Monday, December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas

OK so I decided that rather than lurk and read all the new (and old) Mommy blogs, I would start adding my 2 cents to the world of parenting within our community. Lets just say I am starting this with thoughts of aspiring to be a wonderful blogger and the best of intentions, but the realist in the back of my head is shouting "You are crazy woman!!! You really think you are going to find the time to keep up with your blog, take care of the little "caveman" and your wife, while still having time to solve the local problems in the neighborhood??"

So here it is, my humble attempt to rant and rave for the world to see. And when is the best day to start this??? Christmas!! Why??? Who knows...

Christmas was wonderful again this year. My son once again had a magical Christmas despite the typical financial woe's, family stresses and long car rides he will learn to associate with this time of year. Once again Nana and I pulled Christmas outta Frostie's magical hat. (And get this! Frostie wasn't even able to make it to our gala event due to a lack of snow.) But over the river and through the woods, to Grandma's house we went. More like down the driveway across, across the state with a truck full of junk we went.

I remember a little over 2 years ago Nana and I packed everything we owned into a Pink Cavalier and moved across the country in search of a new "calmer and warmer" life in FL. 2 months later we again packed all we owned and hauled butt back home just in time for New Years eve.

Why is it now that we own a Ford Explorer, and can't fit in everything we need for 2 days away from home? I swear my mother was fearfully eyeballing all of our "gear" thinking we were moving in. It took 5 trips from the truck to get all that crap into her tiny 2 BR house!! (6 if you count the kid.)

Kaden was happy as a clam to get to Grandma's. It seems at 19 months old, he has already learned to equate Grandma to tons of sugar, food, and games. He does his now standard routine of acting as though he is starved to death, never gets any attention and is the perfect angel. All goes great, the kid is eating way more sugar than any child (or adult) should consume. It seems that every time I look at him he has something edible in each hand and his cheeks look like those belonging to a chipmunk. There seemed to be a permanent river of drool that only changed in color based on what was in his mouth for the moment.

But this time Kaden showed some of his true self (although rather exaggerated), much to Grandma's dismay. Bedtime came and the undeniable battle of Kaden vs Bedtime ensued. Only this time one not in the house (and maybe some of us inside) were pretty sure the sandman was waiting in his bedroom with a spoon, attempting to dig Kaden's eyeballs out.

Normally this child goes down with a small battle. When I say small, I mean 5-10 Min's of whining, banging on his bedroom door, kicking the wall and letting me know how much he detests bedtime. Not this time though. At grandma's house it was more like 2 hours, 2 aunts, mommy, grandma and back to auntie Ishy and Finding Nemo before the sandman finally won. Nana just chose to stay out of this one all together, only once muttering (as I carried our sobbing baby from the bedroom back to the kitchen) "I knew I should have gone in there and taken over, you caved again." Which drew a "He has never cried like this" snappy retort from me.
Kaden finally fell asleep around 11pm only to wake up at 2 am. Lesson learned: Next year we will sleep at home and do the drive to grandma's on Christmas day.

Christmas morning was bliss though. Even after the long sleepless night, Kaden woke up at 7 am and wasn't the first to wake believe it or not. Grandpa was the first one up and when I opened my eyes he was at the table sipping his coffee waiting for all of us to rise from the dead. It was peacefully sad in a way because as I watched him sip his coffee alone at the table, you could tell he was missing the days when we were all young and he wasn't allowed to sleep past 5:30 am on Christmas morning. Now he was waiting to see all of us "kids" stumble to the coffee pot before diving int to the gifts.

Long story short, Kaden opened a few gifts before getting distracted and Nana and I had to open the rest and show him what he got. Kaden dined on a breakfast of cookies and milk after rejecting the oatmeal that grandma made him, and continued on that diet until 1:30 when dinner was served. He (and we) ate so much I was sure we would not be eating again today. Boy was I wrong when at 7pm I watched him inhale tortellini as though he hadn't been fed all day. We finally made it home from our Christmas stops by 8:45pm and Kaden went down with little more than a content sigh by 9. I sat here and got caught up on my emails, news reading and all other blogs I follow, and found myself here.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!