Ho, Ho, Ho

Just when we thought it was no longer allowed out of the closet, our vacuum cleaner (a.k.a. The Black Beast) received a warm welcome when pulled out for a clean up recently. Chris and I were both floored (no pun intended) — how could something that was once so feared now become a coveted ride-on toy?

It used to be that Ryan and Lucie wanted nothing to do with the vacuum. Whenever it was on they had to be in the other room being held and comforted by one of us. If the closet door was left open by accident afterwards, R & L would both cry and point until the vacuum was safely out of sight and forgotten. This all seemed funny to us. The one thing that would calm them down as infants, especially Ryan, was a white noise CD with the vacuum cleaner track on continuous repeat. Weren't there any happy memories there?

Fortunately for our carpets, the vacuum is no longer feared. But it seems some one else has taken its place — Santa Claus. I took Ryan and Lucie for a photo with the jolly, bearded man and he was not well received. As soon as they saw him, they both grabbed on to me for dear life and started crying. Lucie screamed, "I wanna go HOME! I wanna go HOME!" Not even a high-five and a candy cane from Santa would calm them down. I can understand their fear. He has all the traits of a frightening stranger – big, booming voice, fake beard, bells on his shoes. I have to admit he kind of scares me too.

So, until we find a Santa we'll all tolerate, it looks like a relaxing moment in Christmas pj's will be the closest we get to a holiday photo this year.