xmas!

[elpollodiablo]

That's what we want! They're in a stupid block right now but I'm going to order one of those magnetic strips from Amazon.

[Greg Nog]

Keen!  I have this one, but I think IKEA makes a cheap one, too.

[jm]

on Christmas Eve, we listened to some old favorites

[peacocks]

whoa! You don't know what that is?

[jm]

the specific song?  No.

but seriously if anybody knows the name of that song, lemme know.

We have a cabinet full of wax cylinders.  It's a really beautiful cabinet, too.  I wish I could have gotten it in the (really shitty cell-phone camera) shot.

[clare]

Hmm. it's a mystery to me too, but I have some friends who might know...(all I can turn up so far is people looking for it..and a fragment here)

[fishjim]

Jeb, sorry to hear about the blowup. I had one with my father-in-law over Occupy etc. (he's an economist who can't imagine a world without money) but we were mostly able to avoid the topic for the rest of the holiday. That's probably because, after 7 years as in-laws, we've learned enough about each other to sort of mutually steer clear of the minefields. It's like a nuclear non-proliferation pact.

Not sure if in-law dynamics were at the heart of this one - if so, I'm not going to say these problems go away, but they do get easier to manage.  

NP: I believe someone asked for xmas kid pix?


I   MY POLYVINYL CHLORIDE FOAM TOYS



ONE MORE PRINCESS BIKE

Eat it, haters!

[elpollodiablo]

holy shit that first picture

[G.C.R]

I want that red christmas dress in my own size. I think if I had one I would be making the same expression of unbridled glee.

[Little Sixes Little Nines]

  is that baby kneeling?

[fishjim]

Yes, that baby is kneeling! In a Swedish Christmas dress from Hanna Andersson, a gift from my Swedish mother.

Alert readers will remember I'm not on speaking terms with that loon. I do, however, still graciously accept gifts for the children.

[hannah]

fishjim, would you mind if I ate your baby? thanks

[fishjim]

It's true, Petra does resemble a pot roast.

[clare]

And hannah is a confirmed baby-eater from way back.

It's an awesome dress. If I had a daughter she'd be all up in that gear. Love Iris's bike too.

[YojimboMonkey]

Eat it, haters!

Did somebody hate on yer kid pix? You point 'em out to me and I'll rough 'em up


great pics!

[fishjim]

Eat it, haters!

Did somebody hate on yer kid pix? You point 'em out to me and I'll rough 'em up

Nah, I should've murked that out. It was aimed at the Disney princess merchandise haters, who I now realize are on FB, not LPTJ. I mean, I hate the princess machine too, but you fight it at the cost of your girl's unbridled glee.

[YojimboMonkey]

Personally I dressed each of my sons in burlap sacks and made them play with bits of wood so as not to lock them into gender roles but somehow they all ended up liking guns and swords and violent videogames anyway.

[Bernard]

Eat it, haters!

Did somebody hate on yer kid pix? You point 'em out to me and I'll rough 'em up

Nah, I should've murked that out. It was aimed at the Disney princess merchandise haters, who I now realize are on FB, not LPTJ. I mean, I hate the princess machine too, but you fight it at the cost of your girl's unbridled glee.

Well, I'm a Disney merchandise hater insofar as I won't buy it myself, and I don't love it when other people get it for her, but heck, it's Christmas, I'm not going to squish her enjoyment:



I know it's kind of the current vogue right now to note that girls and boys like their traditional gender roles in defiance of parental efforts to be neutral, but this kid got dolls and princess gear, and her boy cousin got trucks and stuff. And they've both turned just two within the last few months. That's externally-imposed. She was eager to get a turn playing with the fire truck he got:



I guess girls also feel some kind of deep evolutionary need to use transportation? Please note she is not wearing a burlap sack, exactly.

[Greg Nog]

Oh, so after the Which Animal Are You thread, I -- because I'm a complete fucking sucker for awesome animals -- adopted an African Wild Dog, sending in a donation to the WWF.  In return, I got a cool-ass Wild Dog stuffed animal, of remarkably higher quality than I was expecting.  So I gave it to my wee niece, who seemed to like it quite a bit.  African Wild Dogs transcend all genders!

[Babar]

[Little Sixes Little Nines]

hahaha i loved that episode

[Bernard]

I have no idea what that image is from but it is awesome.

[clare]

I am one of those people who hates on the princess stuff, mainly because it leads to stores selling exactly the same gender-neutral toys (building blocks in a trolley is my favourite) in two colour schemes: pink and purple; and primary colours. And that is just fucked. I have the best pics of the big boy dressed up as a princess aged 4, and his favourite gumboots (rain boots) were always pink until he was 4... but as I have no daughters, I really have no idea I guess.

[YojimboMonkey]

and I have pictures of at least one of my sons in sparkly fairy wings.

Also I grew up frequently visiting my grandparents' house where the only toys were a box full of partially disassembled baby dolls in the attic and a skateboard that I couldn't ride worth a damn. And I tried the skateboard, oh so many times.

Sorry about the burlap sacks thing, I wasn't necessarily razzing the thought of people trying NOT to make their kids conform to gender stereotypes but the idea of people getting mad about a girl wearing a pink dress 'cause she likes it or a boy playing with trucks 'cause he likes it.

[clare]

I know. It shits me that THERE IS NO CHOICE!!! girls clothes are all pink and purple and have flowers on them. boys clothes are all grey and blue and black and red and have trucks and tools and spiders on them. Where are the brightly coloured plain things that were around 10 years ago? I'm sorry. I get grumpy about this. Thank fuck I have sons.