Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas Kid-Bits

One of the most beautiful and classic parts of most Christmas Eve church services is how they close. Lights dimmed, candles lit, singing "Silent Night." Our church does the same. I was very touched by it all this year. I had a different perspective. I was in front of the congregation, looking out at all of them. I'm totally caught up in the peace and joy and love. The music ends and there is that moment of silence and awe... and my son yelling "BAM BAM BAM!" ***

We did our Christmas with Jeff's family last night. After dinner and opening presents, the kids split off to various areas to play with their new treasures. Jeff was working on his dad's computer. His sister & her husband, his parents, and I were laughing at Zach in the living room. 8 year old nephew and 12 year old nephew headed upstairs to play video games. Teagan and her 8 year old cousin, Jillian, went off to play together. After a while, my mother in law got up and went around the corner into the laundry room and I hear, "Girls!! This is NOT a sandbox!" She brought a handful of toys out and set them down and announced- "They found the litter box!" Yep. My 4 year old (she'll be 5 in March) and her 8 year old cousin decided to play in the cat's litter box like a sand box. And they got litter EVERYWHERE in this laundry room. Every inch of floor, every corner. To be fair, Teagan hasn't ever seen a litter box. But still... the litter sand box? EW!

***

One of my favorite funny stories from Christmas isn't really my own. It's a conversation I had with a 10 year old boy at church. I asked him, on Christmas Eve, if he was excited for Christmas... and his response?

"Not really. See... I'm having a hard time... I have this feeling... I'm really torn...

I think I might be Jewish."

After a conversation about Jesus and God and holidays and ham and bacon and cheeseburgers and what it means to eat kosher... he got a little tired of my knowledge and understanding of the Jewish faith and instructed me to go and sing with my friends.

***

I am very ready to go back to work tomorrow. Jeff will be home with Teagan (they have a special movie date- if she can get her act together), Zach at daycare. My mom is coming Tues-Weds. My daughter has been a nightmare the last 36 hours. Even overnight. I pray for Jeff's one on one time with her to be a really good and helpful thing. Because we can't keep going like we've been going. It's come to a new level and I feel inadequate and forced and bordering on out of control- not of myself, of the situation. More on that later, I'm sure.

9 comments:

mimbles said...

Zach's "BAM BAM BAM!" is a thing of awesomeness :-) I can just imagine the mood being punctured, did everyone laugh?

I'm sorry to hear things are so hard with Teagan again/still. *hugs* Sounds like it might be time to go looking for some help - there's no virtue in struggling on alone when there are resources out there that can make a difference.

C. Beth said...

Lots of FUN! :)

But so sorry things are not going well with Teagan. :( I'll pray....

Karen M. Peterson said...

Okay, maybe Teagan hasn't seen a litter box before, but what about her EIGHT YEAR OLD cousin? That story did make me giggle, though.

And that poor boy having a crisis of faith at such a young age. Hope he figures it out soon!

And I hope Teagan gets better. I'm sure that must be really frustrating.

Overall, though, it sounds like you had a nice Christmas!

Shell said...

LOL @ Bam! Bam! Totally something my kids would do.

I was really bummed to miss the candlelight service at our church this year. But, it was at 10pm- just way too late for my kids and we didn't have a sitter.

Garret said...

Sorry for the lack of comments later. I barely have time to read the blogs let alone comment. :-) The litter box story will be a treasure of a story. You should have gotten photos. :-)

michelle said...

I think Christmas fallout happens to kids the same way it happens to us. Too much excitement, too much anticipation, too much candy, too much stress. I bet Teagan will settle down when things go back to "normal"

Bam Bam on the other hand... :)

Amy said...

Robbie's had a rough time lately. A little too much celebrating, maybe? Hopefully things will get back to more normal soon.

Mrs4444 said...

Oh, wow. That cracked me up (the Jewish education story). Poor kid, but very funny!

I hope Teagan made it!

Tracie said...

The kid who thinks he might be Jewish is really funny.