When I was a kid, I never used to understand why my mother would always say she hated the holidays. Fast forward 20some years and here I am today, stressed out of my mind over how we're going to afford a "good Christmas" (DH's word...whatever that means) for the skids in addition to the birth of our first baby in January, and me quitting my job to stay at home with her! Now here comes the drama...

Earlier this year, SD8 dropped her iPod touch in the garage, forgot about it, and guess what happened...DH ran over it with the SUV, completely cracking a good portion of the screen. To me, it was debatable in the first place whether she was mature enough for such an expensive gift, but DH insisted she have one for her 8th birthday, and look what happened. So here we are almost a year later, and SD is demanding a brand new iPod for Christmas (the ones that just came out that go for around $300 a piece!) since Daddy ruined the first one! Of course DH is all about getting his little princess exactly what she wants, even though she completely trashed the one she has. Granted, she's a year older now than she was when she got it but believe me, she has gained no skills in respecting others/her own personal property and taking care of expensive items.

If it were entirely up to me, there would be no way in hell we'd be purchasing another one! When DH brought the subject up this morning, I told him I didn't think it was good idea. Maybe if SD was willing to accept the iPod as her ONLY Christmas gift I would consider it, but I know for a fact she'd still expect a ton of other toys in addition to it. When I made this point, DH insisted that he'd be willing to forego any gifts for himself just to have enough money to get her the iPod. I said no, absolutely not...we did that last year and I felt horrible about it...we are not doing that again.

We eventually dropped the conversation and went on talking about something else, but this has been bugging me all day. I appreciate that DH is selfless and wants to give his children a good Christmas, but I refuse to make him go without any gifts again this year just so his spoiled kid gets what she wants.

Someone please affirm that I'm not a TERRIBLE EVIL STEP-WITCH!