It's tough to believe that another Christmas has come and gone already. This year was lots of fun for all, as much in the preparations as in the actual day itself. Since early December, Santa's Elf (aka yours truly) got to work on shopping, wrapping and Christmas card-ing. The other household elf (aka Jason) got to work outdoors and indoors to decorate with Christmas cheer. Every year, we wonder if it is worth it even to put up the Christmas tree, given the obstacles it poses. And every year, we decide it's worth the risk. This year was, surprisingly, the first year with ornament casualties. All in all, we lost five ornaments, one dropped by Owen during the decorating festivities (when the younger two were napping), the other four snagged and/or mutilated by Nicholas. This does not include the multiple plastic candy canes that Nicholas pulled down, ironically sticking them not in his mouth but in his ear. His left ear only, to be exact. I'll be blunt: our Christmas tree looks kind of ridiculous. All ornaments are on the top, and the garland is shoved too far inside to truly be appreciated. But you do what you've gotta do...
While I did attend Owen's holiday concert, the video footage from my flip cam was awfully grainy, so I asked for an encore performance. Even though he was quite enchanting at the concert itself, I think he fares better with a smaller audience. I know I fared better from my living room recliner. Have you ever seen a room filled with parents of preschoolers at a holiday concert? All of the "tiny heinie" chairs get taken in a matter of seconds by those waify power moms, and then it's survival of the fittest to find good standing room that's conducive to videotaping. I now have a newfound respect for all parents, most especially my own, who had to sit (and sometimes suffer) through these performances. I, of course, got a little teary-eyed, but then the elitist in me came out. Where was the musical accompaniment? Couldn't a background recording be provided so that the kids could at least hope to be on pitch? A drum beat, even? How about a jingle bell for them all? Will solos be assigned next year? Not that I would expect MY child to get one, but just something to consider... because I think he does have some talent. (More than the other kids.)
On my last day at work before Christmas, one of my colleagues who has a daughter in Owen's class asked me to get together for a play date this week. I immediately declined, politely but firmly. The best gift of all this Christmas is being able to spend time with my kids. I am relishing not having to get out of the house every morning, and I love the fact that we can just hang out. I explained to Owen what vacation is, that we stay home and play together and take a break from school for a week. He seems to be getting it -- a little too much. I practically had to pull his pajamas off of him yesterday. Nicholas is still getting used to this, but he's coming around. I'm still doing lots of schoolwork this week, but there's a difference between trying to fit it in at the end of a work day and trying to fit it in after a day at home. Grading papers in my new leopard print Snuggie as I feast on leftover Christmas cookies just has a different feel to it.
I took not one photo or video on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Jason took some of the boys opening their gifts, and I need to get e-mails out to family members to ask if they can forward me digital copies of theirs. There's nothing like the holiday season to show me what a creature of habit I am. I will say this much: breaking Nicholas from his routine is NOT adviseable. Twas the night before Christmas, and Nicholas was the creature stirring. Every hour on the hour. It's a miracle Santa could make his way into our house in a moment of quiet. I've long known the toddler rule of "early to bed, late to rise" to be true, but I had not experienced "Late to bed, early to rise." Let's hope it does not happen again any time soon...
In terms of present opening on Christmas morning, Owen was the winner for enthusiasm. Nicholas, like his mother, wanted to unwrap slowly and appreciate each gift, one at a time. He clearly had not received the agenda for Christmas morning: 1) Be super surprised and excited, 2) Tear wrapping off of all presents at high speed and with multiple shrieks, and 3) Play with said presents once all are opened. Peter was happy just to sit and take it all in, which is not to say that he did not enjoy unwrapping the gifts that were not already unwrapped for him by Owen. I think he probably had a few mouthfuls of wrapping when I didn't notice. Oh well, it's roughage...
No comments:
Post a Comment