On Christmas Eve, my poor Rowdy Rebel could not go to sleep! All he could think about was catching Santa. I tried to explain that Santa simply won’t come in until everyone in the home is sleeping. This news was disappointing for Rowdy Rebel, and rather than help him sleep, it caused his sweet little head to ponder various traps and tricks that would somehow end successfully with Santa trapped in our home near mid-night.

Rowdy Rebel finally went to sleep, but he unknowingly made two little memories of holiday magic.

The first magical moment happened as Rowdy Rebel was describing a trap that could catch Santa without harming him while we all slept. (The dozens of sites where he can chat with Santa apparently didn’t resolve the need to see him in person!) As he spoke, Rowdy Rebel peeped out of the window near his bed.  After a few seconds, he squealed, “MOM! I saw Rudolf’s nose! It was a red light flying through the sky! And there was a white light too. I bet it was Santa’s sleigh!”

I looked out of the window and confirmed that the red light was clearly visible!  With Santa in the vicinity, Rowdy Rebel knew he needed to sleep pretty soon–maybe he could set a trap next year. We talked a little while longer, and finally, he covered up and did his very best to relax! He told me the next day that he fell asleep about an hour later. (I fell asleep about two or three hours later after cleaning the house and getting all the gifts ready.)

The next magical moment happened first thing in the morning. I was suddenly woken up by the sound of little toes RUNNING from the boys’ room to the Christmas tree. Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump!!! Then a very excited Rowdy Rebel YELLED so excitedly into my room, “MOM, SANTA CAME! We have presents under the tree!!!”

All of the preparation, spending, wrapping, baking, and planning were so worth seeing and hearing Rowdy Rebel’s excitement! Time to pack up the Christmas tree and decorations, my new Christmas albums, baking supplies, holiday cards, and post the great family photographs we too online. Now I’m just sad that it’ll be an entire year until we get to do it all again:)

I said, “Wow, that sounds like such a neat place. I wish I could go!”

Rowdy Rebel said, “You can, Mom. Parents go to help on our field trips…Oh, and don’t worry…No one will say anything about how short you are.”

Uh…okay.

This year, I must admit, I’m almost nervous to see the lists! I know they’d love the new 3D console, so I was looking around for Nintendo 3DS deals…The price just dropped, so this video game console just entered the “possible though unlikely” section of my holiday shopping list.

I thought I had pretty well narrowed the gifts down. Then the other day, Deep Thinker mentions a laptop. A what? He has a mini computer already! Rowdy Rebel wants video games (that we can do), and Baby Brother–not sure, need to check.

Even though popular new video games seem like decent gifts, even those cost $40-60 these days. Goodness, how’s a parent suppose to afford nice presents these days? I think I’m going to buy things similar to those my Granny used to give her grandchildren–nail clipper kits, house slippers, new pajamas, items like this. I can imagine the boys’ faces now!

This is a short quote–but I think you’ll agree that it packs quite a punch. Rowdy Rebel said to me this afternoon:

“Mom, do you know what? Once I squished a bug inside my nose. It felt weird.”

When I tucked him in the first night, he called me into the room and held onto me for dear life. Things did not seem to be going as I’d hoped. Then I remembered the ole stuffed animal trick. “Do you want to sleep with a teddy bear?” I asked him.

His little eyes lit up. “Yes! Yes, I do!”

I frantically looked for one. But there wasn’t a single stuffed animal to be found! Finally, I spotted an unopened gift basket my father had coincidentally won at a raffle recently. Inside the wrap sat a brand new, snuggly soft panda bear. That should do the trick. I tore the wrap open, grabbed the panda, and brought it to Baby Brother praying it might allow me to tuck him in without a struggle.

When he saw the stuffed panda, my little one’s eyes widened in delight. He took the stuffed toy from my hands. “It’s a PANDA!” He  tucked the toy right in beside him.

I tucked him in, hugged him, and kissed him good night. And then I quietly stepped out of the room, leaving the hall light on in hopes Baby Brother wouldn’t feel afraid. It must have worked. When I went back to check on him after a few minutes, I overheard the following “conversation”:

Baby Brother: “Panda are you scared?”

Baby Brother pretending to be Panda: “No.”

Baby Brother: “Me neither. Good night!”

Baby Brother pretending to be Panda: “Good night.”

The next night, we repeated the process. I was afraid that perhaps this time, Baby Brother would put up a fight. No such thing. He got right into bed and tucked his new panda in beside him. Again, I checked on him soon after and overheard this conversation:

Baby Brother: “Panda, were you scared?”

Baby Brother pretending to be Panda: “No.”

Baby Brother: “I was but you helped me.”

Long pause.

Baby Brother: “Oh, funny jokes, Panda! Funny jokes.”

Such sweet little words. My guess was that Baby Brother was imagining that the panda was telling him funny jokes, and he was laughing along.

He heard me talking to a parent about Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. I had noticed on the website that students who are admitted have access to financial aid–though it’s incredibly difficult to get in. He must have listened in.

I was tucking him in bed a few days later, and Rowdy Rebel said, “Mom, I don’t think I’ll be able to get into Stanford.”

I asked why.

He said, “Because of all my farting.”

It was close to evening but still light out. You could just barely see the moon.

Baby Brother pointed to it and said, “Look, there’s the moon!” and then added, “He’s looking for his mommy!”

Awww. We saw a squirrel the other morning, and he said the same thing about the squirrel. Baby Brother thinks all anyone wants in the world is mommy. Sweet times.

I suppose these recent lessons in school had something to do with Rowdy Rebel’s blessing at dinner the other night. He folded his hands, bowed his head, and said:

“Dear God, thank you for our family. Thank you for the food we eat.

“And thank you that turkeys are so dumb and so easy to catch…not like BEFORE when turkeys were smart and HARD to catch so people back then didn’t have enough FOOD to EAT.”

I think I understand what Rowdy Rebel was trying to say.

Deep Thinker keeps pointing out models he knows to be expensive. But I keep responding that there is no point in owning an expensive car. We don’t need expensive things. We just need to be able to transport ourselves from our home to karate lessons. From home to school. From home to the store.

Deep Thinker has been trying to explain his stance. And today, he had a very interesting point. He based it on a new pair of Nike running shoes we bought him for school a week ago:

“Mom, you know why people like expensive cars? It’s the same reason they like expensive shoes. It’s not because of the price. It’s what you get FOR the price. Example–my new Nike’s. They’re expensive. But when I put them on my FEET , there is such a big DIFFERENCE. See Mom, you wear old, cheap shoes. You’re like that person who would walk around with bad shoes or even no shoes–and you will feel fine. But you will never know how comfortable your feet would feel in a nice pair of Nike’s!”

Hm. Thinks he knows everything. Little smarty pants.

He asked, “Mom, did you have any babies before you and Dad got married?”

I said no.

He said, “Ohhhhh, so ya have to be married to have babies.” I said, yes, pretty much.

And he explained, “Well, butterflies don’t have to be married to have babies. They just stick their BUTTS together.”