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January 23, 2004
The Holidays: Brief Update
We enjoyed Rachel’s performance at the Jingle Bell Rock concert at school. The show was held in the gymnasium that was packed with parents armed with camcorders all vying for the best view. Hearing those young voices sing made everyone smile, laugh, and clap. There were some pretty good reindeer dancers, too. The kids were really proud of themselves and they worked so hard practicing their routines. The parents were proud, too. It was fun to scan the crowd and watch a dad point to a dancing elf and say, “that’s my son.” We had cookies and punch in the café after the show. Next year they vow to bring in a stage so everyone can see the kids perform without having to stand and ruin the view for someone else. Mitch will be old enough to perform next year.
I took two weeks off over the holidays. Pure heaven if you ask me. I loved playing with the kids, seeing the excitement in their eyes. I also loved doing nothing at all. One day the kids and I went to see Santa. We waited in line for about 20 minutes. Rachel was excited and jumped right into Santa’s lap. Mitch was nervous and began to cry as soon as I handed him to Santa. Rachel told Santa exactly what she wanted and then hopped down. As soon as Mitch was back in my arms, he began to smile and wave at Santa. He gave him several high fives.
We did all of the usual things, like wrap presents and drive around to look at all the beautiful Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Rachel and I made cookies. All four of us went to the Cookie Cutter Puppet Show at the church, which was fantastic. Packages arrived every day in the mail for the kids. We let them open a few gifts on the days leading up to Christmas. That was fun. Jerry’s sister, Kim, sent a large box from CA. I unpacked the gifts and the kids went wild over the box. They got inside it, and pushed each other around in it for hours. We got a lot of mileage out of that cardboard box.
We went to the 5:30 Christmas eve service at church. I knew the sanctuary would fill up fast, so we tried to get there early. We took Mitch to his classroom and he worked on a craft while we attended the service. We took Rachel to the service, but it was packed (about 5,000) with standing room only. We were seated about 10 rows back, but the lights were dimmed and she couldn’t see anything over the head of the man in front of her. We put her on our laps, but she didn’t want to stay. She asked to go to her regular class. Jerry took her upstairs to her classroom where they had a service for the children and she made a Christmas bracelet. The service ended with the traditional lighting of candles. One candle was lit by the pastor and that candle was passed to the ushers who walked down the aisles lighting the candles at the end of each pew. It took about 5 minutes before everyone in the sanctuary stood with their candles in hand. The illumination of all those candles along with the singing was really moving. We really enjoyed the service.
We took the kids home and changed them into their Christmas PJs and we put on our Christmas PJs. Jerry & Mitch wore matching flannel PJs, red & green with Mickey mouse on the chest pocket, mine were similar, and Rachel wore a beautiful pink nightgown. I made lasagna for dinner with salad and garlic bread, and we let the kids open a few presents. Rachel baked cookies for Santa, so she arranged them on the Santa plate, along with some Hershey kisses and a note that there would be a bucket of water on the roof for the reindeer. She was adamant that Jerry put a bucket of water on the roof because the reindeer would be so thirsty. After the kids were in bed, we enjoyed some wine. Then Santa got busy carrying presents downstairs, placing toys under the tree, and filling up the stockings. It was fun to tiptoe around the house and we peeked in on the kids to be sure they were sleeping. Jerry climbed a tree in the backyard and hung an empty green bucket on one of the branches (for Rachel’s sake).
Christmas morning, we came downstairs to make sure everything was in place and I got the video camera ready. Rachel woke up first. Jerry brought her downstairs and I did the filming as she found her presents & toys. She was surprised and excited to see the empty glass of milk, the cookie crumbs, and crumbled foil wrappers from the Hershey kisses. All proof that Santa had been there. Jerry took her outside to show her the bucket in the tree. “Look, one of the reindeer must have kicked it off the roof and it landed in the tree.” OMG! To see her reaction (pure shock) was so rewarding. Mitch was next. He came downstairs, and basically said, “oh boy” about 500 times. Rachel received several Bratz dolls (Dana, Megan, Jade & Chloe), Barbie Swan Lake set with doll, prince, horse, and carriage, a Barbie lap top, a new bike, a suitcase full of jewelry and cosmetics, DVDs, etc. Mitch got a his own set of table & chairs (red), a workbench with a zillion play tools, Leap Pad, Sit-n-Spin, the Wiggles guitar, and more. We called a time out to eat breakfast. Jerry & Rachel made pancakes, bacon & eggs. Then we opened all the gifts from the family. Jerry & I opened our gifts last. The kids got us a dual VCR/DVD player for our room. Jerry got me a charm bracelet with 6 charms and a watch set that came with different colored bezels and several different watch bands, so I can change it into a different watch each day. Jerry got a new Gamboy with several games, DVDs, clothes, books, cologne, etc. We had a late afternoon dinner of turkey and the trimmings. The kids played with their toys, and we called our families. It was as long, fun & relaxing holiday.
We took down the tree on Saturday, just two days after Christmas. We were just ready to have our living room back with the furniture arranged the way we like it. Rachel & I took the decorations and lights off the tree and packed them away. I vacuumed up all the pine needles (love that smell). Mitch & I took the lollipops down from the yard, and Jerry put everything up in the garage attic until next year. I took the kids to the new indoor play land at Memorial City Mall almost every day. They enjoy playing there, and it’s safe & fun. We rode the carousel, ate lunch, and enjoyed walking around seeing all the new stores and improvements.
We usually go to the Tanns for New Year’s eve, but we stayed in this year. We had dinner and let the kids watch a DVD to drown out the noise from the fireworks going off all over the subdivision outside. Texans are crazy when it comes to fireworks. It sounded like a frickin’ warzone out there. I don’t know why we don’t just have a public display of fireworks which would be much safer and legal. I guess that’s something I’ll never understand about Texas. The next morning, we found remnants of fireworks outside in the front and side street, in our yard, and on the roof of the garage. With the neighbors’ home recently burning to the ground, it’s a good thing no one’s home burned down that night. Most of our neighbors are really nice, they just want to have a fun time, and most of them do clean up after themselves. We saw several of them with brooms sweeping out their driveways and sidewalks.
Rachel:
Rachel is growing taller and trying new things. She started gymnastics and Kids Sports. She loves Kids Praise and got to make a drum out of a coffee can last week with wooden sticks that came from the yard. She likes to sit on our bed and have me set her hair in hot rollers while we paint her nails, and put glitter lotion and glitter eye shadow on her face. She has to put on the red lipstick herself, and if you could see her, you would laugh. She’s not allowed out in public looking like that.
Mitch:
Mitch has entered the *time out* era. He even puts himself in time out without our telling him he is in time out. And he loves to put Curtis the bear in time out for various infractions. His appetite is out of this world. He is still a little shy around strangers (a good thing!) and he stays active playing outside. He’s hard to keep up with on our neighborhood walks because he loves to run down the sidewalks. He is taking gymnastics and seems to enjoy it. He is a mannerly boy, quick with a “peas,” or “thank you,” or “welcome.” He also likes to thank himself. “Thank you Mee-chell, thank you Mee-chell.” He is very liberal with his “pleases.” If I say “no,” then he tries again (pleads) with, a “peas, peas, peas, peas.” Ah, it’s hard not to give in sometimes. He loves to read books. He will find a book, hand it to me, jump in my lap, and say, “read it, read it, read it!” He loves to hold hands. If he needs my attention, he will grab my hand, and say, “show you, show you” and lead me to where I need to be. He enjoys playing with his work bench and has a fetish for screwdrivers. He calls them “scoobers.” He carries them around in his pockets and falls asleep with them at night.
Moms Today
I think I will stay put here at Moms Today writing about the kids, at least for awhile. Anne’s post last week got things moving again here at iP. We can see some of the work going on behind the scenes as new diaries have been created, pictures have been posted, and my TTM board was reinstated. After talking on the phone with Julie, I have a feeling that good things are in store for those who contribute and interact here in the iParenting community. However, that hasn’t stopped me from exploring other options. While I was off over the holidays, I was bored and fed up with this site. I started to explore other websites. I set up blogs at three different sites with the plan to test them and try them on for size. I have enjoyed experimenting and playing around with different options. I really enjoy the feeling of freedom to write about whatever the heck I want to, without being censored, attacked, or having someone want to argue or debate with me until the cows come home. I also don’t like the randomness of the censorship that goes on here at iP. My purpose is to write about life—my life. And it is what it is. I want my kids to be able to read about things from my perspective. That doesn’t mean I am not open to hearing other people’s views, just that I’m not here to argue with people over: where I shop, whether I work or not, whether I’m a better mom for working or not working, my political views, whether I gave birth naturally or used an epidural, whether I use disposable diapers or not, or whether I used formula or not. It gets old, and I’m really, really tired of it. Who really cares?! Some people live for the pleasure of not only debating, but debating ‘til the cows come home, like somehow having the last word gives them a cheap thrill.
I haven’t updated our site in a while (so sue me!). If anyone wants the link to my other blog website, please post on my board or email me. And, yes, that is my TTM board button, and it does work! The lights are on, and somebody’s home.
Peace!
Megan
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/m/millimaki/
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