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.

Piece of Mind

After picking up Punkin Jr. from pre-school, we stopped for gas. She, of course, had to go to the bathroom.
PJ: Mom, I need another snack.
MM: You already have snacks.
PJ: But, Mom, I need four snacks, not three snacks.
MM: Sorry, honey, not this time.
PJ: Mom, what's wrong with you in your mind?

I wish I knew.

Muscles

Punkin Jr.: Mom, I've lost all the muscles in my butt.
MM: How did you do that?
PJ: I was running and I fell down on my butt and all the muscles went away.