At the 2008 Women's Conference in California Dr. Condoleezza Rice stated, "We're not doing a good enough job of preparing girls for science and technology professions."

Myself, I wondered - Why are we the only parents who signed our daughter up for Science Camp?

The first day of science camp some of the boys made remarks about girls and their ability to do science. By the end, Ainsley had dispelled any negative assumptions about girls and their scientific brains.

Forty years ago women made up just 3 percent of science and engineering jobs; now they make up about 20 percent. That sounds promising, until you consider that women earn 56 percent of the degrees in those fields. A recent Center for Work-Life Policy study found that 52 percent of women leave those jobs, with 63 percent saying they experienced workplace harassment and more than half believing they needed to "act like a man" in order to succeed. In the past, women dealt with that reality in two ways: some buried their femininity, while others simply gave up their techie interests to appear more feminine, state a Newsweek article, Revenge of the Nerdette, this year.

I get some solicitations from Interactive Webgames designed for girls.

Here's the disappointing thing - their primary focus is on getting dressed, extra-curricular activities include going shopping and home decorating.

Getting dressed should take up maybe 20 minutes of a person's day. Unless you're actually a fashion designer or aim to become one, it really shouldn't make up the focus of your life.

Computer literacy is now a fundamental and necessary skill and girls should be encouraged to use computer time in a more productive imaginative way.

The computer games our girls should spend their time on should have a have a broader mission. Cure cancer, invent a new kind of engine, build a new building, heal the world's psyche, teach and learn.

For this reason I was happy to stumble on a website for children and a contest at InventNow.org. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has developed a game for children - both girls and boys - to introduce them to the process from inspiration to invention.

As parents of girls - we need to really encourage girls to make the fields of science and technology their own.

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The Official 2009 Family Portrait will be used on marketing material and About Me pages, sent to our relatives and hung in our home.

Due to previous years of party exhaustion we have instituted Extended Family Christmas on Christmas Eve.

We did stockings and presents for the children.

My mother-in-law - always beautifully sentimental - handed down her mother, grandmother's and her own China. There was a set for each daughter-in-law to be handed down to our daughter(s).

Christmas morning was perfection.

Crossing traditional gender-lines, Zack got his own baby doll so he won't have to borrow his sister's and a cooking set and Bonnie Bell lip gloss (it tastes good and Ainsley wants him to stop stealing hers). I theorize that it's just as fundamental for boys to practice being nurturing caretakers, exceptional fathers and competent homemakers as it is for girls to practice being maternal. He loves them. Oh don't worry, he still received loads of trucks, tractors, animals, and dinosaurs which boys traditionally get and he loves those too.

By the same token, I was excited to give Ainsley the giant set of Tinker Toys to encourage development of engineering and inventive skills.

Everyone in our house got ipods or mp3 players. It was fun to reflect on getting a Walkman when I was a kid. How cool was that?

It's fascinating to see how many of the new toys come with interactive Internet components.

Webkinz and Precious Girls Club toys and products both come with secret codes for websites where they can play learning games and practice earning and spending money and points. They can interact online with each other if they know each other's sign-in code. I was thrilled to hear that the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood was effective in getting outside advertising OFF of webkinz.com. I wasn't even aware that it was on there and I'd been allowing Ainsley to play on Webkinz.com for months. It's hard enough to approve the original content without worrying about approving of and supervising outside advertising.

Two of Ainsley's friends got Nintendo DS and they can text each other from the video game. It's a brave new world. Parents have to try hard to keep up.

Tell me what your family got excited about for Christmas.

Santa's cookies are made . . .

So let's talk about stuff. Presents. Gifts under the tree.

Santa is bringing Mp3 players. Ainsley is getting an ipod Shuffle. New. She's getting the one from the Product (Red) Campaign so part of the proceeds went to Aids medication in Africa. Zack is getting one that looks like those old Fisher Price tape players that he can carry around and work himself.

If you spend 2 years dedicatedly writing about girls there comes with it a perk or two. I held the perks back for Christmas morning.

A special thank you to Terry Candee, from GoGo Glue Gun Fun,who sent a doll from of her Quirky Dolls Design-A-Doll Kits from her Etsy store.

Ainsley will also receive a Mandaloob Book Set, a stuffed animal, book,and jewelry from The Precious Girls Club, a flower necklace from Lia Sophia Jewelry.

A Genuine Thank you to every company who helps support this website and every company who makes products appropriate for girls.

Sure, it's easy to be frugal when people send you free stuff right?

Absolutely true. But, it's also easy to be frugal when they don't.

Quite a few of the other items under our tree are from thrift stores and garage sales and I feel just as good about those.

I scored Ainsley this giant set of Tinker Toys for $1.50. It's value on Amazon is $199.

Zack is getting this real cowboy hat, retail value $40. I paid $2 and it's never been worn.

I paid $1 for this brand new Melissa & Doug farm animal puzzle. Retail value, $9.99.

I'm especially excited about this Thomas Travel Tote, retail $21.99.

It's FULL of trains that retail $10 to $25 each. There's a little wear on some of the trains - a boy before him loved them much. He's 2, he doesn't care. I paid $3 for the whole set!

And let's not forget there's a $5 bike. He's gonna love it!

If we paid retail value for all this stuff we'd be paying our credit cards off until 2020. That is not going to bring joy to our family or the world.

It's Christmas Eve and it's a little late to change your Christmas strategy now. Except Christmas comes every. single. year. on. the. exact. same. day.

Now - this year - is the perfect time to gently announce that you're not going to give individual gifts to the extended family, but you'd be willing to do white elephants or draw names between adult siblings' families next year.

Now. While their blood pressure is souring after spending too much money on gifts for you and yours. While they're worrying about the credit card bill that's going to come in 3 weeks.

I'm gonna tell you it feels delicious to start the New Year with a clean slate instead of behind on the bills. THAT is priceless.

Because it takes a few months and some planning to find these perfect gems at garage sales, now is the right time to decide that next year - next Christmas is going Meaningfully Frugal.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Merry Christmas!

More on this at Boycott Christmas in July.

Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip # 1

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Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip #9

Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip #10

Steal This Christmas Gift Please!

If you find Christmas depressing you are not doing it right. (You spent money you don't have on people you don't like - stop that.)

Make spreading JOY your Christmas Tradition and you will find yourself and your family feeling . . . well, Joyous.

Don't believe the ads and marketing - spreading Cheer costs virtually nothing, though it is priceless.

There's still plenty of time to spread some Jolly around.

Have you been to a nursing home lately?

It's a sad, depressing place. Until YOU brought your children with their smiling faces and did a little dance or sang a sweet song. You don't need an invitation or a reservation - any nursing home in the country will welcome a smiling family with 30 minutes to say Merry Christmas or sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

My mother-in-law produces a Grandkid Christmas Pageant every year. Every kid gets to learn a part and participate. We took the show to a Nursing Home to spread some Christmas Joy this year.

Making your neighborhood safer with Christmas Cheer is a wise investment.

We let Ainsley play outside with her friends unsupervised. I know it's a very old-fashioned thing to do. But, we do it for 4 great reasons -
1. We believe she can handle herself and every little bit of experience in handling herself in the neighborhood without supervision makes her better at handling herself.
2. We do not parent out of fear. We teach courage and parents have to go first.
3. We still believe in the overall goodness of human beings like our neighbors.
4. It makes her happy.

To make our neighborhood safer we go out into it and knock on doors and introduce ourselves. We delivered Christmas candles to spread Christmas Cheer. Zack, to his eternal remorse is not allowed out alone yet, but within the next few years he will be and twice this year the neighbors have brought him back after he escaped.

Knock. Knock. Hi, we're Tracee and Jeremy and these are our children. Perhaps you see them playing in the street, riding their bikes, hanging out with their friends. We sure do appreciate you looking out for them and helping them stay out of trouble. We're so happy we live in a safe neighborhood where people look out for each other's children.

This actually cost me nothing. See, my mother's neighborhood does this and she has been saving up the Christmas Candles delivered to her house for years. She's allergic to the scents and could not use them. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Very frugal neighborhood gifts that you might try include Christmas cookies, cocoa, fresh baked bread, banana bread, candy canes, ornaments from thrift stores, etc. Do whatever is easiest for you.

Christmas Caroling to the town's shut-ins.

Anonymously leave money for someone (in front of your kids).

Clear out toys and clothes we've outgrown to give to a family whose house burned down.

Light the Advent Candles as a family at church. Ainsley read a very long recitation and prayer perfectly.

More on this at Boycott Christmas in July.

Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip # 1

Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip #2

Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip #3

Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip #4

Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip #5

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Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip #8

Meaningfully Frugal Christmas Tip #9

Steal This Christmas Gift Please!

If you do these types of Holiday Traditions with a smile on your face and Merry in your heart . . .

How could your children possibly think Christmas is about getting stuff?

Neurotic Grad Student Won the Little Windows Jewelry Kit. I hope she visits more often, we could always use the insight of a neurotic grad student around here.

(Random.org generated #62.)