Regular Life

The Little Christmas

We arrived home well after dark on Christmas Eve and were not looking forward to baking cookies to leave for Santa, even though they were just the cut-off kind. What to our wondering eyes did appear? Why, a Rubbermaid TakeAlong container full of homemade goodies from our new neighbors. Score!

Despite that delightful find, Benjamin was rough that night. He happily sprinkled reindeer food on the front lawn, but didn’t want to do anything in our normal nightly routine. It was nearly 10 p.m. when he finally fell asleep. Being away from home for even a few days is hard for kids that age.

Christmas Day was great. After opening all that Santa had left us, we played with Ben’s new toys. I put together his scooter, but could handle only about 20 minutes outdoors with my sinuses fully enraged at the thought.

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While trying to figure out what to do for dinner (we had nothing in the house), Shannon and I introduced Benjamin to Candy Land. He understood how it worked right away and we played two rounds before moving on to Chutes and Ladders. That one was a bit trickier for him, because the numbers go higher than he can count and the direction of play alternates left to right on each successive row. Still, he enjoyed it and never once knocked the pieces off the board. That turned out to be my favorite part of the day.

Supper was a creative affair. Put off by Shannon’s plan to make tuna salad, I jumped in Homer and headed to the nearest convenience store. All the stores and fast-food places on the way were dark and deserted, a strange landscape in today’s 24-7 world. I ended up with a can of chili, a bag of Fritos, and a gallon of milk dated 12/28. Back home, I sliced a large dill pickle for Benjamin to eat with his Cheetos while Shannon ate her sandwich.

Now that’s Christmas dinner.

After our unorthodox meal, we drove to look at a house with more than 65,000 lights synchronized to music. On a cul-de-sac, the house drew a large crowd that jammed up the streets. We were happy to hear a variety of songs in addition to the one made popular on YouTube and a Miller beer commercial. Juxtaposing “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” with the Trans Siberian Orchestra shows a refreshing sense of humor.

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The (First) Big Weekend Event

Benjamin and his cousin, C, got along well from the moment they ran smiling, arms outstretched, to greet each other. That made Christmas nicer for all of us. Usually the boys, both four, take the first day or two getting used to one another’s approaches to play and interaction. This time, they still had their disagreements, but for the most part picked up where they left off at Thanksgiving.

One of my cousins summed it up well when she said, “They’re just like brothers, aren’t they?”

Specifically, they are a lot like my brother and I were. Pretty much, like father, like son. Each can play happily in his own space, but when they play together Cousin C definitely is the more competitive of the two.

Benjamin and I were the early birds both days, and the first morning he got to go with my mom to feed her horses. The next day, a bit anxious to get the boys some outside time despite the 35-degree weather, we scoured the closets for any warm clothes that might fit them. We found a couple of knit caps, but ended up using socks for mittens. They spent about an hour outdoors, wandering the property with my dad.

As for the rest of us? We generally play nice right from the start. I admit I got a little snappish with my sister-in-law when she tried to help out with Benjamin one night. High winds made frightening bumps in the night, and he had trouble going to sleep. His Aunt A and I apologized to each other and all was well.

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The Time for Giving, Receiving, and Stealing

In our family’s white elephant gift exchange, I ended up with a pretty good gift that I was sure someone would snatch. The fifth to go in a group of 17, I opened a progressive scan DVD player. On his turn my cousin J picked it up and read the box carefully, then set it back down beside me. Whew! I found out later that it did fit the game’s $25 budget restriction, and reviews online are positive.

Speaking of DVD players, I tested it with the new Serenity Collector’s Edition DVD from my lovely wife. I will tell the story of my biggest gift in a separate post.

On the drive to and from my aunt’s house (where we have our large family gathering), Shannon scrambled to finish writing descriptions in the album of 80-something photos we presented to mom and dad as a photographic reminder of our New Mexico trip.

On Shannon’s side, Benjamin’s cousin S received one of those robot ponies, mentioned in the comments here on 12/20. We didn’t get to see it, but we’re hoping for pictures and video. Maybe they’ll share at the coming weekend’s event, our final family Christmas of 2007.

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