oh. my. god.

so we have this advent calendar that i bought the year of the duke's first christmas...

as wingman got older, it became a fight as to who would open it each day...you'd think that the switching off of each day would work, but you think a lot of things and then you have kids and realize that you don't know doodly squat about anything...

so i thought i'd be brilliant this year and put out the traditional calendar PLUS get them each their own calendar with the chocolates inside!...

seemed like an easy solution...

except.

except, every morning since december 1st WITHOUT FAIL one of them in their excitement will blurt out what the chocolate shape is before the other one has even gotten theirs out...

and then all hell breaks loose...i bet intake at guantanamo bay is quieter than this...

when the duke blurts it out wingman just falls down into loud and dark and heaving sobs...

when wingman blurts it out the duke starts shouting and carrying on about the injustice of it all...also very loudly...

and so every morning since december 1st it's a jerry springer show in my living room...insults and hurts and sobs and shouts...if they could pick up and throw the chairs in there i'm sure they would...

and yes, there is always, at some point, an out of shape and angry and shouting woman in ill-fitting clothes involved...

and this was my *brilliant* plan...i'd hate to see what plan b might have been...

in other dentistry news we have decided that we are dealing with a buncha yahoos...duh...and this time i don't mean my kids...i have solicited advice from far and wide and have come to the conclusion that we will explore our options for taking him to a dentist at the children's hospital in the big city...

i don't know if we'll get an appointment or what my insurance will do or what...but it's a first step towards something i feel a bit better about...our insurance refused to pay for any of the hospital portion, but that might just have to be how it is...

i don't want to think about it but i have to...i am certain his teeth are only getting worse and obviously we want this resolved as quickly as possible...

i say as my son is chowing down on advent calendar chocolate first thing each morning...

in more uplifting news, today is the winter solstice...

as the sun comes creeping back, so too does hope...and as usual, just in the nick of time...

and hopefully i really can lay the past resentments of this year to rest and concentrate on what lies ahead...

so light every candle or even just one and give blessings to the return of the light...and while you're at it, give thanks for the dark too, as without it the light wouldn't mean half as much...

blessed be, x.