Friday, December 29, 2006
Christmas
Wow! Santa was very very good to the S family. The morning started out around 6AM. C1 snuck out to the living room and noticed Santa had been there. C2 went right for the piece of cookie that Santa had apparently left behind. C1 didn't take long to open the gifts that Santa had left. C2 was more interested in the pretty bows, ornaments and lights. T and I opened a few gifts ourselves and then we all got dressed and went to Papaw and Nana's. We had a great dinner there, and the boys opened more presents. We finished up by playing a dice rolling game where you could win presents. I ended up with a portable DVD player on the last roll. We packed up our kids and presents and food and headed to T's Mamaw's house. The kids opened more gifts there, and nibbled on some more food. The kids were getting cranky so we packed up and came home. The kids were asleep before we were on the highway. T'was a great holiday for all. T and I must say a heartfelt "Thank You" to everyone that helped make our sons Christmas a special day. They received way too many cool things from family and friends. We can only hope that you and your family had as special a day as ours had. Merry Christmas!
So, we all know the story... Santa comes down your chimney with his bag full of presents and puts them under your christmas tree. Flashback to 1977. I'm 8 years old, and we have a fireplace and therefore a chimney. The story made sense to me. Santa comes down our chimney pops out of the fireplace and puts our presents around the tree. All is good. Back to present day. C1 is 3. He asks me today on our way to preschool, "do we have a chimney?" I immediately knew where this was going, but was in no way prepared to have this discussion with him. See, we do NOT have a chimney. How do I answer his question? I respond with "yes C1, we have a chimney!" D'oh!!!! Why did I say that? I was afraid I was digging myself a hole that I might not be able to get out of. I decide that I'm not in that bad of shape and that I can still talk my way out of this in a way that will satisfy his curiousity. Until..... "Daddy do we have a fireplace?" Ok, I am treading water now. I need to change the subject before this gets bad. I ask him if he is excited about singing Christmas songs at school today. He said, "No" and was distracted. I was relieved. But this is obviously going to come up again very soon. Then I got to wondering, if I am having trouble with the Santa and the chimney story, then the birds and the bees story will be a nightmare.
In my opinion, the Terrible Two's have nothing on the Three's. Age 3 for C1 is much more of a challenge for T and I than the 2's were. Conner has always been the most pleasant kid I have ever met. I admit I probably haven't paid much attention to others kids, but C1 has been a true sweetheart from day 1. We have always received many compliments on how well behaved he is. Then came age 3. Tantrums, yelling, 2 hour bedtime routines, kicking, hitting and even being afraid of his bed. This "househusband" thing isn't so stress free. T and I often wonder what we are doing wrong with discipline and have changed tactics more than once. Maybe that is part of the problem. Maybe he needs consistent discipline standards. At one point we thought that maybe he had a medical condition, and another time T and I were sure that we were just the worst parents ever. Things changed a little last week. We started having "Quiet Time" between 1:30 and 3:30 in the afternoon. It is my way of giving C1 a nap without saying "nap". Sometimes he naps, and sometimes he doesn't, but he seems to be in a much better mood at night. We have been rewarding him for good behavior too. He earned a toy truck last week for staying in his bed all night every night for a whole week. He also has a sticker board. When he earns 5 stickers he picks a reward from the "reward bear" he has earned a puzzle, toy car, and crayons so far. He
has gotten better, but we have a long way to go. He isn't allowed to stay overnight away from home for awhile. Mostly because we want him to learn what our expectations are at home first. I was also told by our pediatrician, that most kids go through this stage, and not to worry too much and he will grow out of it. Whew! That's a relief. Just a couple of days ago, I overheard a lady at the grocery store say to her kids, "look at those boys and how good they are being". That made me realize T and I aren't the worst parents ever. I just hope C2 learns from watching this first hand and doesn't express his individualism as C1 is. T and I will be professionals by the time he turns 3. Or will we? If any parents have any suggestions please feel free to comment. And if I can give any advice to parents of kids yet to reach 3, fasten your
seat belt, and hold on tight.
Today the entire state of Ohio goes Non-Smoking. T and I have been talking about this for awhile. Even in Michigan we were proponents of banning smoking. We never heard much talk about it in Michigan, but after we moved here last year, we found out it would be on this past November's ballot. T and I were excited. What this means is: Absolutely no smoking in any public building or place of employment... with the exception of tobacco shops, designated smoking hotel rooms, and designated resident only smoking rooms in a nursing home. This means no smoking in bowling alleys or even bars. While in Ohio, you will never be asked "Smoking or Non?" again, when you go out to a restaurant. I know, I know, people say smokers have rights too, but studies have proven time and time agian that second hand smoke can be very unhealthy, and non smokers have the right to go bowling or into a bar and not subject themselves to smoke. One day, I bet every state will ban smoking.
One of the first things I did when I moved here to Willard was to subscribe to the local paper. The Willard Times-Junction is a great place to keep up on all the happenings each week in Willard. Sometimes the number of "happenings" are very few. On occasions where not much is happening that is newsworthy, I always get a kick out of what I read in the Willard Police Log.
Here are my favorites from yesterdays paper:
November 20, 4:46 AM Caller from Kington Apartments came in station and reported that his son had robbed him. Officer spoke with the male who had an odor of alcohol on him. The male had advised that he had given a check to his son to cash at the first of the month and his son had not given him the cash. Officer further advised the male had not asked the son for the cash. He was advised to ask his son for the cash.
November 21, 6:16 AM Caller from the 300 block of Park St. reported the interior of her van had burnt. Officer advised the fire appeared to be old.
November 23, 9:00 PM Caller reported a strong smell of lighter fluid in the 600 block of Wessor Ave. Officer advised the smell was probably coming from a charcoal grill.
November 24, 1:02 PM Caller reported while driving on Walton Ave. he found a coat lying in the roadway. It had a cell phone in the pocket. He hung the coat up on a pole. Officer found the coat and it was placed in found property.
November 25, 4:57 AM Officer reported being out with occupants of a vehicle that had ducked down when they saw him in the 100 block of Motson. Officer spoke with the occupants who were listening to the radio.
November 25, 8:48 AM Caller reported a substance had been thrown on the front door of Central School. The custodian would clean up the substance.
