Nathan's blanket

We all are really creatures of habit. Our Nathan has a blue blanket that is his best friend. Honestly, the other day he fell and I was standing very near him. I said in my best mother voice "Oh, Nathan, come here so I can kiss it." Instead of running to his dear mother--the person who loves him and nutures him and feeds him and is full of compassion--he ran the other direction crying "Blanket, blanket, blanket!!!!". He normally sleeps with it. Actually, normally isn't the right word. Always would be a much more appropriate word. He sucks two fingers on his right hand and holds his blanket right next to his face. (Yes, I know, we are raising Linus--seriously, his blanket is blue) Yesterday afternoon I had to wake him up from his nap to get the girls from school. I gently shook him and called his name. His eyes popped open and, out of his habit, his two fingers immediately popped into his mouth. Then he shut his eyes again and lifted his other hand and began to feel around for his blanket. I decided I would hover and observe what was going to happen next since his blanket was all the way on the other side of the bed. He blindly moved his hand around grabbing onto everything it came into contact with...his shirt, his bear, his bed blankets and finally my shirt (I was leaning over him.) Evidently my shirt felt like his blanket because he grabbed on and pulled it towards his face. Of course, once it reached his face, his eyes popped open and he looked at me obviously very confused. Then confusion turned to disappointment and frustration. He let go and dove for his blanket. And even though it was only a brief moment of being able to help my child--I'll take what I can get.

Is there really a Santa Clause??

We told our children that there is no Santa Clause. Horrible parents--I know. I'll give you the back story. Several years ago, when Sara was around 3, we tried to live the fantasy. Joe grew up thinking there was a Santa Clause. And even though it was understood in my house that there was not a Santa Clause, in my childhood mind I always wondered if maybe he really was true. So we tried, but then when one lie ("yes, Santa is real!") turned into a web of lies, (how exactly do you answer--"how does he get in our house since we don't have a fireplace") we decided we needed to be honest. So either last year or the year before we broke the truth to them. The problem is that they have short term memories--especially John. So each year we go through parent guilt of telling them again that he is not real. This year the girls remembered. We did tell them not to tell anyone in their classrooms that he is not real. How horrible would that be--a kindergarten and 1st grade classroom either full of tears or fist fights because my girls decide to announce that he is not real. So, they've been really good about that; however, they are very, very concerned because everyone else--including the kindergarten teacher--believe that there really is a Santa Clause. Now John did not remember this year what we had told him last year--and even after we broke the news to him again--I'm not sure he believes us. He's been playing his odds. I think he figures "What do I have to lose if I play along and act like there is a Santa Clause? Now if I don't play along and he really does exist there is a ton I could miss out on!" So he was very insistent that we visit Santa at some point before Christmas eve. We do this every year. So on Monday night we went to see Santa and let me just say that John turned on the personality and was out to impress Santa. He waved from clear across the room and made sure that he was the first one on his lap. And then he chatted him up for quite some time. In the car later, we asked him what he and Santa chatted about. He relayed this:

Santa "What do you want for Christmas this year?"
John "A yellow car"

At this point, we questioned the yellow car--this was a new Christmas item to us. He said that Santa had a basket of toys next to him and there was a yellow car in it. John: "I know he has the yellow car because I saw it. So that is what I asked for."

John continued to relay the conversation that took place:

Santa "Were you a good boy this year?"
John "Well, ummm, ummmm, well, ummmm, ummmm, well, yes!"

I guess there he played the odds that Santa doesn't really exist and wouldn't know if he lied or not.

My recent observations

I am spending the weekend at my sister's and hanging out with my niece and nephew. Things have been great except for the fact that I think I have somehow managed to come down with a bout of pink eye. Not sure exactly if that is what it is or not--however, they are bright red and light kills them. So I am typing most of this with my eyes closed. Pretty talented, huh! Anyway, I flew out early Friday morning (the flight left at 6am). Here were some of my observations on my journey:

• I probably shouldn't be allowed to drive at 4am. I was listening to the radio and there was an ad for an oil change place. They kept advertising their 1995 oil. I kept wondering what about the year 1995 made the oil so great. It seriously took me about 5 minutes before I realized they meant $19.95 instead of 1995.
• I am also prone to singing along with Willie Nelson to Jingle Bell Rock at 4am.
• People talk on their phones at 5:15am in the airport. My question: "Who in the world are you talking to???" Even if the person on the other end is EST it is still only 6:15. Maybe they know people in Europe than I do.
• There were 14 rows on the plane that I was on. And, yes, I was in row 14. Row 14 was only on one side of the plane, because, guess what?!--yep, the bathroom was on the other side. Now my flight time was approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes. I think at least 15 people had to visited the bathroom in that time frame. Now, I try to avoid airplane bathrooms at all costs. However, all the traffic back my direction made me curious--is this a special airplane bathroom. I hadn't flown in around 2 1/2 years, maybe they changed the bathrooms on airplanes to be more hospitable. They had to be for that many people to decide to use it. So, I finally gave into the temptation and decided I would check it out, and, uh, no they have not changed just in case you are curious.