Signs that Potter Mania Has Hit Our Home
(1) I have not read anything but Harry Potter for bedtime reading in some weeks now. Why didn't we start this sooner? How wonderful it is to read HP instead of the Berenstain Bears! I used to think that the series started off okay and then got truly great as it went along. But now re-reading the first book for the first time in several years, it's clear how great this series was from the start. Ah, the foreshadowing! Everything is set up from the beginning.
(2) Eleanor's Christmas wish-list is somewhat Potter-centric. She has two wish lists for Santa. Apparently, HP is so special that he needs his own wish list.
(3) Eleanor's first act as President of the United States: an executive order forcing Harry Potter Lego sets to cost $5. I have been trying to prepare her for the probability that her twin passions of legos and Harry will probably not be coming together under the Christmas tree. As far as I can tell, lego is not making the sets any more. And they are expensive on ebay!
(4) I foresee many hours of mine being squandered on ebay looking for used HP lego sets that are missing pieces and have dented boxes. The child doesn't need a collector's item. She just wants to play. So back off, creepy adults who want collectible versions of kid's toys. We'll gladly take the Diagon Alley playset that's missing its wands!
(5) Eleanor's love of following rules and her love of Harry Potter sometimes make it difficult to get through a chapter. She gets anxious when Harry sneaks out of the Gryffindor Common Room after hours.
(6) After school, when Eleanor announces "Let's pretend..", I must now assume the role of Holly Hochenstaush who along with her sisten Megan runs a school for wizards. Eleanor is one of our first year pupils.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Santa, Can We Work This Out?
So I have one child who's asking for a Christmas at home. And for various and sundry reasons, it's just not possible for us to spend Christmas morning at home. However, I can be a little devious.
I have one 7 year old who quasi-believes in Santa. Her belief seems to shift from day to day. On the days when she's hoping for a truly ridiculous and extravagant present which she knows her parents cannot afford, she believes in Santa Claus. At other times, she has been known to tell her father that "I know that Santa is something I need to believe in, like the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny" I have one 2 year old who (a) doesn't understand time and (b) doesn't understand holidays.
It seems to me that if ever there's a year to alter our mystical Santa tradition, this is the year to pull it off since Paul lives in ignorant bliss and Eleanor knows the score. Last year, Santa mysteriously left a package at our house on the 1st of December with a letter saying that he wanted to see our house since he hadn't seen our West Virginia home. What if this year, he sends a letter on the 1st, with some sort of explanation that due to, I don't know, uncontrollable global population growth, he has selected a very kind and caring group of children who will be receiving their Santa presents a day or so early so that the reindeer don't get worn out? Do you think it would work? Then we could have a family Christmas at home with Santa presents and Mom and Dad presents and board games, etc. We could satisfy the urge for a home Christmas, and then we could trot off for our Christmas travelings.
Maybe the letter and story isn't even necessary. Maybe, you dear readers, have already finessed this situation in your own home or know someone else who has made this work. Do you think there's any plausible way we can pull this off?
I have one 7 year old who quasi-believes in Santa. Her belief seems to shift from day to day. On the days when she's hoping for a truly ridiculous and extravagant present which she knows her parents cannot afford, she believes in Santa Claus. At other times, she has been known to tell her father that "I know that Santa is something I need to believe in, like the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny" I have one 2 year old who (a) doesn't understand time and (b) doesn't understand holidays.
It seems to me that if ever there's a year to alter our mystical Santa tradition, this is the year to pull it off since Paul lives in ignorant bliss and Eleanor knows the score. Last year, Santa mysteriously left a package at our house on the 1st of December with a letter saying that he wanted to see our house since he hadn't seen our West Virginia home. What if this year, he sends a letter on the 1st, with some sort of explanation that due to, I don't know, uncontrollable global population growth, he has selected a very kind and caring group of children who will be receiving their Santa presents a day or so early so that the reindeer don't get worn out? Do you think it would work? Then we could have a family Christmas at home with Santa presents and Mom and Dad presents and board games, etc. We could satisfy the urge for a home Christmas, and then we could trot off for our Christmas travelings.
Maybe the letter and story isn't even necessary. Maybe, you dear readers, have already finessed this situation in your own home or know someone else who has made this work. Do you think there's any plausible way we can pull this off?
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Getting Ready for the Holidays
I just found a great quotation in a book I picked up at today's book sale at the preschool. It comes as a great reminder during a weekend when I begin my annual gear-up toward Thanksgiving, the one big holiday where we entertain an unknown but large number (though not by West Virginia standards) of guests. In the chapter on "How to Throw a Party" in Saving Dinner for the Holidays, Leanne Ely writes:
"First, you need to take a chill pill. Don't overdo it, making everything from scratch, decorating from floor to ceiling, and getting everything just 'perfect.' Perfect, believe it or not, does not help your guests relax and feel at home. Rather they feeling as if they've entered some sort of party spread from a magazine, and it's all an illusion. In other words, you want your party "touchable" - something that everyone can participate in, not just observe."
Good to remember. And as anyone who's ever been entertained at your home will tell you, we're never in the slightest danger of hitting magazine perfection.
Today, I also found these two helpful and cute tools for Thanksgiving planning from Family Fun: a Guest Checklist and a Thanksgiving Week Planner.
"First, you need to take a chill pill. Don't overdo it, making everything from scratch, decorating from floor to ceiling, and getting everything just 'perfect.' Perfect, believe it or not, does not help your guests relax and feel at home. Rather they feeling as if they've entered some sort of party spread from a magazine, and it's all an illusion. In other words, you want your party "touchable" - something that everyone can participate in, not just observe."
Good to remember. And as anyone who's ever been entertained at your home will tell you, we're never in the slightest danger of hitting magazine perfection.
Today, I also found these two helpful and cute tools for Thanksgiving planning from Family Fun: a Guest Checklist and a Thanksgiving Week Planner.
Book It
#73 -- "The Brutal Telling" by Louise Penny -- This is the best mystery series I have discovered in a long, long time. This one was a shocker. Read it.
#74 -- "Midnight Fugue" by Reginald Hill -- A new Reginald Hill. Nothing more need be said. I love him.
#74 -- "Midnight Fugue" by Reginald Hill -- A new Reginald Hill. Nothing more need be said. I love him.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Thursday Thankfulness Round Up
Just in time for Thanksgiving, it's the return of the Thankfulness Round-Up, the weekly reminder of the blessings in my life.
(1 - 6) Grandparents, all six of them. My children have six loving grandparents who want to be involved in their lives and who want to regular bring my children to their homes so that I can get some
(7) Sleep. During the insomniac periods of my life, I have despaired of sleep and wished that it weren't necessary. But right now, I am so in love with sleep. Falling asleep, staying asleep, dozing off on the couch. Sleep is so lovely.
(8) Triptans. Ah those lovely migraine meds that allow me to stave off a real zinger of a headache and allow me to go to work, tend to daily life, and experience the world.
(9) Health insurance that allows me to buy my migraine meds.
(10) And as always, the lovely and amazing Chris Green. In this case, he's the full-time wage earner in our family who brings home the bacon and the health insurance so that the rest of us may go to the doctor and the pharmacy.
(1 - 6) Grandparents, all six of them. My children have six loving grandparents who want to be involved in their lives and who want to regular bring my children to their homes so that I can get some
(7) Sleep. During the insomniac periods of my life, I have despaired of sleep and wished that it weren't necessary. But right now, I am so in love with sleep. Falling asleep, staying asleep, dozing off on the couch. Sleep is so lovely.
(8) Triptans. Ah those lovely migraine meds that allow me to stave off a real zinger of a headache and allow me to go to work, tend to daily life, and experience the world.
(9) Health insurance that allows me to buy my migraine meds.
(10) And as always, the lovely and amazing Chris Green. In this case, he's the full-time wage earner in our family who brings home the bacon and the health insurance so that the rest of us may go to the doctor and the pharmacy.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Life is a long series of gynecological embarrassments: Junior Edition
As regular readers of the blog know, one of the truths we hold to be self-evident here is that "Life is a long series of gynecological embarrassments." But who knew that the cringing began at age 7?
Last week, Eleanor had to produce a urine specimen at a doctor's appointment. Unfortunately for her, her brother was along for the trip, and she's not quite advanced enough yet to wield the specimen cup on her own. And if there's one thing that the two of us knew, it was that bringing a two year old brother into the bathroom would better than letting him roam freely in the doctor's office while we tried to catch the elusive pee.
Still, we weren't quite ready for his hilarious additions to the collection process and his desire to help by:
(1) offering not one, but two, toilet plungers he found in the corner of bathroom.
(2) attempting to stick his head between sister's butt and the cup to try to figure out why Mom was sticking her arm into the toilet (since when he tries to stick his arm into the toilet, he usually hears shrieks of "No, no, no! Stop! Stop right now!")
(3) flushing the toilet multiple times.
(4) unrolling most of the roll of toilet paper.
(5) opening the door to the bathroom.
and (6) the piece de la resistance (as the French say in situations like this), giving several good pats on the butt in a show of support.
Miraculously, she managed to pee and to pee into the cup.
And she got to learn that important life lesson: "Life is a long series of gynecological embarrassments." She also learned the word "gynecological." So don't let it be said that she didn't learn anything when I pulled her out of school an hour early for a doctor's appointment.
It reminds me of what we told her as she she lay in her incubator in the NICU when she was a wee baby: "The good news is that you're tough. The bad news is that you've got to be."
The good news is that now you know that doctor visits are frequently embarrassing when it comes to your private parts. The bad news is that it's only going to get more embarrassing from here.
Poor child.
Last week, Eleanor had to produce a urine specimen at a doctor's appointment. Unfortunately for her, her brother was along for the trip, and she's not quite advanced enough yet to wield the specimen cup on her own. And if there's one thing that the two of us knew, it was that bringing a two year old brother into the bathroom would better than letting him roam freely in the doctor's office while we tried to catch the elusive pee.
Still, we weren't quite ready for his hilarious additions to the collection process and his desire to help by:
(1) offering not one, but two, toilet plungers he found in the corner of bathroom.
(2) attempting to stick his head between sister's butt and the cup to try to figure out why Mom was sticking her arm into the toilet (since when he tries to stick his arm into the toilet, he usually hears shrieks of "No, no, no! Stop! Stop right now!")
(3) flushing the toilet multiple times.
(4) unrolling most of the roll of toilet paper.
(5) opening the door to the bathroom.
and (6) the piece de la resistance (as the French say in situations like this), giving several good pats on the butt in a show of support.
Miraculously, she managed to pee and to pee into the cup.
And she got to learn that important life lesson: "Life is a long series of gynecological embarrassments." She also learned the word "gynecological." So don't let it be said that she didn't learn anything when I pulled her out of school an hour early for a doctor's appointment.
It reminds me of what we told her as she she lay in her incubator in the NICU when she was a wee baby: "The good news is that you're tough. The bad news is that you've got to be."
The good news is that now you know that doctor visits are frequently embarrassing when it comes to your private parts. The bad news is that it's only going to get more embarrassing from here.
Poor child.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
On Movies
Eleanor after watching Annie: Well, Annie ended like every other movie. You know, some girl gets hanged up on something. And somebody comes and rescues her. That always happens. Always.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
