A Tired Old Marshmellow World

Hopefully Christmas has been kind to you and this post finds you jolly, full of good food and surrounded by those you love. 

The holidays always seem to take so long to arrive - shopping, making, decorating, baking, mailing, ordering, wrapping, planning - and then fly by amidst a fury of Styrofoam, savory culinary aromas, and crinkled tinsel. 

Days spent trying your wits with complicated electronics and toy assembly compounded by excessive intake of eggnog and chocolate makes for tired Mommies and Daddies around our house. 

 
Just checking: does anyone else find the packaging for commercial children's toys to be a little bit excessive? 

I'm specifically referring to the display cases that some toys come in wherein each individual part of the toy are encased in molded, snug-fitting plastic trays and secured by miniature translucent elastic-like ties and occasionally - if you're lucky, weaved or sewn in fasteners for properly displayed doll hair.  All for the purpose of...?  It can't be for safety reasons, as there is nothing even remotely safe about razor sharp plastic, Styrofoam snow, wire ties, or wondering elastic bands. 

Seriously, have you ever tried to break a toy free of it's packaging lately?  It is labour intensive.  And it only gets worst as children - and subsequently, their toy interests - grow. 

Try removing a doll with hair from her plastic encased tomb, and see if you can manage to preserve the innocence and magic of Christmas morning for your children as you wage war with plastic hell and struggle to restrain frustration-induced profanity.  All the while trying to avoid injury to yourself and your eagerly awaiting children.  Whilst singing Christmas carols and chocking down the long ago cold tea that you made when you first got up because you knew you'd need it, and you still know you need it, because without it you would crawl into a cupboard - equipped with a child safety lock - and wait for the whole Christmas merriment thing to blow over. 

Or until the smell of cooking turkey lures you out of you self-induced confinement cupboard.

Frustrations aside, I am fortunate enough to say that Christmas was truly wonderful here.  My two year old Funny Guy, Alright and four year old Sweetheart were truly enthralled with the wonderment of the season.  Much to the delight of their super-excited Mommy and Daddy.