Santa Visit
We went to see Santa last week. For the first time ever, it was a little stressful on the kid. He *could not* decide what he wanted to ask Santa for. It ranged from a hexbug habitat to a domino race to blocks to about 47 other things. In the 2 days preceding our visit, I swear he changed his mind once an hour, if not more. Not a live puppy or a GameBoy, though, because Santa doesn’t deal in electronics or live animals.
Let me digress for a moment. Santa has boundaries. He does not bring electronics because not all children are allowed to play with them, and he doesn’t have the resources to make them at the North Pole. He doesn’t deal in live animals because that’s a decision families should make together, and Christmas is not the best time for a new pet. In trade, it is pretty much guaranteed that if you ask Santa for just one thing (outside of electronics or animals), he will bring it.
So we’re standing in line, and the kid *still* doesn’t know what he’s going to say. It’s his turn, he goes up, sits on the knee and has a quiet little convo with the guy in red. I panic, because I can’t hear what’s being said. I start to hyperventilate. Why? Because I have to, you know, “be prepared” for what “Santa” is going to bring. And it’s really hard to be prepared when you don’t know what it is. And what if the kid won’t tell me what he asked for? What then?
The kid finishes his turn, gets his candy cane and leaves. I ask him, probably a little too casually, what he asked for. I get the answer I was dreading, “You’ll see!”
As the “freak out” monologue runs through my head while I try to consider who I can enlist to gather some info, he stops walking.
“Mom! We have to go back!”
“Why?”
“I forgot to tell Santa not to make the stuffed dog I asked for too big!”
“Wait, what? You asked for a stuffed dog?”
“Yes. I figured if Santa gave me a stuffed dog, some other children could get what they really want. And if it’s small, there will be more room for toys for other kids.”
<insert proud mommy moment>
“Don’t worry, I’m sure Santa knows.”
30 Days of Thanks – Day 16
Today, I am thankful for new tires. Both cars need them, but at least we got them on one. I’m also thankful to our little local tire shop owner who gave us a deal, and our tiny diner across the street from the tire shop where we had milkshakes while we waited. I don’t LOVE dropping that much money on tires, but now we can drive safely, so I’m thankful for that.
30 Days of Thanks – Day 13
Today, I am thankful for Ms. Zondra. When the kid started Kindergarten, I heard stories about Ms. Zondra, sort of like she was a school legend. And she was. So was her mac & cheese, which was particularly legendary to me since I’ve never been able to make it (and don’t bother trying to send me your recipes, it’s seriously some kind of mental block I have). She had a smile for everyone at school, a hug or a kind word for the kids. She was always bright and cheerful and one of those people at a school who are a fixture in the community.
Ms. Zondra died today. I hope her family knows how much she was loved and appreciated and how much she will be missed. Rest in peace, Zondra, and thank you for everything you did.
30 Days of Thanks – Day 12
Today, I am thankful for Chocolate Mousse Muffins. Because they are delicious. ‘Nuff said.
30 Days of Thanks – Day 11
Today, I am thankful for the brave men and women of the US military. They serve and protect every day so I can live my life of choice and freedom. Their families sacrifice for us as well, and I am grateful.
30 Days of Thanks – Day 10
Today, I am thankful for cozy books. I don’t think cozy books are actually a “thing” – cozy mysteries are (I love those too), but I guess it’s the same idea without the mystery.
For me, a cozy book is one you are drawn into quickly. A book that is interesting, but not so complicated you can’t put it down knowing you can pick up right where you left off if, say, your kid has just fallen off the swing set and is screaming his head off (I’m not saying that happened, but you get the idea). A book that tells a good story, but doesn’t try too hard to be cutting edge. A book that makes you want to read another just like it as soon as you’re done. A book that (if you can get away with it) you can easily finish in a weekend. Or a night, provided no one needs you to function the next day.
For my birthday, the kid picked out a book called The Girl Who Chased the Moon (because the cover looked pretty, I guess). I just got around to reading it a few weeks ago, finished it up in a matter of days, passed it on to my sister (who has also finished it since then) and then read 2 more books by the same author (and just started the third).
Are these books that will change the world? No. Are they books that will be remembered 100 years from now? Probably not. Are they fun, relaxing and easy to read? Yes. And at this point in my life, that’s what I want. To curl up on my cozy couch with my cozy dog and my cozy cup of tea to read my cozy book. Cozy.
30 Days of Thanks – Day 9
Today, I am thankful for the kid being thankful for what he’s thankful for. How’s that for thankful?
30 Days of Thanks Day 9 2009 (cute kid alert)
30 Day of Thanks – Day 8
Today, I am thankful for coffee. Not coffee-the-drink (I don’t like coffee), but coffee-the-occasion. You know, the coffee in, “Let’s do coffee.” I don’t like coffee-the-drink, and “Let’s do iced tea” just sounds strange, so you’ll have to overlook that.
I am lucky enough to have friends who will travel to my neck of the woods every week to have coffee. There is a little local coffee shop called Jackson’s Java (so little, they don’t even have a web site), and they don’t care if we sit for hours on their comfy chairs and chat. Or if they do care, they don’t tell us. We’re a bit like a strange talk show on a cable channel that no one watches – it would be called, “3 Moms and a Baby” (and yes, we are scarring that poor baby for life – he will never recover from the things he’s heard.) We gather weekly to drink coffee-or-not, compare tales about how horrible our kids have been that week (never how wonderful, because that would be bragging) and spin our tales of mommy woe. And laugh. We laugh a lot. Mostly at our own woeful tales. And at each other. With love, of course.
30 Days of Thanks – Day 7
Today, I am thankful for Thanksgiving. The kid and I had a long talk about Christmas today. He knows that I don’t “do” Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. He, on the other hand (because he’s 6) would gladly spend 363 days preparing for Christmas. He’s been trying to keep his enthusiasm on the down-low, not-so-slyly referring to “That C thing that we’re not talking about” and insisting that making ornaments in the middle of November is necessary or you might not have time to get them all done.
So today, he asked me why I don’t like Christmas. Essentially, here’s what I said.
I love Christmas. I love to choose gifts for the people I love and see how happy they are when they see what’s in the box or under the wrapping. I love baking and singing Christmas carols and advent calendars (he has 4 of them).
I love going to the tree farm and choosing our tree. I love how every year we say we should get a tree topper that works (ours stopped lighting up years ago) and every year, we don’t. I love getting out the ornaments and telling you stories about every one. I love how we have to get new lights every year, because they always go in the box working and come out broken. I love how every year, you decide that you want a different stocking, and choose which one everyone else should have, including the dogs.
I love loading the CD player with all the bizarre Christmas CDs we own and how you say, “Oh YEAH! I remember this song!”
I love going to ChristmasTown and seeing the lights. I love going to Santa’s Bag and watching your delight as you choose gifts with such care for each person you love.
But that said, Christmas has become kind of a bully over the years. Thanksgiving stands in line all year long, waiting patiently. It stands quietly, waiting for the end of November to roll around, watching as Halloween has its fun, excited because it gets to be next. But then, wait – what’s that? CHRISTMAS HAS CUT IN LINE!
I need to point something out here. Those of you without children may not be aware, but line cutting is a SERIOUS crime that shall not be tolerated. In the eyes of a 6-year-old, there are few things so dastardly as a line cutter.
So in my eyes, taking Christmas by the hand and pulling it out of turn is unfair. It’s disrespectful to Thanksgiving and to tell the truth, by about December 20th, has just about overstayed its welcome. Christmas has a time, and in my world, at least, that time starts the day after Thanksgiving.
The kid’s response? “I think I would have to hit Christmas.” Good to know he’d stick up for the underdog.
And if you want to see the Hexbugs in action:
30 Days of Thanks – Day 6
Today, I am thankful for Daylight Savings Time. Well, really only for the “fall back” part, I’m not that thankful for “spring forward” (yes, I get that you don’t get one without the other.)
I mean really, who doesn’t love getting a whole extra hour for their day? You pessimists will likely point out that I’m not really getting an extra hour, I’m paying back the one that I gave up in the spring. However, since I was born in the summer, technically I’m always up an hour or at least breaking even.
So thanks to DST, bed time was a cinch, I will not have to pour cold water on the kid to get him out of bed for school in the morning (I don’t really do that. Much..) and maybe, just maybe, the sun will be up when we leave home.
