Snowmageddon

Mamahan: Where’s the spoon for the jello you were eating?
Punkin Jr: I licked it clean and put it back in the drawer.

And thus ended our stay at the hotel we resigned to the previous evening. (Note to reader: Check the silverware in those kitchenettes.) The threat of snow loomed all day. We watched diligently for those first snowflakes and waited for the go-ahead to leave early. By 4 p.m. I had to leave. (Note to self: Leave earlier the next time, no matter how grumpy the boss is about it.) The snow was blowing heavily and the thoughts of attempting our steep driveway in the white stuff didn’t appeal to me. It took me an hour to travel from my office to Punkin’s preschool, which normally would take 12 minutes. Since that part of the trip took longer than expected, and the next leg of the trip was sure to be a doozy, I stopped at Sonic for some dinner. It took me another 40 minutes to get back to the interstate. I eyed the red lights on the interstate and decided another two to three hours in the car was not for us. I had gone the equivalent of eight miles in two hours. How would the next 20 miles fare? Ugh! I made a u-turn in the middle of the bridge and easily (how uncanny) made it back to the office park and a hotel down the street from my office. We were in for the night.

Oh, and the boss. He couldn’t even make it out of the office park like many other people. He ended up in the same hotel in a room directly above us. As far as PJ goes, it was just another adventure. She enjoyed checking out the room and all its nookd and crannies and gadgets. Thankfully I had packed lots of extra snacks and we had plenty of DVDs. As I told my mom later when we finally got home, PJ probably would have been fine on that long ride. She had movies to watch and a book to color. The only exception being is that she wouldn’t have had a spoon for the jello.

P.S. This was our 7th snow of the winter. Unbelievable! Many others didn’t escape the traffic like we did. They ventured on in the cold night. Many were stranded for hours and had to walk home.

Band Name #1

Being the daughter of a musician, you know it’s going to happen...


Punkin Jr.: Mom, I know what the name of my band is going to be.
Mamahan: What’s that?
PJ: Punkin Jr. and the Meringues.
MM: That sounds excellent.

Please note that PJ derived her inspiration from a Strawberry Shortcake movie that she was watching. All the characters have cute little names like Custard, Lemon Pie, Raspberry, Cupcake, Ginger Snap, etc., etc., etc. And the game begins.

Bye Bye Birdie

It’s New Year’s Eve and we’ve had a nice quiet evening hanging out and watching a movie. As I was putting Punkin Jr. to bed I told her that tomorrow we would be taking down the Christmas tree. She asked if Christmas was over and I said that it was. I also told her that Santa Bird was to fly away tomorrow to go back to the North Pole. She immediately burst into tears, not crocodile tears, but honest-to-goodness bawling-her-eyes-out tears. All the while she was screaming, “I don’t want her to fly away. I love her so much.” It was excruciatingly heartbreaking. That little bird has brought so much love and happiness to our little girl and now her heart is being crushed by the thought of the bird flying away. PJ finally buried her face in the pillow and cried that she couldn’t take it anymore. All her dad and I could do was to give her big hugs and wipe away her tears. How is it that as parents we perpetuate these myths for a little fun and joy at Christmastime only to turn around in a few years and shatter it all to smithereens?
Happy New Year.

P.S. I still believe in Santa Claus. And now the Santa Bird. Do you?

Field of Dreams

Punkin Jr: Guess what my dream was this morning?
Big Hairy Monster: What's that?
PJ: I dreamed that I fell into a flower and then I bee got me in his mouth and then I didn't taste good, so he spit me out. Then he stung me.

Hmmm. Too much egg nog the previous night?

It's Official #2

Today, the family went to the mall for the annual visit to Santa Claus. I was dropped off at the front door to stand in line for Santa, while the Big Hairy Monster and Punkin Jr. parked the car. The following conversation occurred after I made my exit.

Punkin Jr: I'm glad she's gone.
Big Hair Monster: That's a terrible thing to say. Why would you say that about your mom?
PJ: Because she asks too many questions.
BHM: But that's good. I like it, your mom wants to get information.
PJ: Well, I don't.

Sigh. When I heard this, I had mixed emotions. Part of me was proud that I'm like all other parents and I'm involved in our daughter's interest and well-being. The other part of me didn't want to be that annoying parent that asked a stupid question every five seconds. Not to mention, that I've been teased by my family because I have always asked a lot of questions. I am the inquisitive type. How else do you find out important (and nosy) pieces of infomation about people you meet? People love to talk about themselves and what better way to get that conversation going is to ask a question. Or not. When talking to my dad about this incident, he admitted he had the same affliction. I just thought it would take longer for my four-year-old daughter to find a kink in my armour.

It's Official #1

I'm a mean old mommy. Yep, you heard that right. I have entered the ranks of mean old mommyhood. Does that mean I'm doing my job right? That could be cause for quite a discussion another day. I remember saying something similar when I was about nine years old. I had just received a tape recorder from Santa and promptly recorded a whole slew of songs and sayings. One of those recordings had me talking about my mean old mommy and my mean old daddy and my mean old sister. Just found that tape last weekend as I was cleaning out some boxes. What goes around definitely comes around again.

An Evening of Goofy, Shopping and Reindeer

On the way home from school this afternoon, Punkin Jr. and I were listening to 70s on 7 on XM. It was a nice break for me from all the schlub (nice sweet music) we usually listen to.

Punkin Jr.: Mom, that's the Goofy song!
Mamahan: Huh?
PJ: It’s THE GOOFY SONG.

I check the XM display and it’s Peaches and Herb singing “Shake Your Groove Thing”. Ohhh. She recognized the song from the Goofy movie that she’s been watching over and over on her DVD player in the car. I end up turning the radio off so she can turn on her DVD player. She found the scene in the movie where they have a dance and the Peaches and Herb song plays.

PJ: See, Mom, I fastforwarded it backwards. Do you hear it?

Ah. Peaches and Herb would be so proud.

*******

We pull up to McDonald’s for dinner before going to see the Christmas lights at the giant corporate hotel. Whatever. You go to McDonald’s too. There seemed to be a lot of whispering going on between PJ and the Big Hairy Monster.

BHM: We’re going over there to grocery shop tomorrow (pointing at the blue grocery store).
PJ: Just you and me?
BHM: Yeah.
PJ: Good, because I don’t like shopping with Mommy.

*******

We drive to the beautiful hotel with the enormous lights display. We visited the outdoor activities that included seeing reindeer, playing in the (manmade) snow, making s’mores and overall good Christmas cheer.

PJ: Hey, can I pet the reindeer?
MM: I don’t know, but I’ll ask.
PJ: If you can’t pet the reindeer, why is there hand sanitizer?

Dang, little ones ask the tough questions.