A funny thing happened...
We have had just a lovely sort of Christmas. The boys are hilarious about Christmas -- very into presents, sorta not into Santa, and really, really wondering about the world.
Last week we spent in Westport, WA, which was a lovely time. The boys were a little snarktastic with each other, which I write off to it being right before Christmas, both kids getting in teeth, Little B having had chemo for the first time in three weeks, and a good bit of sibling craziness. The weather was a bit chilly, but it was mostly dry out. Little B was refusing to wear his winter coat, so we didn't go outside much. While I normally would have just made him wear it, he was truly upset every time we tried to put it on him, and with the chemo, and recovering from an ear infection, and teething, well, we let him win that little battle. Instead, we watched movies, played games, and napped instead.
I'm not sure who planned the vacation (G and I), but we did not do great with the day counting. We thought we would have two days before the Christmas holiday when we got back from the vacation, but instead only had one. I hadn't finished shopping for G's Christmas presents, hadn't shopped for Christmas dinner, and hadn't made cookies for the boys. What a dope I am!
In any case, by Saturday at 3 pm, I had the shopping finished, cookies made, and started prepping for Christmas dinner. It is amazing what you can get done in a day, in all honesty. G was awesome and took the boys so that I could get the shopping done efficiently, so that was excellent.
Big A decided that he'd like to check out church, which we do not regularly attend. There is a lovely Catholic church right around the corner from us, so we thought we'd try to do Christmas eve mass. Big A further decided that he needed a new bow tie for the event, and Little B settled on a sweater vest. Well, we found the bow tie and the sweater vest, so at least they looked the part. We tried to explain to the kids the "rules" of going to church -- no bellowing, no fighting, etc. And then we drove to our doom. Well, the church is, in fact lovely. The boys sat in their seats for a good five minutes. Then the music started ("Oh Come All Ye Faithful"), and Little B decided that it was time to *go*. G had to take him to the back foyer (the don't seem to have a cry room). Then Big A decided he was bored (and we weren't singing the Dreidel song, which was very disappointing for him), and started whispering and carrying on until I gave him a "shh" and a glare that was so my mother that I was a little light-headed. Who knew that those glares were genetic? In any case, I pulled out the notepad and the crayons I keep in my purse, and he started drawing pictures of Christmas trees. We lasted until right after the offering, when G and Little B disappeared from the foyer. I figured we'd all given it our best, and decided to go out looking for G and Little B, who were rocking out in the van to Christmas carols. In any case, we called the night mostly a success in that we weren't escorted out of the building. Also, Big A has declared repeatedly that it was "tons of fun".
One thing we also fell down on was getting stuff wrapped before 2 am. I'm thinking that next year, in addition to shopping early, we're going to WRAP early. I'd like to have a small little gathering on Christmas Eve (even just G and I), where we drink some alcoholic beverage and hang out, instead of fighting with each other over who has had to wrap more presents. It's really quite silly, in all honesty. The boys are always monsters to get to sleep the night before Christmas (duh! makes total sense, right!?!?), and so I think it's time for us to change our behaviors, rather than expect the 6 and 2 year old to adapt for us!
It always surprises me when I realize that I can change a situation at home that I don't like. For some reason, I tend to get caught up in the daily rhythms of the kids flipping out, and exerting pressure to get their way, and G doing his thing, and I become very reactionary -- something happens and then I respond (practicing law if reactionary and it always frustrated me). In any case, then I have these moments of insight where I realize, "I could do this differently. I can change how this story/nightmare plays out." In any case, it's odd, like I said.
In any case, back to the story... well, when G and I finished wrapping at around 2 am, we roll into bed. Well, Little B wakes up at 3:30, freaking out that Santa (a guy he doesn't know very well) was going to come into our house while we were asleep, that he was going to eat cookies (not like Little B will!), and that he *might* leave presents. If I wasn't so tired, it would have been just hilarious. And his points were exactly the same things that I was always concerned about when I was a kiddo. In any case, he went back to sleep around 4:30 am.
We woke up around 7:30 am, and opened presents from the highly suspicious Santa (Santa brought Little B some elephant Legos and a Curious George 2 movie, and he brought Big A a microscope kit and a Leapfrog Explorer game). Then breakfast (waffles/pancakes), and then more presents! Big A received a ton of Legos and games. Little B received all things elephant, in keeping with his obsession. I mean, we have pretty much every elephant toy and figurine known to man. It was quite overwhelming! :-)
We had a big Christmas dinner with Mike and Carrie and Hea and Henry. It was a lovely, lazy day. We made waaayyy too much food, but I will write more about that tomorrow. Off to bed for this Santa's helper!
Last week we spent in Westport, WA, which was a lovely time. The boys were a little snarktastic with each other, which I write off to it being right before Christmas, both kids getting in teeth, Little B having had chemo for the first time in three weeks, and a good bit of sibling craziness. The weather was a bit chilly, but it was mostly dry out. Little B was refusing to wear his winter coat, so we didn't go outside much. While I normally would have just made him wear it, he was truly upset every time we tried to put it on him, and with the chemo, and recovering from an ear infection, and teething, well, we let him win that little battle. Instead, we watched movies, played games, and napped instead.
I'm not sure who planned the vacation (G and I), but we did not do great with the day counting. We thought we would have two days before the Christmas holiday when we got back from the vacation, but instead only had one. I hadn't finished shopping for G's Christmas presents, hadn't shopped for Christmas dinner, and hadn't made cookies for the boys. What a dope I am!
In any case, by Saturday at 3 pm, I had the shopping finished, cookies made, and started prepping for Christmas dinner. It is amazing what you can get done in a day, in all honesty. G was awesome and took the boys so that I could get the shopping done efficiently, so that was excellent.
Big A decided that he'd like to check out church, which we do not regularly attend. There is a lovely Catholic church right around the corner from us, so we thought we'd try to do Christmas eve mass. Big A further decided that he needed a new bow tie for the event, and Little B settled on a sweater vest. Well, we found the bow tie and the sweater vest, so at least they looked the part. We tried to explain to the kids the "rules" of going to church -- no bellowing, no fighting, etc. And then we drove to our doom. Well, the church is, in fact lovely. The boys sat in their seats for a good five minutes. Then the music started ("Oh Come All Ye Faithful"), and Little B decided that it was time to *go*. G had to take him to the back foyer (the don't seem to have a cry room). Then Big A decided he was bored (and we weren't singing the Dreidel song, which was very disappointing for him), and started whispering and carrying on until I gave him a "shh" and a glare that was so my mother that I was a little light-headed. Who knew that those glares were genetic? In any case, I pulled out the notepad and the crayons I keep in my purse, and he started drawing pictures of Christmas trees. We lasted until right after the offering, when G and Little B disappeared from the foyer. I figured we'd all given it our best, and decided to go out looking for G and Little B, who were rocking out in the van to Christmas carols. In any case, we called the night mostly a success in that we weren't escorted out of the building. Also, Big A has declared repeatedly that it was "tons of fun".
One thing we also fell down on was getting stuff wrapped before 2 am. I'm thinking that next year, in addition to shopping early, we're going to WRAP early. I'd like to have a small little gathering on Christmas Eve (even just G and I), where we drink some alcoholic beverage and hang out, instead of fighting with each other over who has had to wrap more presents. It's really quite silly, in all honesty. The boys are always monsters to get to sleep the night before Christmas (duh! makes total sense, right!?!?), and so I think it's time for us to change our behaviors, rather than expect the 6 and 2 year old to adapt for us!
It always surprises me when I realize that I can change a situation at home that I don't like. For some reason, I tend to get caught up in the daily rhythms of the kids flipping out, and exerting pressure to get their way, and G doing his thing, and I become very reactionary -- something happens and then I respond (practicing law if reactionary and it always frustrated me). In any case, then I have these moments of insight where I realize, "I could do this differently. I can change how this story/nightmare plays out." In any case, it's odd, like I said.
In any case, back to the story... well, when G and I finished wrapping at around 2 am, we roll into bed. Well, Little B wakes up at 3:30, freaking out that Santa (a guy he doesn't know very well) was going to come into our house while we were asleep, that he was going to eat cookies (not like Little B will!), and that he *might* leave presents. If I wasn't so tired, it would have been just hilarious. And his points were exactly the same things that I was always concerned about when I was a kiddo. In any case, he went back to sleep around 4:30 am.
We woke up around 7:30 am, and opened presents from the highly suspicious Santa (Santa brought Little B some elephant Legos and a Curious George 2 movie, and he brought Big A a microscope kit and a Leapfrog Explorer game). Then breakfast (waffles/pancakes), and then more presents! Big A received a ton of Legos and games. Little B received all things elephant, in keeping with his obsession. I mean, we have pretty much every elephant toy and figurine known to man. It was quite overwhelming! :-)
We had a big Christmas dinner with Mike and Carrie and Hea and Henry. It was a lovely, lazy day. We made waaayyy too much food, but I will write more about that tomorrow. Off to bed for this Santa's helper!
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