Successful Christmas(s) - A quick overview

I had 4 days of Christmas. FOUR! Four days of family, food, a child with little to no naps, late bedtimes and over-stimulation. I feel bad for my dear friend Ice! Nugget is going to be very off her game today and most likely a pain in the butt... but in the end it was worth it!

We did Christmas Eve at my parent's house. Very low key, except for a rowdy game of Scattegories. Christmas Day we went to the movies in shifts. We saw "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and while it was a good movie, I do not recommend seeing it on a holiday, lol! The day after Christmas we went to my aunt's house to spend time with my dad's family. Nugget had a great time playing with my cousin's son, Monkey. FINALLY, yesterday Nug and I spent a few hours with X's family. Her two aunts, uncle and Grandma.

Nugget got a lot of great winter clothing, which she needed and a couple great toys. Nothing too over the top. She finally has a soft chair she can sit in that is just her size (thank you Great G-Pa). Thanks to a couple great people I was able to buy Nugget a couple presents for under the tree and contribute towards Christmas dinner. I am so thankful for everything.

X apparently found a way to send gifts for Nugget and his mom brought them to our visit. A stuffed dog and a few outfits. I am not mad at XMIL for bringing the items to me, she probably thought Nug could use the clothing and a part of her thinks him sending gift for Christmas is the right thing for him to do. There was no card or message from him, or if there was she did not give it to me which I appreciated. I think that made it easier. My gut reaction (which I kept to myself) was... "I don't think so!". As I opened the box I realized how little he knew about this amazing little girl. This could be expected b/c I do not share any info with him, but I KNOW his mom talks to him regularly and I am pretty sure she has talked about DD... I KNOW that even though XMIL only sees Nugget about once a month she knows Nugget pretty well. XMIL was kind enough to get some cool clothing for Nugget, all the correct size. X however sent clothing 2 sizes to small. So in the end my daughter got a "typical" deadbeat dad gift. Clothing that is too small and a generic stuffed animal.

In the end it made me feel BETTER! LOL.. I know it sounds strange, but I think I learned a couple things. Either XMIL doesn't talk about DD and me to her son as much as I thought or he doesn't care or listen. Like I said this makes me feel better. I am hoping his interest will fade more over time. When X and I were together he seemed to remember most of what I said. He bought me clothing as gifts and they were always the right size, he paid attention. Now that I am not under his control, he seems to care less about paying attention to details.