Box Baby

Why is it that you always get the best advice after it's already too late? 90% of the parenting advice I receive is given to me once its far too late and I've already dropped the ball and did something I shouldn't have or that I wish I wouldn't have.....#momfail.

If you've read my earlier post "The Lamborghini of Baby Swings", you know that I am repulsed by my uncontrollable compulsion to buy my child crap she doesn't need.... and, because I'm incapable of taking my own advice (which is riddled throughout that post), I am still spending away at every single chance I get.

Christmas was obviously no exception.

I started shopping for Olivia's very first Christmas in October. (That should have been the first red flag I'd have noticed)

I bought everything.

EVERYTHING.

Music books. Stuffed animals. Every Baby Einstein and V Tech toy ever created. Some learning DVDS. I bought my kid a freaking hot pink Amazon Fire tablet...A FREAKING TABLET.

I bought a 9 month old a freaking tablet. What is wrong with me?!?!?! (Yep, that's the pink tablet on the table in the corner)

I just wanted her first Christmas to be unforgettable... but would it be? I mean, she's 9 months old... obviously I'm living in a dream world if I honestly believed that my baby would remember her first Christmas.. I'm a little crazy, but not THAT crazy...

But that got me thinking.. I wanted her Christmas to be wonderful, but deep down I knew she would not process or understand any of it...really, I wanted it to be unforgettable for me...I wanted to see her so happy with all of her new stuff. I wanted to remember the smile on her face and the happiness as she played with all her cool new toys. I wanted to feel like the best Mom in the world for making that happen.

We opened all of her gifts...and... she did not care one bit for any of it...All she wanted was the damn wrapping paper and boxes..

All my preparation. All my shopping. All my planning. All the money spent. For what? My child to laugh and play with a cardboard box...

After Christmas everyone I know asked me how our first family Christmas went. As I told them all the things Olivia got, almost every person replied with, "she was probably more interested in playing with the box!".....

THANK YOU FOR THAT TIP. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN EXCELLENT TO KNOW BEFORE I MAXED OUT A CREDIT CARD...

Long story short, I think I'm realizing that as a parent sometimes you think you're doing something for your child, but really you're doing it for yourself. Olivia would still love me just the same if I gave her a cardboard box as opposed to a brand new tablet. I just wanted the satisfaction of knowing that I could do anything for my little one.

But, that's not what matters. Money and things are not what matters. We are happy and healthy and together, and that's what matters.

Another Mom lesson learned.