Simple Pleasures

It has been a long emotional week. I'll document it at a later time. Some of our Christmas plans have changed, which is so disappointing for all of us. I am trying to focus on the things that have brought us laughs and joy this week. For one, Greta! She is so full of energy and smiles. This little child of ours brings us so much joy. She LOVES sweets and recognizes it in all forms. She constantly begs for any cookie, candy, or chocolate. She is relentless. I found her inside the fridge (with door open, of course)with her mouth on the whipping cream can trying to suck the cream out. I have been guilty of giving her a bowl full of cream just for a snack. It has calcium, right?

Greta is so busy these days that we are finding ways to distract her attention, especially from the hoards of Christmas goodies gathered on our counter. She loves baths and will even settle for playing in the sink.

Greta has also loved singing to Christmas songs. Since she really doesn't talk, she babbles with the intonations. She particularly likes "Little Drummer Boy" and "Angels He Have Heard on High." She will sing the sounds that she CAN say, "ba-rum-pa-pa-pum" over and over, as well as, singing "0h-oh-oh-oria." We are all humored by her.

Ava joined the local Daisy Girl Scout troop. She has enjoyed doing service projects and fun crafts. This craft is Ava's interpretation of herself. Doesn't it look a lot like her? She and Elsa went with her troop last night at 6pm to decorate cookies. We kept calling to pick them up, but were asked if they could stay longer. It wasn't until 9:30pm that they came home, after I insisted Brian go get them. They were so giddy and excited over the fun. It made me happy.

They have loved this Christmas season. Elsa's class spent the month of December talking about how different countries celebrate Christmas and other holidays in December, particularly Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. She was so excited to learn about the different traditions and sharing her knowledge with the rest of us. For Saint Lucia day, which takes place in Sweden, I spent hours baking cinnamon rolls for her class. Then Elsa and another girl, who is the oldest daughter in her family, served the cinnamon rolls to their class. Tradition is that the rolls are served with coffee, but that part was skipped. I am sure her 1st grade teacher was more than happy to not have a class of kids hyped on caffeine AND sugar.

Ava's teacher asked each student to share a favorite holiday tradition with the class. Ava was the first one to share, and for this I am grateful. The information sheet for parents said that the student was to share a tradition and could bring in a treat or small gift for the class like an ornament. I emphasize COULD bring - not should bring. Ava wanted to share the story of our "Elf on the Shelf" - Fink (we named him). Fink comes at the beginning of December to make sure we're being nice, not naughty. Each night we returns to the North Pole to report to Santa and play with his friends. Then he makes the long journey back to our house and hides in a different location. Elsa and Ava wake up each morning excited to find his hiding place. I didn't know what kind of treat went with this story, so I just brought in rice krispie treats. Even more pathetic, I bought them at the grocery store. Ava shared her story and all the kids were fascinated and wanted to know if they each had their own elf. Oops. Anyway, each day following, Ava has brought home big gift bags from school from the other children's share day. The bags contain stickers, candy, cookies, erasers, pencils, ornaments, games, etc. As time went by, the tradition sharing got more elaborate. One child had Santa come to class because after all, that is one of his family's holiday tradition. Surely every child was thrilled to have Santa come to school! So, like I said, I am glad I was first and didn't have rising expectations to compete with.

Another funny story...or it just shows how greedy my kids are. We have two good neighbors where one spouse is Jewish and the other is Christian. So their families celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. Elsa and Ava were very involved with their Hanukkah traditions. They would run next door each night to watch them light the menorah and to play dreidel. After seeing the presents that were given at Hanukkah and having an idea of what presents come Christmas morning, Elsa one evening said, "Mom, can we start to celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas." Ava chimed in, "Yeah, can we?" Me - "Uh, no." Elsa - "Why not?" Me - "Because we're not Jewish, so we don't celebrate Hanukkah." Elsa - "Then can we just get presents for eight days?" Me - "No, you'll be lucky to even get presents Christmas morning." Elsa and Ava, "Why?" Me - "Because I don't think Santa brings toys to greedy kids." Elsa and Ava "Oh, OK. Well, we aren't greedy. We are really good kids." Glad they have no complex.

Last funny story, of this week. Brian was taking the girls hiking on Saturday. They were waiting in the car and started honking the horn. When Brian got in the car, he said, "Girls, do you know that there is only one reason to honk the horn? That is if there is an emergency and you need to get some one's attention." Ava follows up by saying, "No. Actually there are two reasons. One is for emergencies and the second reason is to tell people that they are driving too slow or aren't paying attention. That is why Mom honks her horn." I am so proud I have taught my children something of value.