| Whoo-wheee! That was some Christmas. I'm exhausted. We spent about two solid days wrapping, packaging, cleaning, decorating, and cooking, all of which the twins dismantled in about four hours yesterday. We're still hauling the rubble out of the house.
For those of you following the health and well-being of the Santa Myth in my home, rest assured that Old St. Nick made it unscathed through the holiday. There are some fights that are bigger than any one family, and this is one. So, yes, the kids asked again about Santa, and I lied, sort of. Instead of telling the truth when asked, which didn't sit well with the kids and the slew of empirical data surrounding them - Santa books! Santa movies! Santa at the mall! - I now answer, "what do you think?" (Hat tip to my sister.) The kids love that answer. That's all it takes, folks.
In return for this little "lie," I got to watch Mr. Proud open his presents - his fleece stegosaurus-themed footie pajamas, say -- and exclaim, "wow! It's just what I needed! Santa really knows me!" Indeed.
After mauling the gifts, we went over to the Missoula Carousel, which runs free on Christmas day. Riding the Carousel on Christmas is evolving into a family tradition. Ms. Marvelous was a sight, with her brand-new fairy wings and glitter shirt, riding Cherished Angel. I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow we ended up with a full-on one-hundred percent girly girl in our family who loves tutus, pink, ballet dancing, ponies, and mermaids. Odd, given that we owned not a single pink item between us (the wife prefers black), until Ms. Marvelous showed up on the scene.
After the Carousel was a dinner party at some friends.
In short, we had a lot of fun, and now the parents are pretty much wiped out. I hope your holiday was as fun, whether you celebrated the solstice, your family's traditions, or the birth of Christ. All things political have been thankfully slow and unimportant, and I've enjoyed the quiet and the time off, as I hope you have.
But now that we're recharged, it's back to business... |
