Tag: Santa

children, family, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

The Real Deal

WFAM

The day has finally arrived when Full Speed asked me point-blank about Santa Claus.  While he has had suspicions in the past, these were easily overcome by simple explanations.  Now, as the reasoning parts of his brain, along with those of his second grade class, are becoming more sophisticated, so are my explanations.  I didn’t mind dropping an occasional fib here and there about the ‘realness’ of Santa.  I’m started to become uncomfortable as my web of lies expands as Full Speed throws more and more complicated questions my way.

How long do I hold out before I have a sit-down with him and he knows the truth once and for all?  Unfortunately, this is feeling like sooner rather than later.  Right now, Full Speed is content to hold on a little longer even though physical evidence seems to indicate there isn’t a Santa.   In his words, “Maybe Santa is invisible.  Just because we can’t see him, doesn’t mean he isn’t real.”

Isn’t faith in anything believing even when it seems impossible and all evidence points to the contrary?

If this is the case, Santa is real.  He is very, very real.

Full Speed busts out is best Santa impersonation…
T.Puzzle’s soapy Santa version.
children, humor, kids, motherhood, parenting

Santa Shops the Clearance Bins

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T.Puzzle asked me if Santa knew everything.  I told him Santa knew a lot but maybe not everything.

He pondered this a moment.

“Mom, Santa doesn’t know everything.  He gave Full Speed a Hotwheels video for Christmas and we already have that one.”

This was an extremely valid point.  What I wanted to say was, “Well, maybe Santa was stressed out trying to remember every, tiny holiday detail and was trying his best not to disappoint anyone and keep all of his commitments to his friends, family and children’s schools.  Maybe he realized at a last moment he needed to keep things equal between you and your brother and had forgotten to get a video for Full Speed.  Possibly he was frazzled beyond belief and happened to find a Hotwheels video in the Walmart clearance bin for three dollars and he took it as a sign that Full Speed was meant to have that video as a stocking stuffer and he didn’t have time to cross-reference Full Speed’s entire video library before purchase.”

Instead I just said, “He probably wanted Full Speed to have one he could take on trips with him.”

Thankfully, T.Puzzle left it at that.

T.Puzzle with Santa before he began to question Santa's overall knowledge base.
children, gratitude, happiness, humor, kids, life in pictures, marriage, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Merry Christmas!

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It’s Christmas morning and the presents are already unwrapped.

The cookies for Santa are gone, the new toys are already in play and the waffles made by Mad Dog already eaten.

Things start early on Christmas day when your kids are young.

We had some new traditions and kept some old.

on our way to Christmas Eve dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse.

 

the official reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' in our Superman pjs

 

two very excited brothers get ready to sleep in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would appear.

T.Puzzle announced that ‘Jinker Bells’ was his favorite holiday song.

Full Speed summed up his Christmas Eve experience at church as ‘good AND boring’.  It was good because he made a lot of new friends and it was boring because he had to keep ‘standing up the WHOLE time!’

For the introspective lot such as myself, it is a time of reflection.

Some of it sad, like missing loved ones you’d like to have near and most of it glad because of the loved ones you do have with you on this special day.

Mad Dog shows off his new office art.

Life is like a Christmas tree. 

Compared to others it may not be the tallest or the brightest.  It may not have the most presents or look exactly the way you want it.

If you embrace it for exactly what it is and appreciate how special it is because it is the only one you have, then maybe, just maybe you will realize that you have the tree and the life you were meant to have.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

children, gratitude, happiness, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, self-discovery, Taekwondo

Wise for His Size

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It was Full Speed’s turn to graduate.

He was fired up from the start.

Once he donned his sparring gear he felt unstoppable.

He attacked with everything he had.  His opponent didn’t stand a chance.

Full Speed breaks out his flying spin kick.
Go Full Speed!

One of the best parts about being six years old is that life and its lessons haven’t completely caught up to you yet.  You still believe in the impossible.

Santa will visit your house.

Life will always good.

And, in Full Speed’s case, you can imagine that you are a six foot, 190 lb. man who can beat anyone or any obstacle with a spin kick and a heart like a lion.

Maybe Full Speed has something to teach us all.

children, gratitude, happiness, humor, kids, life in pictures, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

What We Did For Thanksgiving Vacation

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Whew!  Full Speed had a whole week off and T.Puzzle stayed home most of the week, too.

You know some mayhem ensued.

Oh how it did.

We were a busy bunch.

The week started with a ‘date’ for Mom and Full Speed.

The boys saw Santa with their cousin.

We celebrated Thanksgiving and Mad Dog’s birthday.  And yes, as a nation, I do believe in our entirety, we felt extreme gratitude that Mad Dog’s birthday coincided on this special day.   Or something like that.

 

Then, Mad Dog and I celebrated his birthday again as Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Pink graciously hosted our boys.  Upon our return, it is unlikely they will be invited back anytime soon.  Apparently, someone really needs to talk to their parents about their rowdy behavior.  Our apologies.

 

love you, Mad Dog!

Then, if all that wasn’t enough, we decorated our Christmas tree.  I tried oh-so-hard to let the boys do their thing without anxiously hovering about.  They seemed to have fun and I did too, just as long as all our breakable ornaments were hung at the top of the tree (by me!).

By the end of the week, we had two very tired boys on our hands.

 

So glad they have an 'off' switch.

 

When all was said and done, the thing that I am most grateful for is that I was actually sad to send them back to school because we had so much fun together.

Mothering these two strong spirited boys has not been without challenge.  To be able to say that I am honestly going to miss them as they trounce back to school is a turning point.

I am learning that even though there were days during vacation that they drove me to tears with their outlandish and stubborn behavior, I am now beginning to see the emergence of who they really are underneath.

Thankfully, they are two very cool little dudes.

Hope you all had a great holiday!