Pre-Christmas Memories

The ransacked shelves at Target and the stressed and frustrated faces of fellow shoppers are just some of the reasons we've decided to trim our Christmas in addition to our Christmas tree.  I feel bad that those people are missing not only the meaning but also the fun of Christmas.  Our simple preparations have helped me enjoy experiences over the past several days that I may not have had or fully appreciated otherwise:

--My son getting mad at me for trying to peek in on him in his room because he was wrapping a surprise for me for Christmas.  He said, "If you try to come in again, I'm going to yell out loud!"  My wife told me he was so excited that he kept asking, "Can't Daddy just open it today!"

--Getting my 2-year old daughter up from her nap--she didn't sleep at all--and seeing her naked and holding out her diaper and saying "Look!"  I probably wouldn't have thought it was so funny had there been "surprises" in her bed as well.  We attempted to begin potty training but we got so busy that our daughter ended up wetting the couch.  Lesson learned--never try potty training during a holiday.

--My baby girl crawling over to the Christmas tree to pull off and suck on the bell ornaments on the lowest branch.

--Building a cardboard fireplace with the older kids.

--Falling asleep reading to my baby girl then waking up briefly to see that she had fallen asleep too.

--My kids' absolute love for Christmas lights.  They are all over the inside of our house, and our kids constantly turn off the regular house lights while we are cooking, cleaning, reading, or doing anything else that requires light, just so they can see the Christmas lights better.

--My son repeatedly requesting ice cream at dinner last night.  We had several reasons for saying "no," including his general disobedience today, his failure to eat all of his dinner, and his generous consumption of sugary treats provided at his preschool today.  Finally he told us that it wasn't because he wanted a treat, but so that he can be fat enough to dress up as Santa on Christmas.  

--Hearing my daughter over the baby monitor last night saying in her sleep, "I want cookie, Mommy."

--Joking with my wife about how happy she is when she cleans for Christmas.  She sings Christmas songs and literally dances around the house hugging and kissing everyone.  She reminds me of "Elf" sometimes.  She joked back that it's only because I'm not complaining about the fact that she isn't doting on me all day long, which is usually what I do on Saturdays.  You know the saying, "When momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy.  When daddy ain't happy nobody cares"--I may have made up the second part.  My wife joked that it should be, "When daddy ain't happy, momma ain't happy.  When momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." Her point was well taken.  Now I have to figure out some way other than complaining to try and get her to dote on me all day long on days off of work.

--Seeing my two oldest wearing elf hats while my wife read them bedtime stories.

--Wrapping our traditional Christmas Eve present while watching a Christmas movie with my wife.