Category: Family

Having received various electronic games for Christmas, and with Christmas vacation ending yesterday, the Wife decided to lay down the rules for the new year regarding those games. So last night, she explained that during the school week, they will not be allowed to play the Wii or their Mobigo and DS. Further, they will have to earn play time on them by helping out with chores around the house. Another rule is that leaving the games lying around the house will result in them losing the game for some period of time.

Remarkably, there was no pushback about these rules. I was pleased, if not a little surprised.

But this morning, the boy fired his first salvo.

He wanted to play his DS after school up in his room; that way it wouldn’t be left lying around. I reminded him about the rules we had discussed the night before.

That quieted him for the moment; but I expect he’ll have another plan of attack when he comes home from school tonight.

The boy’s hockey practices resumed this weekend. On Sunday specifically. Individually, he seemed less than thrilled to be playing. He was standing up a lot and didn’t seem to be giving a lot of effort. It was possible that he was tired; but overall, the impression was one of him not really being interested in playing.

Being who I am, this bothered me. But the one good decision I think I made was not to say anything to him about it. Remaining silent wasn’t easy for me either. In fact, it was darn hard for me to just let it be.

Well, that’s what it feels like anyway.

At approximately 1AM this morning, the boy and the lass both were sick. Again. Thus, killing any chance for them to go skiing today. We were all looking forward to going today, even the boy whom initially dreaded the idea way back when he was first told.

Not really sure what the rest of the day will hold at this point. I’d been trying to avoid the sentiment, but at this point I’m ready for “vacation” to end. I’ve had enough.

With the benefit of hindsight, it is now clear that our Christmas 2010 odyssey really only began on Christmas Eve with the boy playing in the Puke Bowl. Since then, several more family members have been swept up in it’s wake. And just when we thought it was all done, we’ve had a nice little “not so fast, we’re not done with you yet” thrown into the mix.

The rest after the jump- but only for those with strong stomachs.

The presents are all opened and the cooking has begun. The boy’s favorite gift at this point is his Nintendo DS, while the lass’ seems to be her Mobigo. Neither has really plumbed the depths of their presents at this point; but the day is early.

The boy had a rough night. As in throwing up at 15 minute intervals, which turned into dry heaves at half-hour, then 1 hour intervals with a final desperate dash for the toilet at 4AM. Only then did he finally start to feel better.

As miserable a time as it was for him, he never lost sight of the night’s goal. He opined at several points, while hunched over the porcelain-food-recycler, that Santa probably wouldn’t be coming since he couldn’t sleep. We told him that all Santa needed was a few minutes. During his last trip to the bathroom, I went downstairs to tend the fire. Upon returning his first question was if Santa had come. I smiled and nodded my head. He returned the smile with one of his own.

Then we all(the Wife, myself and the boy) all went back to bed to catch a few more minutes sleep.

Ahhh Christmas. Good times. Good times.

‘Tis the Day Before Christmas, and it’s safe to say;
The Children all wish ’twere night, not day.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care,
and they all remain really quite bare!

The Children are restless and running about,
waiting for Santa to remove all their doubt.

The Wife has relaxed and lain down on the couch,
attempting to take a Christmas Eve slouch.

Meals all planned, the house cleaned with care,
anticipating company soon to be there.

Then out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the basement to see what was the matter!

‘Twas just the dogs, barking at the neighbor;
Guess I shouldn’t expect from them any favor.

So back to the basement and the computer below,
to find that the children have struck their own blow!

Their restlessness reached a cathartic crescendo,
Resulting in messes from end, OH! to end OH!

So gritting my teeth, a grim look on my face,
I set them about cleaning up the whole place.

For the Shelf Elf was watching amidst all their grime,
Ready to report to Santa one last time.

And after weathering all of their bluster,
The Wife and I agreed their efforts passed muster.

So away they both went, looking for entertainment,
while I wondered about some kind of containment.

Soon nightfall will be here, though not soon enough,
And they will begin to get some of their stuff.

Then after dinner, perhaps one last cartoon,
For tomorrow we’ll be watching “A Chrismas Story” at noon.

And then off to bed, on this most anticipated night,
Hoping their Christmas dreams will take flight.

As for the Wife and I, it will be with great gusto
That we attempt to arrange all the presents just so.

But not before both kids are asleep,
Even then we can only barely make a peep!

Then, finally, a night of sleep for ourselves,
Having played the part of Santa and his elves.

And with that, I think it’s time to say,
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Day!

I am thankful for the bees and trees and sun and rain and the food to eat.

The Wife particularly was struck by it. Seems pretty good to me as well.

The boy and most of his den-mates were awarded their Bobcat Badges tonight at the monthly pack meeting. The hardest part was the waiting as there was a presentation by the local CERT team- including showing off a couple of police dogs.

But it’s official now. Being a Cub Scout, that is. Congrats to him and his buddies. They earned it.

The boy came home with another Christmas project today. His class made a reindeer using a cutout of their footprint for the head and using cutouts of their handprint for the antlers. The boy finished his reindeer off with two different sized googly eyes, and a blue nose.

I asked him if it was “Bruno the Blue nosed reindeer” but the boy said he didn’t have a name for it. Then he said “Just because Rudolph is famous, everyone thinks you’re supposed to copy him. But you can make any kind of reindeer, right?”

I love the unquestioned existence of Rudolph in his statement.

It’s not often this happens, but I must confess to a grave mistake on my part.

For many months now, we have been acting to thwart the boy in his attempts to get his mitts on a Nerf Blaster (no links- just search on it, you’ll get the idea quick). We were at last undone by another parent, who decided to throw her son a Nerf Blaster party. She works at a local private school and had unfettered access to the school’s student center. All three floors. For about 20 boys ages 6 to 10 or so.

So we had to relent and get the boy his Nerf Blaster. Still, we resisted and didn’t present him with it until a couple of hours before the party.

It was easily one of the most fun birthday parties the kids have had. There was only about 20,000 square feet available to them, with stairs and couches and table and chairs. The party lasted about 2 hours and they ran around for all but the 15 minute break to eat a little bit of cake (which the Birthday Boy’s Mother baked and decorated like a Nerf Dart.)

The most humiliating part was admitting how much fun it was for the adults. There were some spare guns around, so a number of us spiced things up by shooting at the kids from above. Yes- a guilty pleasure.

I’ve since played with the boy’s gun on a number of occasions, just because it’s fun. Maybe Santa will bring me one as well…

At the skating rink tonight, I found a penny a presented it to the lass. She then asked me where I found it. I pointed to a spot on the floor and then told her:

“You know what? You’ll ALWAYS find pennies on the ground?”

She looked up at me, her eyes wide, and asked “Why?”

I smiled, looked her straight in the eye and told her:

“Because pennies don’t float.”

The Wife just closed her eyes and put her head in her hands.

The Wife comes up to me the morning at the hockey rink and says “Guess what your daughter did this morning?”

I hate that question. For one, I never guess the right answer. Very annoying. Second, the answer is 100% guaranteed to involve some type of transgression that attains new levels of egregiousness. So after preparing myself, I shook my head and asked what happened.

The lass had pushed dog #1 down the stairs. Most importantly, everyone was basically OK. The dog was traumatized more by the scolding the Wife meted out to the lass than by the ride down the stairs. She (the dog) is unhurt with no limping.

The lass should be so lucky. Actually, she was lucky I wasn’t there to witness the act. While I have improved in controlling my temper tremendously during my parenthood, I regret to say that wanton cruelty to our animals still sets me off.

I got upstairs to check on the toothbrushing progress prior to bed and the lass is screaming at her brother. When she settles down, she explains that her brother “got soap on her toothbrush.”

Flummoxed by the oddity of the statement, I asked her to explain. She said the boy had put soap in her toothpaste tube. She pointed to the soap squirt bottle behind the sink.

And it was all I could do not to laugh right then and there.

To the boy, who earned his school patch at karate last night. To do so, he had to memorize and then recite the 5 lines of his student creed to one of the black belt instructors for his class. He deserves full credit because it was all on his own initiative- once he understood what was required of him. The Wife and I repeatedly told him it was his choice and he could wait a little bit to become more comfortable with the lines prior to attempting. Regardless, he worked hard at memorizing the lines, and even took the initiative to tell the instructors he was ready to try.

Well done, kiddo. Well done.

I’m always on the lookout for signs that the kids have certain qualities that will make them “useful little engines” when they become adults. Yesterday, I got a great illustration of one from the boy.

We were invited out last minute to a friend’s place for a little holiday gift exchange. We had to come up with a “White Elephant” and an “Ugly Decoration” to participate in the festivities. Being last minute additions, we didn’t understand that we were supposed to each bring along these items. Fortunately, our gracious hosts gave us a pass on that one.

The kids were also invited and all told there were about 7 or so of them from age 4 to maybe 8. They were all very good- entertaining themselves and not destroying the house in the process. That’s always a concern. Heck, I think the fabric of reality is in the balance sometimes.

Anyway, we were there late and ours finally gave out while watching a movie. When the movie ended we packed them up and headed home, both of them fast asleep in the car.

Despite the late hour, the pitter-patter of little feet was heard this morning around 6 or so. Down the stairs they went to check on the Advent House and to seek out Sparky. They came back upstairs, but they didn’t go back to sleep. I got up some time after that when I finally admitted to myself that I wasn’t going to get anymore sleep.

As I stumbled down the steps, the kids followed quickly thereafter. Bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Arguing over what cartoon they would watch, then deciding that Netflix was the best option.

I don’t think they really “stop”. They just kind of pause, and then continue on. The Energizer Bunny has nothing on them.

For Cub Scouts, the boy has a number of things that he has to memorize. Among them a handshake, a salute, a promise, and the Law of the Pack.

For his martial arts, he has to memorize the five lines of the school creed, as well as what the school flags are and various forms.

All in all, he’s doing pretty well learning all of these things. But the Wife and I both have also had to memorize all this stuff in order to help him learn it all. I’ve even been learning the forms to help him out.

Funny how that works.

One other thing worthy of note happened today- Sparky returned to monitor the kid’s behavior from now ’til Christmas. Sparky, of course, being the Shelf Elf.

I awoke this morning to squeals of delight from the lass, so excited was she at the little Elf’s return. The Wife said she was actually dancing around the room this morning when she finally found Sparky. The boy was not quite so exuberant, but he could barely contain his own excitement and made sure to tell me the Sparky was back.

Oh to be that innocent. To believe so deeply in things so simple. To have unwavering faith in magic. To be able to watch it as a parent and see the unbridled joy on their face over something so simple as a doll and a story.

Perhaps their truly is magic.