Co-Concious for the Holidays. . .
Well Christmas has been quite interesting this year so far. It is the first year where my parts and I (see Previous Post titled Me and My Selfs if you don't know that I mean), have been co-conscious and so shopping and getting things done have been vastly different than what I am used too. It has been amazing and it has shown me what is possible and showered hope on my weary soul.
It didn't start great when unexpectedly Giles decided to have his intestines quit on him and he needed emergency surgery which pushed back a needed meeting. So after some bad choices on my part in response to that things have been progressing merrily along. Normally the crowd and all the varieties of choice out there cause quite stress, distraction and frustration to my parts and we end up buying more than we need, things we don't even want and spending so much time that we are constantly playing catch up, however this year having most everyone co-conscious we attacked this season differently and as a result I am much more merry.
It started with searching for the perfect present for Giles. Wesley's present had already jumped out at me so he was taken care of but Giles was harder. All my parts wanted to participate in his gift and that made things very complicated since there are over 50 at last count. They are all very different so the possibility of buying 50 or more presents was frightening me. So we all conferenced and decided upon a craft instead. That way everyone could participate throw their own flair into it and yet it still be inexpensive.
Well for those of you who know me you know how funny the words me and crafty go together. However there is a first time for everything. The first hurdle we ran into was the purchasing of the crafting material. Do you know how large craft stores are and how much selection there is? It's mind boggling especially if your mind is already pre-boggled. It's like taking a kinder-garden class, a middle school class and a class of high school kids simultaneously to a crowded craft store and saying "have at it". Normally when I then have to have discussions we do it in my head but unfortunately for me I and those around me I found myself talking to myself quite a bit. Imagine being in a store with someone who occasionally bursts out with "that's not what we want; no we can't have that; that's too much money;" and my personal favorite, "Quit nagging me and be quiet!!!" That will get you strange looks every time. Of course looking at the positive side of things that also makes the crowds pushing and jostling around you disperse like the red sea.
So crafts bought we ventured home to actually do the crafting. It was much more difficult than I imagined---the actual crafting part--but with some help from my twelve year old daughter I did it. It was also more time consuming than I imagined it would be so I had to cut down my original concept to something more manageable but it still works. Each part was able to add their own little bit and everyone was happy. It took six hours (so Giles you had better like it) and it is a little girlie (I am a girl after all) but Giles is in touch with his feminine style so that should work still work but it's finished.
Doing the crafts also allowed me some quality time with Jessica. She loved all the craft stuff and when she first saw it after she picked up her jaw from the floor and said (You! Crafts!) she exclaimed her excitement that there was a part of me that did like crafts. I told her she could make some too we would just wait until the first three were in bed for the night and then we would sit down and craft. Like I said earlier she actually helped me with part of the craft stuff when I would get lost in the details. It was also an opportunity for her to see the parts in me, they have always been around but try not to look like they are when the kids are around so as not to confuse them; they are good at covering too after years of practice. At one point she said to me, "you make such cute noises when you are crafting and you get this look like you're a big kid----it's cool." My parts were very happy to hear that they are cool.
Then the next part of the Christmas shopping I attacked a different way too. We went out together browsing for what we wanted and then we wrote a list for each store and what we would get there for home. Then on Saturday we went out and attacked systematically and it went so quickly and was so organized I was stunned. it's never been that easy before, all the choice, all the kids inside demanding stuff, all the people confusing me, it has always been chaos and this year was different, this year I had fun.
So now on to dinner with the family and now I am much more confident that I can get through that as well.
It didn't start great when unexpectedly Giles decided to have his intestines quit on him and he needed emergency surgery which pushed back a needed meeting. So after some bad choices on my part in response to that things have been progressing merrily along. Normally the crowd and all the varieties of choice out there cause quite stress, distraction and frustration to my parts and we end up buying more than we need, things we don't even want and spending so much time that we are constantly playing catch up, however this year having most everyone co-conscious we attacked this season differently and as a result I am much more merry.
It started with searching for the perfect present for Giles. Wesley's present had already jumped out at me so he was taken care of but Giles was harder. All my parts wanted to participate in his gift and that made things very complicated since there are over 50 at last count. They are all very different so the possibility of buying 50 or more presents was frightening me. So we all conferenced and decided upon a craft instead. That way everyone could participate throw their own flair into it and yet it still be inexpensive.
Well for those of you who know me you know how funny the words me and crafty go together. However there is a first time for everything. The first hurdle we ran into was the purchasing of the crafting material. Do you know how large craft stores are and how much selection there is? It's mind boggling especially if your mind is already pre-boggled. It's like taking a kinder-garden class, a middle school class and a class of high school kids simultaneously to a crowded craft store and saying "have at it". Normally when I then have to have discussions we do it in my head but unfortunately for me I and those around me I found myself talking to myself quite a bit. Imagine being in a store with someone who occasionally bursts out with "that's not what we want; no we can't have that; that's too much money;" and my personal favorite, "Quit nagging me and be quiet!!!" That will get you strange looks every time. Of course looking at the positive side of things that also makes the crowds pushing and jostling around you disperse like the red sea.
So crafts bought we ventured home to actually do the crafting. It was much more difficult than I imagined---the actual crafting part--but with some help from my twelve year old daughter I did it. It was also more time consuming than I imagined it would be so I had to cut down my original concept to something more manageable but it still works. Each part was able to add their own little bit and everyone was happy. It took six hours (so Giles you had better like it) and it is a little girlie (I am a girl after all) but Giles is in touch with his feminine style so that should work still work but it's finished.
Doing the crafts also allowed me some quality time with Jessica. She loved all the craft stuff and when she first saw it after she picked up her jaw from the floor and said (You! Crafts!) she exclaimed her excitement that there was a part of me that did like crafts. I told her she could make some too we would just wait until the first three were in bed for the night and then we would sit down and craft. Like I said earlier she actually helped me with part of the craft stuff when I would get lost in the details. It was also an opportunity for her to see the parts in me, they have always been around but try not to look like they are when the kids are around so as not to confuse them; they are good at covering too after years of practice. At one point she said to me, "you make such cute noises when you are crafting and you get this look like you're a big kid----it's cool." My parts were very happy to hear that they are cool.
Then the next part of the Christmas shopping I attacked a different way too. We went out together browsing for what we wanted and then we wrote a list for each store and what we would get there for home. Then on Saturday we went out and attacked systematically and it went so quickly and was so organized I was stunned. it's never been that easy before, all the choice, all the kids inside demanding stuff, all the people confusing me, it has always been chaos and this year was different, this year I had fun.
So now on to dinner with the family and now I am much more confident that I can get through that as well.
posted by Anne | 2:48 PM
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