Wow, lots of neat traditions. I find shopping for gifts wearying. I usually start in October and try to be finished by the end of November. I try to leave time in December for decorating, cookie baking and wrapping gifts. We are also away for about 9 days total in December as our kids play in 2 international junior squash tournaments and so this takes a huge chunk out of our Christmas preparation time and also means we cannot have a real tree as we are away and can't water it. We buy for our 3 kids, in-laws, our staff (about 8 people), couple of aunts and uncles, and assorted family. We have done a draw for the family in previous years so that all the adults names are put in a hat and each person then draws and only has to buy 1 gift. But this has fallen by the wayside as part of the family had moved away and sometimes comes back for Christmas and sometimes doesn't. I am more conscious now in trying to buy gifts that are useful or consumable as we all know how easy clutter comes into our homes and how difficult and time consuming it is to take it back out. Traditionally my DH and I usually buy small gifts for each other, most of which will fit in our stockings, requisite gifts are chocolate bars, socks, paperbacks, I always receive a "For Better or For Worse" comic book and the year's stamp set (Canadian), and a CD, you get the idea. We also buy lots of little things for the kids' stockings. Sometimes there may be one big gift for the family (one year it was a large screen T.V. ) and then, the other gifts will be smaller and fewer. I usually get an Odyssey set of tapes (from Focus on the Family) as one of the gifts for the kids as we do lots of driving trips and the kids like listening to them in the car. Just wrapping all the stocking gifts takes forever, but they are so much fun to open Christmas morning. Christmas Eve, the family goes to Church as our Church does not have a Christmas morning service. Then we open presents Christmas morning, have brunch and relax and then start cooking Christmas dinner late afternoon, in-laws come and another round of gift opening takes place. I really like it that we don't have to go anywhere on Christmas day, it really is quite relaxing. My DH jokes that it's the only day in the whole year when the car doesn't leave the driveway!

If you dont want to send him don't, but I think it would benefit him. I am a preschool teacher. My sister didnt send her son and she ended up pulling him out of kindergarten and putting him in preschool for a year. I dont know what the requirements are like for kindergarten in your state, but in Ohio the kindergarten cirriculum is what the first grade cirriculum used to be ten years ago. They even are expected to do simple addition and story problems by the end of the year. At my preschool 4 year olds go 2 1/2 hours 3 times a week. And it is not true that we are used for daycare. The majority of mom's are SAH. We believe you learn through play. We dont have 30 children like a kindergarten does, so we can start out a child's educational experiences with more individualized attention. Every child I have loves coming to school. I love each one like my own. Just because your child is in preschool doesn't mean you have to be apart from them. I have parents that volunteer and help me in the classroom almost every day. A good preschool will encourage parent participation. If you would decide to try it. (And what would trying it hurt?) Ask to see a list of objectives (the things the teacher wants the children to learn that year) and a sample copy of a lesson plan. If they don't have these things to show you then find a different school. Yes, children will adapt to kindergarten. But, as my sister's sons ex-kindergarten teacher told her, they have so many children and so much is expected of them, she doesn't have the time to teach them to stand in line, sit still, listen to a story, ect. I hope you change your mind. I think you and your son would enjoy it (because it should be an experience for both of you)

Double strollers are great for going places or even walking around the neighborhood. My three kids were all born within a 3.5 year span. I still use the stroller all the time (even for the 5 yo). I find it makes a nice restraint for a while too. You can have one child strapped in while you are chasing the other at the park. (Been there, done that. ;-)) We have climbers here too. I try to keep the fun stuff off the tops of the tv and fridge to reduce temptation. You could probably start including them in things like baking cookies, making playdough, etc. We do a lot of coloring and simple crafting around here. Finger painting might be fun if you can do it in the bathtub or outside. You can rent some fun "active" videos that are fun and you can copy the activities at home. For instance, The Wiggles have hand and dance motions with some songs. Even though it is a video, you aren't exactly a couch potato if you're participating. Same goes for Barney and other kids videos. Sometimes, we play kid cds and sing as loud as we can or have our own band. As I'm sure you already know, the kids are almost to an age where you can start doing more with them and that will be fun. Also, they are at a point where they will start learning expected behavior and you can get them out of the house more.

The time will fly. The kids will be in their own home and hopefully have age appropriate toys. Most three year olds love to show off their things and their skills to new people. The one year old will probably be entertained just watching the 3 year old and manipulating his/her own toys. Between feeding, diaper changing and nap time the 1 year old will be fine. One year olds love to observe the world around them. Singing/being sung to is something both will enjoy. One year olds like picture books and simple rhymes. The three year old can hear a story or watch a video during one year old's nap time. The day should divided into active periods and quiet periods of time. If the 3 year old naps it will be a short one at that age for most kids. I would never do a wading pool with a one year old I am not experienced with. Kids of that age could do a face plant and drown in a minute. All it would take would be the distraction of a phone ringing etc. Too risky. Had a friend whose little sister drowned in a wading pool in their yard. Toddler wandered into the back yard through a door left open by an older child while mom's back was turned. Tragic.