....homemade granola with yogurt & birthday sprinkles for birthday breakfast,
playing with toy nativity sets in front of the fire with 20 inches of snow outside your window,
2 year-old well child check-ups (noooooo shots! Can I get an oh yeah?) and
a clean bill of health,
having a brother with a December birthday and getting to play with new toys even BEFORE Christmas,
running errands, mailing Christmas cards,
shoveling your buried trash can out of the snow drift,
preschool sing-along concerts,
wearing 5 layers of clothing and still feeling cold,
car seat warmers in your Sienna minivan,
picking out a Christmas tree,
vacuuming before the tree arrives, only to vacuum again once it is up
toddlers singing along to the Christmas songs in the car
egg nog milkshakes from McDonalds (T's newest favorite treat)
and
collapsing in exhaustion at the end of an Advent day.
We are LOVING every minute of celebrating E-Bear's birthday and preparing for Christmas around here, even if all of us are sleep deprived.
Today was another extra special day, as E-Bear and I got to attend G-Bear's preschool Christmas program. It lasted all of 8 minutes in the basement hall of the church. The 10 preschool friends sat together in front of the parents and sang 6 songs, complete with jingle bell necklaces around their necks. You should see the video. G-Bear barely sang a word, but boy, did she shake her jingle bell. Afterwards, there were sprinkle cookies and apple juice for everyone. It was hard to tell who was more proud, the preschoolers or the parents. What a bunch of cutie patooties.
The biggest meltdown of the day came as we were leaving the program. The kids and I realized that the church had a life-sized wooden nativity set in the lawn outside the sanctuary. G-Bear was intent on seeing the manger scene. I was intent on getting us out of the cold and home to naps (crabbiness was looming). I thought I had won a compromise by offering to drive by the manger in the car as we drove home. Instead, I won two howling children in the car as we drove past the nativity without getting out of the car to see it up close.
G-Bear (sobbing): "But I want to see Baby JESUS!"
Me: "G-Bear, did you see the crib? He's not there yet. He won't be there until Christmas, his birthday."
G-Bear (howling): "But I want to get out and see the manger. Jesus, baby JESUS!"
E-Bear (howling): "Baaaaaaby Jeeeeeeeeshhhhussssssss! Stop! Mommy! Go back!"
Are you picturing this? I am lucky a lightning bolt didn't strike me dead on the spot. I seriously wondered for a moment if I was stuck in some dreadful modern day parable: The Mother Who Wouldn't Let Her Children See the Manger Scene.
Me: "I have an idea, how about we go home and wait for Daddy. HE will want to see the manger TOO. Maybe we can tell him about it and come back with HIM so he can see it too."
G-Bear (sniffling): "And go outside and see it up close?"
E-Bear (sniffling): "Owside?"
Me: "Yes, we can get out of the car and see the manger up close with Daddy."
The Bears (still sniffling): "Ok."
Heaven, have mercy on me.
So, tonight, I tucked my girl into bed, and she said:
"Mommy, is it Jesus' birthday yet?"
Me: "No, sweetie, not quite yet."
G-Bear: "In a week?"
Me: "A little more than a week, honey."
G-Bear: "And then Jesus will be in the manger?!"
Me: "Yes, G-Bear, then he will be in the manger."
G-Bear: "Hooray! I can't WAIT!"
Lord, bless me with patience for the meltdowns, and help me treasure Christmas like my children.
No comments:
Post a Comment