Christmas Decorating

We have a family tradition where each day in December, the kids peek inside the drawer of an advent calendar to find a piece of candy and a paper with an activity written on it. Today's activity was, "Decorate your room for Christmas." When the kids were younger, I used to take part in the activities. Now, for the most part, they are on their own. I had no idea what they might do.

I taught piano lessons, as usual. When I was finished, my nine-year-old daughter ran down the stairs shouting, "Mommy, you have to see my room!"

Uh oh.

I climbed the stairs and attempted to walk into her room. She had Christmas lights strung all around her room, taped to the walls. She had paper snowflakes taped to the walls. She found every Christmas stuffed animal she owned and covered her bed and the floor with them. It was quite a production.

Then my six-year-old son called me. "Mommy, check out my room!"

Christmas lights were strung across his bed, taped to the walls and the window. Paper snowflakes covered his door. He even found his Bart Simpson that sings an interesting rendition of Jingle Bells.

"Wow," I said, "You kids are certainly creative!"

Too bad they aren't as good at cleaning up their rooms!

Snow Boy

I've heard a lot of commentaries about how kids don't play outside much these days. That's not the case in my household. Maybe it's because I have a no-TV policy during the day. My kids are always outside. They are outside even when I don't want them outside. Take today for instance. It's a frigid seventeen degrees outside.

"Mommy, I want to go outside to play," my six- year-old son said.

"It's freezing out there."

"Please!!!!"

"Dress warm!"

Out he went, all bundled up. He had a blast playing in his fort in the woods.

Forty-five minutes later he came back in the house.

"Mom, it's freezing out there!"

"No kidding, snow boy!"

I then made him a cup of hot cocoa, and he was soon toasty warm.

Power Point Expert

Before I start on this subject, let me first say that this is the first day that I feel semi-human (that is, of this week - not of my life). I think I'm getting better. The plague is lifting.

Okay. So today my daughter asked if she could go online to make a power point presentation.

I was flabbergasted. "What?" I said. "You're only nine years old!"

"We learned how to do it in school," she replied.

"Okay," I said. "Go for it."

She went to the computer, and within twenty minutes she had created an excellent power point presentation about puppies, complete with photos of our own puppy and music.

"How did you do that?" I asked, completely amazed. (I had never done a power point presentation.)

"You just click this icon, and this icon, and this icon, and that's it."

Oh. I am definitely still back in the Stone Age!

Sick Mama Part 3

Will the saga ever end? So let me start with part two and a half. Last night, after I finished typing my last post, I had to take my daughter to the dance studio for a dress rehearsal (she couldn't miss that practice!). I walked in the studio and immediately saw one of my friends.

"Sherry, are you okay?"

"Um, no. I have a really bad cold or something."

"Are you taking anything?"

"Nyquil."

"That stuff doesn't work. Try this." She reached into her purse and pulled out a packet of Theraflu. (It's great to have friends who are walking medicine cabinets!)

I took the Theraflu when I got home. It did work better than Nyquil, but unfortunately the effect didn't last. The next morning (this morning) I was feeling pretty awful again. And guess what day it was? Performance day!

"Honey," I asked my husband, "Would you please take our daughter to her performance?"

He agreed. So my daughter got herself ready, and applied her makeup the best she could. The two made their way to the location of the performance.

Here was the news when they returned home: "Mom, I forgot my tap shoes."

"What?"

"Yeah, I had to wear my teacher's shoes."

"Good thing you have big feet," I thought.

"And my teacher told me I was a mess. You know what I said?"

"What?"

"When Mama's sick, everything's a mess!"

Ain't that the truth!

Sick Mama Part 2

Today I'm feeling worse than yesterday. I talked to my mom, and she said that she has the same thing. So, apparently, this is some kind of crud we picked up at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis.

Anyway, I decided to try to take a little nap. (You know I'm sick if I attempt to lay down in the middle of the afternoon!). Two seconds later:

"Mama, how do you spell, "Super Mario Propeller Hat Toys?"

You've got to be kidding me! I croaked out the letters while my son wrote them on a piece of paper.

"Mama, when you get better, can you mail this piece of paper to Macy's. I saw a commercial that said they can make anything you want. Isn't that nice?"

Ugh.

Two minutes later, I hear a commotion in the kitchen. (Oh, did I mention that the dog threw up today, and I had to clean that?). Now what?

A knock on my door. "Mama, I made you a snack so you can get better." My son brought in a plate of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and carrots.

"That's sweet," I said. "Now Mommy really needs to rest."

More commotion in the kitchen. A knock at my door. "Mama, I brought you some healthy juice." He placed the glass of Acai juice on the night stand.

"Thank you honey, now I really need to rest."

Two minutes later, "Mama, are you better yet?"

"No."

"I brought you some yogurt."

Sigh.

I guess he really wants that Super Mario Propeller Hat Toy.

(Then the dog started whining and that was the end of my "rest.")

Sick Mama

Why do moms never get a break even when they're sick? I'm an absolute wreck. I don't know if it's a really bad cold or a touch of the flu. All I'd really like to do is stay in bed. But no.

"Mommy, the dog needs to go potty!"

"Can't you take him out?"

"No, I don't know how."

What can be so hard about opening the back door and walking out with the dog? I guess for a six-year-old that's a monumental task.

"Mommy, I'm hungry!"

"Can't you make yourself something to eat?"

"No, I don't know how."

Now that's a farse if I've heard one. That little guy is perfectly capable of raiding the pantry for a box of crackers. I've seen him do it!

"Mommy, you have to go to parent teacher conferences!"

Yeah, I did. So I dragged my sorry self to the school, looking like death run over and sounding like a hoarse frog. The teachers were probably wondering about me.

Now I really should go to bed instead of writing this blog post. But first a bit of Nyquil...

The Cat

Four months ago, a pathetically skinny brown tabby cat wandered into our yard. Now if it were you, would you turn this poor little creature away? Of course not. So we did what most kind-hearted people would do: we fed it.

Apparently it liked the restaurant because it's still here. We tried finding a home for him, but nobody wanted the poor cat. So today, I took him to the vet and got him neutered and vaccinated. I guess after spending $410.00 (and who knows how much for cat food), that officially makes him our cat. I sure hope he doesn't mind the snow!