm really just looking for reasons to add more gifs... and not liking french fries merits this!

sugarcoateddonut

@babybro218 I know it's super weird. And not liking poutine here is considered treason, so I keep it on the dl most of the time! lol

@clc515 I really need to learn how to gif! I looked at the tutorial but just can't make it work haha.

clc515

@sugarcoateddonut I save gifs to my thumb drive (cuz I'm usually on at work), and then add them using that picture icon "attach image" above the text box. I have no idea how to do it on my phone though!

seitzy3

Orange soda AND root beer are the devil! Give me all the cherry coke!

Speaking of holidays. I don't like holiday pajamas past the actual holiday. Halloween Jammies good from October 1-31. Christmas Jammies dec 1-dec31. You get it!

seitzy3

jennifer_m21 said:

I love french fries!

Actually, anything potato. Sweet potato, regular potato, home-style potatoes, hashed browns, mashed potatoes - I think I have a potato obsession.

I think a UO would be if you didn't like potatoes! I am also a fellow potato head EXCEPT sweet potato. Grosssss 

sugarcoateddonut

@clc515 THANK YOU!!!!

This is so exciting. Guess who's not getting any work done this afternoon?

rainafire77

eggplantface said:

rainafire77 said:

Elf on a Shelf is evil! It's just become this competition about what treats the elf will bring. I have friends last year who do it and are pissed because their kids classmates were bragging about what the elf brought them nightly and their kids weren't getting gifts from their elf so they thought they were "bad". One kid burst into tears because his friend's elf brought him a weeks vacation to Disneyland during winter break and all he's gotten was a candy cane. It's just another Pinterest mom competition and I don't do those.

On the other hand, I'm all about getting one to do the other stuffed animals and toys ganging up on him and escorting him out of the house scenes. 

Wait, the elf brings presents? I thought his only job was to go tell Santa if they were naughty or nice.

Yeah that's what I thought too but apparently some parents have started to use the elf to bring early gifts from Santa like trips to Disney or a video game to play over winter break or other random crap like that. Then the kids who don't get awesome gifts (or any gifts) get upset because they must not be as "good" as tje other kids.

clc515

@sugarcoateddonut I have totally wasted hours at work collecting gifs  

chucksmom15

rainafire77 said:

eggplantface said:

rainafire77 said:

Elf on a Shelf is evil! It's just become this competition about what treats the elf will bring. I have friends last year who do it and are pissed because their kids classmates were bragging about what the elf brought them nightly and their kids weren't getting gifts from their elf so they thought they were "bad". One kid burst into tears because his friend's elf brought him a weeks vacation to Disneyland during winter break and all he's gotten was a candy cane. It's just another Pinterest mom competition and I don't do those.

On the other hand, I'm all about getting one to do the other stuffed animals and toys ganging up on him and escorting him out of the house scenes. 

Wait, the elf brings presents? I thought his only job was to go tell Santa if they were naughty or nice.

Yeah that's what I thought too but apparently some parents have started to use the elf to bring early gifts from Santa like trips to Disney or a video game to play over winter break or other random crap like that. Then the kids who don't get awesome gifts (or any gifts) get upset because they must not be as "good" as tje other kids.

A trip to Disney is not a gift.  That's a vacation.  This kind of stuff is out of control.