Holiday Hits (and One Miss)

Lucie and Ryan are running and jumping with holiday cheer. Well, they run and jump for just about everything these days, but especially all the Christmas books, lights, decorations and treats they've learned about and indulged in lately.

Unlike last year, Lucie and Ryan seem less afraid of Santa, and instead have lots of interest and questions about his job. Ryan, for one, is very curious about the logistics of a Santa visit. When I explained about Santa coming through the chimney, he piped up, "Mommy, why doesn't he come through the door?" And about Santa's return to the rooftop, "But, mommy, how does he climb up the chimney? Does he have a rope?" All of my lame answers about magic or not wanting to wake sleeping children don't satisfy this guy. It just doesn't make sense to his little engineer's mind in the making.

Advent calendars have been one of the biggest favorites this season. I have fond memories of mine as a child (especially those filled with chocolate), and thought Lucie and Ryan would enjoy their own this year. They love their calendars, and get so excited to open a door each day and discover what lies inside. I did make the mistake of buying the calendars on December 6th, which meant opening six doors at once to get caught up. Now every day since, Ryan and Lucie have not understood why they only get to open one door each day. Surely that's not as fun! It's definitely a lesson in self control, and I keep having to remind them that advent calendar doors, like vitamins, come only one at a time.

Sadly, we have had one Christmas activity that didn't go over so well. Thinking Ryan and Lucie might enjoy it, we taped the 1960's Christmas classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I think we both had much rosier memories of this cartoon than reality, and we should have watched it again before showing it to our kids. We forgot all about the Abominable Snow Monster (not a hit) and the teasing between reindeers (too much for these little guys). Lucie was also very concerned about Rudolph's parents and didn't understand why he had to leave them when he still seemed like a baby. I felt bad for introducing something they just weren't ready for. From now on, we'll stick to Sesame Street and Wonder Pets, though even Cookie Monster has been known to scare Lucie at times.

More holiday adventures to come...