On the Second Day After Christmas My True Love Gave to Meeeeeeee....

One sold out R2Potatoo...

and NO partridges in a pear tree...Now that's love baby!

He also let me buy tickets to go see Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience and so our little family did that yesterday. (Glennia Campbell, coinky dinkly saw the show yesterday as well and wrote about it over at The Silent I.) The dinosaur puppets were amazing as they were life size and very impressive. I've gone out of my way to see dinosaur fossils in museums and had a love of paleontology as a kid so this show (which was basically a theatrical version of an episode of the BBC series) was something I couldn't pass up. Although J felt that the show was a little slow in places, the kids and I loved it. Sometimes, when you introduce something you loved as a child to your children, the results aren't always what you hope. Perhaps your kids will find your old love boring, or adulthood dulls your own interest but yesterday, when the first large dinosaurs came into view, Evie's eyes were open wide with wonder. And JT? He caught my eye and grinned from ear to ear.

A Christmas Story

It was about six o'clock on Christmas evening that a certain little boy proclaimed to all who cared to listen that he had had it. What exactly "it" was would be left to speculation as he screamed and kicked and flailed in my arms. I caught a foot in my face and decided that "it" might be this whole being awake business. Attempts at putting JT down for a much needed nap were thwarted by more kicks and pitiful streaming tears.

"I'm so sorry, he skippped his nap so he's probably really tired," I kept repeating to any poor relative who would look my way. J's grandpa was sitting nearby. JT's ears favor his, and the old man tried to whisper some soothing words, but the little man would have none of it and continued his kicking and flailing.

The rest of the family attempted to proceed with the motions of Christmas by passing out and opening presents. Perhaps they were hoping that the presents would soothe him. Unfortunately, JT opened one gift, an Elmo aquadoodle set from his great auntie, and decided he absolutely had to have the box opened so that he could play with it then and there. Doubly unfortunately, was the lack of space for him to possibly play with his present and he continued his session of screaming and flailing. "Poor little guy," I would say as I tried comfort him. "He's very tried huh?" Grandpa would say as he watched his great grandson.

At some point, amidst the gift exchange and crying, JT found that his shoes and socks had become unbearable and he demanded that they be taken off. I looked around at my grandfather in law's disheveled home, which showed every indication that a person who liked to horde things but who didn't have the energy or inclination to clean regularly dwelled there and decided that no, taking off one's shoes and socks would not be a good idea. Thoughts of germs and disease flitted through my brain as my resolve to choose the necessary evil of keeping my little boy's shoes on became my firm and final stance.

"Oh no sweetie, don't take off your shoes," grandpa said.

Of course, this added to the "it" that he'd had enough of and JT screamed and kicked some more as I left the room for a moment to compulsively wash my hands. Upon my return, I attempted to not going to full freak out mode as I noticed JT sitting on the dirty floor of my grandfather in law's house with a single naked foot exposed for all to see. He was fussing with the shoe on his other foot and I quickly scooped him up and got a kick in the arm. My firm stance dissolved as I had mercy on my poor little one and took off his other shoe and sock. Perhaps, if I carried him around and didn't let him touch the ground again, everything would be alright. However, JT then wanted to run around barefoot, and shrieked hysterically at the thought of being confined in his mother's arms.

Eventually, J and I followed the advice of his childless youngest uncle and took JT for a drive around the block. After all, it couldn't hurt, it would save everyone's ears for a little while, and hey, "it always worked for [J]!" The Sweet Pea never really favored his father much, but I was willing to try anything. For the first five minutes, the little guy kept whimpering, "my shoe! my shoe!" as we drove around and around the block. We had left his shoes at my grandpa in law's along with Evie and eventually, JT noticed his sister was missing as well. "My Evie! I wanmyEvie!" he cried. "I wanmyEvie! I wanmyEvie!" It was sweet and sad as he cried him self to sleep wondering where his sister was. I looked in the rear view mirror and caught the outline of J watching over his son. We drove around the block a few more times to make sure JT was asleep before we went back to J's grandpa's house. As I unbuckled and lifted my Sweet Pea from his car seat, he let out a big sigh before he nestled his head on my shoulder and found his Christmas peace at last.

****

How was your Christmas? Happy and full of laughter and loved ones I hope. To add a random thought to this random post, (and to continue our non-Christian Christmas thoughts), somehow, ironically, J and I interacted with no actual Christians on Christmas. Is that odd?

I also got my grades. A and B+ :sigh: B+'s are always difficult to bear. They make me feel guilty as they just mean I didn't work hard enough to get an A.

Happy Holidays!

Oh, the weeks of December, how do I survive thee? Let me count the ways...

Week 1: Put off and put off looming 20 page final paper due this week by "setting my priorities straight" and spending more time with my kids. This includes a trip to the Oakland Holiday Parade where we found out that Santa hats suit storm troopers and imperial guards extremely well. Final, which is due the first Thursday of the month, is thus written during the wee hours of that morning...all 20 pages of it.

Week 2: Put off and put off looming second final paper (which ended up being about 17 pages long) by "setting my priorities straight" and spending more time with my kids by taking them to see The Golden Compass, out to dinner, and shopping. So what if the movie was PG-13. There was only one part that was mildly scary and Mr. JT slept through the half the movie anyway. Both kids loved the movie. There was no God killing or atheism being shoved or anything. Which leads me to my rant...If the people who have been forwarding J and me emails about how this movie supports atheism would just get off their soapboxes and READ THE BOOKS or WATCH THE MOVIE before they protest or boycott it, perhaps they would realize that the books and movie (hopefully movies in the future) are not about killing "God". They're about killing a being that pretends to be God while setting the true God free from his/her...hmm, its crystal cage. READ CHRISTIANS! Sheesh. Rant number two...The whole series of books, are not really for children. Why do the people who market this series persist on labeling these as books for children or young adults? Simply because these books have characters who are young does not mean they are books aimed at or for children. I doubt anyone under the age of 18 has really read Milton's Paradise Lost and thus would probably not understand some of the themes of the series. Rant number three...As a fan of the books I was disappointed in the movie, it seemed like the director or the studio was pandering to the religious zealots who misread the series or disagrees with Pullman's personal beliefs. The soul of the book was missing from the movie. I'm still hoping for the rest of the series to be made into movies though, but made in a way that stays true to the source material...meaning probably, rated R. Where was I?

Oh yeah, my second final. Was due on the second Thursday by 4pm, was written on Thursday morning and finished at 1:30pm (just in time for the two hour drive to deliver it). I ended up writing 21 pages, natch.

Week 3: J and I went to Las Vegas after finals. We lost...then we went shopping. The end. :sigh: Evie did have her first violin recital while we were gone though. I'm a bad bad mommy, I know it. I did buy both kids lots of little gifts and my cousins took a video of her performance. The rest of the week was all about work. No rest for the wicked and weary. Not in December.

Week 4: Shit, it's Christmas week already??? I'm Buddhist! Darn the Christian American majority that has made us beholden to secular Christmas traditions such as Christmas trees (ours is 2 feet tall) and playing Santa. Still, I don't mind supporting a holiday that purportedly promotes peace and good will to men and the kids have fun so that's what's important.

Happy Holidays everyone! Wish me luck on sending out my holiday cards by Valentine's Day or St. Patty's...those are holidays too you know.

PS The pictures are from Dec. 1 when we went to the Oakland Holiday Parade.

STOP! THIEF!

Apparently we're raising our son to be a thief. I was tinkering with my pc, tossing in a few more hds when I hear little footsteps coming up behind me. I turn and glance over and see a little hand reach up onto the desk, grab my wallet, and hear those little feet making a mad dash out of the room and down the hall, hysterical laughter trailing behind him

The hell? My kid just ran up, took my wallet, and ran off, without so much as a "Gimmie your money, this is a holdup!" He also knocked off my rfid work badge, which I needed to get into the building this morning, and totally forgot about when grabbing all my work stuff this morning.

Anyways, in the end, the perp was caught and sentenced to 3 in the big house. Well, more like 3 minutes in the corner, that little butthead. J