8 posts tagged “holiday”
Worried about your baby Jesus falling into the wrong hands this holiday season? Have no fear, Lightning GPS is here.
LightningGPS,
a leading supplier of GPS Tracking Devices, has been asked by churches,
schools, & towns to donate GPS Trackers in previous years. This
year, Lightning GPS is offering this service publicly to schools and
churches across the country. They will be lending out GPS Tracking
devices to select institutions for free as a way of thwarting the
evil-doers.
I've been crying at nothing lately. Then I realized why. This will be the first holiday season without my parents. My Mom passed away 5 years ago right before Christmas, and we lost my Dad on New Year's Day of this year.
I'm not looking forward to the holidays ... at... all. I always took my sons to their house every holiday. Actually we went there for dinner every Friday too. They were the cornerstone of our family. They were there for me if anything went wrong ... and now I'm alone. The family I grew up in is gone. Going to their house for Thanksgiving dinner is gone. Going to their house on Christmas morning and staying for Christmas dinner is gone.
So I've decided to decorate the house like a mad woman this year and start our own traditions. Time to go holiday shopping!
To help everyone get a head start on their holiday crafting, large combo packs of Suncatcher Eyes have been marked down 15%. That's more than $16 off the 112-pair pack. What are you waiting for? Get them in my Etsy shop or through the Suncatcher Eyes website.
Days after it got a federal bailout, American International Group Inc. spent $440,000 on a posh California retreat for its executives, complete with spa treatments, banquets and golf outings, according to lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown.
So what are they going to do about it?
My Dad passed away in January. His graveside service is this Wednesday. I'm not looking forward to this week at all. Memorial Day doesn't help any either.
My son turns 18 today. I feel so old!
In order to minimize stress from my sons' autism, we handle holidays and birthdays a bit differently.
See, any change in routine is incredibly stressful for both of my sons. That even includes happy changes, like a birthday party, waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve, or even a change like Daylight Savings Time. They all ended in meltdowns, rages, and shutting down.
To celebrate birthdays, we have a birthday week or couple of weeks. That way my sons don't get stressed with anticipation. We have a small family meal with a cake on the day of their birthday. We treat it just like any normal family meal, except we do sing Happy Birthday. No big fuss. My sons choose their own presents as we are out on regular shopping trips during the few weeks leading up to their birthdays. I don't make them wait to open their presents on their birthday. That way they don't have to deal with the stress of anticipation. I may cook a few special meals for them and pamper them with little surprises during their birthday week. Logan got buttermilk pancakes for breakfast yesterday, and he's getting Chili's baby back ribs tonight.
We handle Christmas sort of the same way. We have a family meal with their grandfather and uncle. This year we didn't even put up a tree or decorate because it was too stressful for one of them. We handle Christmas presents the same way we do for birthdays. I don't make them wait until Christmas eve or Christmas day. Again, no stress from anticipation.
It's very liberating to not live by the retail norm for holidays.
As a matter of fact, it's interesting to watch what goes on when you're not a part of it. Think about it... who came up with candy and cards on Valentine's day and chocolate on Easter? The meaning of many holidays has been lost to commercialism.
