Who doesn’t enjoy reading childhood classics? I’ve loved re-reading through the Anne of Green Gables series, Little Women, and the Chronicles of Narnia. Occasionally I’ll bust out a Laura Ingalls Wilder classic or a copy of “The Secret Garden.” But now, it was time to mount a re-read of an entirely different scale: I decided to read through the entirety of my childhood Nancy Drew collection in one year.
And it almost killed me.
A couple years ago, Andreas and I decided that we were too lazy to mail out Christmas cards and opted for a “Christmas video” instead. Turns out that videos are WAY more work than cards and this year’s video was no exception.
So what goes into planning a Christmas video, you ask? We start tossing ideas around in September (yes, September!) and begin writing and prepping so that we can film in November. (Andreas started working on this year’s original song back in October!) After a long day of filming, Andreas spends a good chunk of his December evenings busily editing the video so we can get it out to you before Christmas!
Phew. It’s a lot of work but the holiday hilarity is well worth it! Now we just have to start thinking about how we can top this one next year…
A night of gift wrapping used to be synonymous with a roll of reindeer covered paper, a glass of eggnog and a Michael Buble Christmas CD. By the end of the evening, a pile of presents would sit under the tree dressed in shiny gift tags, sparkling bows, and delicately handcrafted snowflakes.
But with a toddler in the house, everything looks a little different…
While I envy your Pinterest inspired wrapping techniques, and gifts pretty enough to hang over the mantle, our boxes are going to have a little more “character” this year. But in case you’re still curious about that foot-shaped imprint in the middle of your present, here’s what it looks like to wrap gifts with a toddler in the house:
Is it really mid-December already? Where did 2015 disappear to in such a hurry? Seems like just yesterday we were busy stuffing Alistair’s pyjamas full of towels to make this video. Hard to believe that another twelve months have past and we’re once again singing carols, decorating the tree (with non-breakable ornaments this year), and wrapping presents.
Realizing that the season of Christmas cards was upon us (and remembering how much fun we had filming last year’s holiday video) we donned our favourite ugly sweaters and got to work creating another Mannegren Christmas Special.
Strapped into the five point harness of my baby stroller is a mini superstar sucking on a dinosaur soother.
That’s right – I have been given the highly sought after and seriously underpaid job of chauffeuring a little celebrity around town in my Graco buggy.
At least, I’m pretty sure there’s a celebrity in there…
Because how else can you possibly explain the unfathomable amount of attention given to the tiny human chewing on a toy giraffe?
Anytime we leave the house, we have to tack an additional half hour to our schedule for spontaneous “meet and greets.” We barely make it out of our apartment elevator without being mobbed by a herd of cooing grandmas and cross-eyed strangers pulling silly faces. And forget about the days of messy ponytails, sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt – my little passenger ensures that there is no longer such a thing as running a “quick errand without seeing anyone.”
Clearly the only plausible conclusion is that I’m carting around a blue eyed, button nosed, internationally recognized superstar.
Warning: This post is disgusting and squishy and most certainly not for individuals prone to queasy stomachs or an overly active gag reflex. If you’re currently chowing down on lunch, you’ll probably want to save this post for later…
Congratulations! You’ve just brought a milk guzzling, sleep stealing, poop machine into the world. Sadly, gone are the days when you can simply pass the bottom heavy baby back to its mother for a quick change. You are now the parent! It’s time to grab some zinc oxide cream and a gas mask because you are about to wrestle one squirming baby out of an obnoxiously tight sleeper that’s erupting with half-digested carrots.
Ah yes, the joys of parenting… Who knew there were so many wonderful things to learn about babies? Because standing knee deep in a pile of fermenting diapers, you are now an expert on pimply bum rashes and oddly colored excrement. No one can say that having a baby isn’t informative. This, however, is one subject that you probably wish wasn’t covered so extensively…
Not going to lie – this post is pretty much just shameless promotion of my hubby’s ridiculously amusing “New Van Fan” videos. Can you believe they’re already in Season 3? (This means that if you haven’t seen their video’s before, you’re in luck because there are 19 videos to catch up on!) Better get your mini bowls of popcorn ready!