Discount Code for tickets to Disney Live! presents Three Classic Fairy Tales

If your little ones are as obsessed with princesses as mine is, this may be a great little present for a post-holiday princess fix (especially since the threat of Santa not bringing presents is now gone) – tickets to Disney Live! presents Three Classic Fairy Tales. Consider this as my way of helping with Boxing Day shopping.

Using the code: MAMA

• You can get 4 tickets for $44 for the Monday through Thursday performances

• For Friday through Sunday performances, you can save $4 per ticket

• However, like many other offers, there are some restrictions: EXCLUDES Front Row, VIP, TP and Gold Circle tickets and may not be combined with other discount offers.

• And, this code is valid between now and end of performance schedule

And yes, Santa did bring my little one a princess doll – Belle. Well, at least it was not pink.

Christmas time

Christmas is rapidly approaching, and I started thinking, which is actually not that often, as I am in a constant panic about not getting everything done on time. Anyway, I digress, I started to think about what Christmas actually means to my daughter.

I am guessing for her, Christmas means candy canes, decorated trees, lots of food, and of course Santa and presents. I am trying to encourage her to think of Christmas as a time to be good and kind to others (though this should be all the time), and an occasion to spend and enjoy time with people you care about and care about you. It is nevertheless hard to compete with presents.

We are not a religious family. I did not grow up in a very religious household, but when I was little, my parents did take my sister and I to church almost every Sunday – I vaguely recall making crafts and colouring stuff. When I was older, I enjoyed some of the pageantry and rituals associated with going to church, but I definitely did not like sitting through the sermons. Yet, even with my lack of attention during my 'religious' upbringing, I do remember the Christmas story.

My daughter has never stepped foot in a church, okay, that is not completely true, her school concerts take place in an auditorium inside a church, and I think we had to go to one to vote, but you know what I mean. (And, this blog is not really about how I am introducing, or in this case, not introducing religion to my daughter.)

Well, I figure the easiest way to find out what my little one is thinking about is to just ask her.

And here is what she told me: Christmas is time for family.

I think she knows exactly what Christmas is all about.

I fought the Princesses, and the Princesses won!

I am not willing to admit defeat yet in my fight to convince my child that there is more to life than being a princess, and that there is something else to wear other than dresses. I am, however, pretty sure that I have lost this battle – to keep princesses from invading every corner of my house, which is especially difficult this time of year.

Yes, I know her father and I control the purse strings, and it is essentially our fault when we buy her some doll that resembles a princess (okay, a lot of the incoming toys are because of grandparents). On the other hand, I want her to like her present; why buy things for someone when you know they won't like it (see previous post on presents).

So, instead of fighting the princesses, I am acquiescing to their presence, and I decided to use them as examples of how a little girl, who wants to be a princess, should behave. For example:

• Princesses listen to their elders – see Cinderella, and Snow White – Cinderella's stepmother orders her to clean the house, do all the laundry and cook all the meals, and Cinderella obeys, I am just asking my child to put her dirty socks in the hamper...

• Cleaning is good, and feel free to whistle while you work – see Snow White

• Reading is fun – see Belle

• Be good, nice and kind – see all the princesses

• It is good to have set goals, and to work hard for to reach those goals, just not so hard that you forget to have fun along the way – see Tiana

• Be adventurous and try new things, there is a big world to see out there – see Arial, Jasmine and Rapunzel

• Look beyond what someone looks like when deciding if you want to be their friend – see Belle

• Girls can do anything boys can, and sometimes even better – see Mulan

• Sometimes it is up to the girl to help rescue both herself and the boy – see Arial

• And a very important lesson: Sleep is good – see Snow White and Aurora

• Also, don't piss of big talking trees – see Pocahontas, or was that from Lord of the Rings...

And here is something that I would like her to not learn:

• Not listening to your parents – see Arial, who should have also listened to the crab, “Darling it's better Down where it's wetter” (Mulan also didn't listen to her father, but it probably did save his life, and Rapunzel did not listen to her 'mother' but the woman did kidnap the child, so these cases should not count)

• changing who you are for a boy – see Arial

• Sitting around waiting for your prince to come – see Aurora and Snow White (though in their cases, they were more asleep than sitting)

So, I hope she will try to keep these lessons in mind when I try to take her to see the Disney Live!presents Three Classic Fairy Tales. It sounds like a great show, with music, adventure, and magic; and of course “THE MOUSE”and his friends; and most importantly, Snow White, Cinderella and Belle.

Something that sounds perfect for my little princess.

For more information about the show - http://www.disneylive.ca/ThreeClassicFairyTales/

Show times:

Ottawa, Ontario, Scotiabank Place Dec. 18 - 19, 2011

Montreal, Quebec, Theatre St-Denis Dec. 22 - 28, 2011

Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton Place Theatre Dec. 29 - 30, 2011

Kitchener, Ontario, Centre in the Square Jan. 6, 2011

Kingston, Ontario, K-Rock Centre Jan. 7, 2012

London, Ontario, John Labatt Centre Jan. 8 - 9, 2012

Oshawa, Ontario, General Motors Centre Jan. 12, 2012

Toronto, Ontario, Rogers Centre Jan. 13 - 15, 2012

Fine Print:

Feld Entertainment may be providing me with complimentary tickets to this show, in exchange for my time and efforts in attending the show, and reporting my opinion within this blog. However, the opinions about the show, and everything else are 100 per cent mine.

pictures courtesy of Feld Entertainment.© Disney.

Buying presents for a difficult person

AND, the difficult person is ME!

To help those who must deal with people like me, here are my following rules about presents.

In no particular order:

• The gift does not have to be expensive (though I would not complain if it was...). BUT it cannot be cheap either, as in made out of cheap things, or look tacky (keep in mind that 'cheap' things can still be expensive). Okay, I admit that there is a time and place for cheesy gag gifts.

• The gift should not be something practical (i.e. socks and underwear), but not be completely useless either – like giving me a carjack would be practical and also be completely useless as I rarely drive, and even if I do, I cannot loosen the bolts that hold the tire in place.

• The gift should be a want, not a need. Like I really want a Kitchenaid mixer, because I think it is very pretty, but as I do not bake, I really do not need one (this is not a hint, as it is also unpractical, I have no room for one, unless the mixer becomes the centrepiece for Christmas dinner). Sometimes a want and a need may be the same thing.

• The gift should be something fun.

• Avoid gift cards if possible. Well, if you are getting a gift for your third cousin three times removed that you have met maybe twice in your life, then go for the gift card, but if it is someone close, try to get an actual present.

• The gift should not be bought half-assed – if so, just buy a gift card.

• Most importantly, the gift should be THOUGHTFUL – think about what the other person likes and wants (not need). I view gifts as a way of letting the other person know that you are thinking of them, and that you took time out (going online for hours looking for a present counts) specifically to go shopping, to get something special. Hopefully, the thoughts are not too cheap.

I know the list probably does not help with actual shopping, so here are some examples of a couple of my favourite presents.

a) A picture book of a trip that we took. It was a very thoughtful present, and I know it took time and effort for my husband to make the book. It also serves as a reminder of a really fun time we had together.

b) A massage at a spa. Now, I know you can give gift certificates to treatments, but this was special, because my husband made ALL the arrangements for me, including making sure our child would be occupied. All I had to do was to show up.

picture courtesy of Zurizim

Different solutions to the same problem

Sometimes I am really, really proud of my daughter, other times not so much... but for the most part, I am proud. And sometimes, I am surprised at how much more mature she is about responding to certain situations than I am.

This is one of them...

My daughter was not looking as happy as she usually does when I picked her up from school one day. She told me a little kid in her class tried to hit her. After giving her a hug and establishing that hitting is wrong, the next thing I did was to see whether this was done intentionally (even accidental physical contact is a big no to my daughter).

Okay, I feel bad that the first thought in my head was to doubt her interpretation of the event. I realize little kids are sometimes clumsy, and to be honest, my little one is not always aware of her environment, and so may have merely gotten in the way of a moving child.

Anyway, the incident was not accidental, and the kid did not actually hit her; just tried. I was upset, and told her what the kid (though the word brat and other more colourful adjectives were running through my mind at that point) did was wrong, and if it happens again, just tell him NO, you do not like that, in a big voice, and then go tell a teacher.

A couple of days later, I noticed that the little kid was once again bothering her in the playground. I was about to step in to physically remove the child, when I heard a little big voice yelling NO! I do not like that! And there she was standing up tall, and most importantly standing up for herself, and the kid walked away.

Well all was good for a couple of weeks after that, until I picked her up from school one day and saw her sad little face again...

Apparently, not only did the same kid hit her again, this time he spat in her face. Okay, I admit that my child can be a little annoying and patronizing at times, but no matter what she did, NO ONE should be spat on in the face. I think the kid was lucky that I did not find him at that moment.

After calming down, and talking to her, which involved lots of hugs and kisses, I contacted her teacher to let her know what is going on, and then started to think of a solution to this big problem.

This was my solution: if this kid tries to do this again, you have my permission to deck the kid and maybe kick them in the shins or other places that hurt. Or better yet, I will deal with the kid myself. I know this is wrong, so I did not really say this to her, but I was thinking it.

This was her solution(s): avoid the kid. And, make friends with the kid.

Okay, her solution is better than mine, and she came up with it all by herself!

Epilogue

Things seem to be better between my child and the kid. Though there is still the occasional incident, she seems to be handling it okay, with the help of her other friends. But beware kid, if my daughter's solution does not work, we are going with my plan.