Recapping Winter: 2008 Holidays - Traditions
Backing up to the holidays...
G added a few new traditions to his holiday program this year--the first of which took place a good month before Santa was scheduled to arrive.
Making cookies for Kevin
Kevin is our soldier penpal, presently stationed in Afghanistan. Because holiday shipments to the troops required 4 weeks, G and I spent the first of December up to our elbows in cookie dough. Limited on time, we opted for simple, undecorated cookies, easily frozen then shipped. Still, we spent a couple of weeknights at the kitchen counter, G on a chair and me in oven mitts.
Santa Parade
I believe the Santa Parade and photo op came next. This year we attended with the K family--J, C and E. Lunch, parade and Santa time was all good--but I think the highlight of the day was time spent on the mountain-high pile of snow--plowed more than a story high next to the pavilion.
Hand-made Teacher Gifts
A full-fledged kindergartener, G put his own personal touch on the refridgerator magnet frames I carved out for his teachers. His touch involved a lot of paint. And a couple of evenings. And plenty of pride.
School Christmas Pageant
This was a formal affair with a month of rehearsals and 24 hours of trauma coming directly before it. I knew they were rehearsing in earnest when G excitedly announced his back-row position on the risers. That and his diligent, repeated practice of Rudolf The Red-nosed Reindeer--with a special "Yippee" in there.
Unfortunately, he spent nearly a month practicing with all of his teeth and, with less than a day to go, lost one of his two front teeth. It was his first and it went the hard way--knocked out during play on the snow and ice covered playground. Both painful and traumatizing, the loss led to an afternoon of trying his Dad's patience. Lots of tears, a missed afternoon of school and a steadfast refusal to give up the napkin lodged in his mouth.
He recovered overnight. The pain gone, the incident fading to memory and a newfound excitement at the whole tooth fairy phenomenon. All was well. Until time to dress for school. In khakis, dress shirt and tie. At this age, G does not do buttons. Period. There are no dress shirts, polos, henleys, etc. in his wardrobe. So, when it was time to dress in his newly-purchased dress shirt....what was the expression I used? Oh yeah, it was as if I was pouring flesh-eating acid on him. Now he was trying his Mom's patience.
Once at school, he suddenly loved the shirt--and the tie--and went on to give a fabulous performance from his place on the top riser. Look and listen:
Icing and Gumdrops
With all of the scheduled events behind him, G finally got to decorate our own cookies and his very own gingerbread house--his first. He was very precise and only a bit disappointed to learn that you don't actually eat gingerbread houses--at least not the store-bought kind.
G added a few new traditions to his holiday program this year--the first of which took place a good month before Santa was scheduled to arrive.
Making cookies for Kevin
Kevin is our soldier penpal, presently stationed in Afghanistan. Because holiday shipments to the troops required 4 weeks, G and I spent the first of December up to our elbows in cookie dough. Limited on time, we opted for simple, undecorated cookies, easily frozen then shipped. Still, we spent a couple of weeknights at the kitchen counter, G on a chair and me in oven mitts.
Santa Parade
I believe the Santa Parade and photo op came next. This year we attended with the K family--J, C and E. Lunch, parade and Santa time was all good--but I think the highlight of the day was time spent on the mountain-high pile of snow--plowed more than a story high next to the pavilion.
Hand-made Teacher Gifts
A full-fledged kindergartener, G put his own personal touch on the refridgerator magnet frames I carved out for his teachers. His touch involved a lot of paint. And a couple of evenings. And plenty of pride.
School Christmas Pageant
This was a formal affair with a month of rehearsals and 24 hours of trauma coming directly before it. I knew they were rehearsing in earnest when G excitedly announced his back-row position on the risers. That and his diligent, repeated practice of Rudolf The Red-nosed Reindeer--with a special "Yippee" in there.
Unfortunately, he spent nearly a month practicing with all of his teeth and, with less than a day to go, lost one of his two front teeth. It was his first and it went the hard way--knocked out during play on the snow and ice covered playground. Both painful and traumatizing, the loss led to an afternoon of trying his Dad's patience. Lots of tears, a missed afternoon of school and a steadfast refusal to give up the napkin lodged in his mouth.
He recovered overnight. The pain gone, the incident fading to memory and a newfound excitement at the whole tooth fairy phenomenon. All was well. Until time to dress for school. In khakis, dress shirt and tie. At this age, G does not do buttons. Period. There are no dress shirts, polos, henleys, etc. in his wardrobe. So, when it was time to dress in his newly-purchased dress shirt....what was the expression I used? Oh yeah, it was as if I was pouring flesh-eating acid on him. Now he was trying his Mom's patience.
Once at school, he suddenly loved the shirt--and the tie--and went on to give a fabulous performance from his place on the top riser. Look and listen:
Icing and Gumdrops
With all of the scheduled events behind him, G finally got to decorate our own cookies and his very own gingerbread house--his first. He was very precise and only a bit disappointed to learn that you don't actually eat gingerbread houses--at least not the store-bought kind.
posted by Jennifer B. | 2:52 AM
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