- my iParenting
- quick clicks
- preschoolers today articles
- preschoolers today q&a
- children today articles
- children today q&a
- community & groups
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
From Our Sponsors
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Dear Santa...
What One Dad Hopes for This Christmas
By Mark Stackpole
Dear Santa,
First of all, let me thank you for the iPod last year. I love it. I have only had to return it twice for repairs, and now it is working just fine. Mostly. Only 8,700 more songs to go before it is filled up. I plan on bequeathing it to my son so he can finish the job. Of course, by that time, he will look at my model of iPod much in the way that I currently look at old 8-track players. I can hear him talking to his friends about his dad's antique music player: "Look, it doesn't even have a 3-D holographic projector ... and it only holds 10,000 songs!" Kids make you feel old even before you have a chance to be hip.
This year, I was hoping for a plasma TV with a screen so big that we would have to knock out a wall to fit it in the house. Guests would excuse themselves in the middle of an episode of CSI: Nebraska just so they could visit the concession stand. Nothing improves the quality of mediocre entertainment more than making it bigger and louder. Not in my book, anyway. But, to be honest, I am not sure that even your mighty sleigh could carry that weight, and my "good boy" credentials may be a little suspect this year, anyway.
I have tried to be patient, calm and easygoing, but I wasn't that way even before I had two children. I love them more than words can say, but that doesn't mean that there haven't been a few challenges along the way. The more I think about it, the more I think that I will only put one item on my list this year, Santa: sleep. Corinne will turn 2 on New Year's Eve, and she treats every day like a party in Vegas. What happens in our house, stays in our house. Until Mommy or Daddy works up the nerve to clean it up. Lucas is almost 9 months old and moves around like an old pro, assuming that crawling and creating a wave of ankle-high destruction ever gets its own professional league.