Christmas is by far my favorite time of year. I love spending so much time with my family. This year was especially fun, and for no particular reason other than it just was. Since Elijah knows all about the myth of Santa now, in order to make Christmas a little bit more fun for him, I decided to do a scavenger hunt in order for him to get his presents. He really wanted a PS3, and since they are quite expensive, he wasn’t going to be getting much else. A scavenger hunt was definitely better than a few scarce presents under the tree 🙂 He was up at 4am Christmas morning, and I finally succumbed to his begging and constant “But I’m just SO excited MOM!” at 5:30 and let him go downstairs. He LOVED the hunt for his presents and truthfully, so did I. It was so much fun to watch him run around the house with his clues trying to find where the next clue and gift was hidden. (Christmas Eve night he decided to write some clues and hide my presents as well, which made me feel like a little girl again come the next morning!) He got his PS3 and I think it made me the best mom in the world for a short time. He was super happy! (However, the game that came with the system, Unchartered or something, is rated T. Elijah knows he isn’t allowed to play games with language, violence, blah blah blah. After he opened everything, I immediately fell asleep on the couch and he played the PS3 with the couple games I got him. When I woke up he told me that we need to get rid of the game it came with, because they said too many bad words. Moments like that I see he really does hear the things I tell him)
Best. Day. Ever.
After I posted the above picture on Facebook, my neighbor texted me and said that Elijah could borrow some of his sports games of his if he wanted. Elijah was surprised, and very excited! He ran over to get some, and has been playing them ever since. I told him thanks and his reply warmed my heart. He said that they (as in he and his wife, equally as awesome) love Elijah, and think he is a great and responsible kid, and he trusted him with his games. I don’t know of any mother who would tire of hearing positive things about their child(ren) and I’m no exception. Ever since Christmas, Elijah has said Bill’s name no less than 20 times, and wonders out loud all the time when they can play in person. Elijah craves male attention so badly that when he gets any positive attention from one, he eats it up. Which is no wonder considering his relationship with his “father”. I really lucked out in the neighbor department, and for the most part, love them all. (Although I wouldn’t mind trading Robin and Bill for the ones I share walls with).
I have to say, he did something on Christmas morning that shocked me. He had told me previously that he wanted to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus before opening any gifts since “Jesus is the reason for the season Mom!”, but I had assumed that he would be too excited once morning came that he would forget. At 5:30 on Christmas morning he ran downstairs, grabbed his Bible, ran to the chaise and cracked it open to Luke to read the Christmas Story to me.
Reading the real Christmas Story
After he was done reading, he belted out the Happy Birthday song and sang it loud for Jesus to hear (along with half of our small sleepy town too, I’m sure!) After that, he grabbed the first clue and began the search for clues and gifts.
Reading one of his clues
After he was done with his gifts, I searched for mine. He got me the new Taylor Swift CD (as a 33-year-old mother, I should maybe be embarrassed to say this, however I am not. I LOVE that girl, and I already have half of her songs memorized and SO look forward to driving so I can listen to her :)) I got a picture frame you can write on, a coffee mug with my initial, and a gorgeous necklace and ring from the Secret Santa shop at school. And he also got me the Hachi movie.
If any of you have not seen Hachi, I recommend it to all animal lovers. It’s one of our favorite movies to watch together, and best of all, it’s based on a true story. But, it’s a serious tear-jerker (as in me and Elijah SOB when we watch it. Loudly.), you have been forewarned. But it’s SO SO good.
We always spend the day after Christmas at my parents house with all the kids (6 including spouses) and grand-kids (9 and Elijah is the oldest) doing our Christmas there. This year since we had quite a bit of snow fall that day, we headed over to my brother and sister-in-laws house to do some sled riding on their massive hill. You know how as a child going sled riding is fun, and you could do it for hours, no matter the weather? Well, I realized how old I am becoming. I decided to grab the sled, take a running leap and go down on my belly, face first. I screamed like I was on a roller coaster, because that’s exactly what it felt like. As I was speeding for certain death towards the trees and tall grass (what, you’ve never heard of someone dying from hitting some tall grass before??) I put my arms out to stop myself. That was clearly a big mistake- I had nothing but an armful of snow in my coat by the time I finally stopped, much like a straw you fill with pumpkin pie filling on Thanksgiving day. But it was such a rush, so I ran as fast as I could back up the hill, and did it again. This time though, I hit a ginormous rock about a quarter of the way down, flew off the sled, and landed face first in the snow. As I laid there I thought how much it sucked to be cold, wet and basically numb. But I wasn’t going to give up yet. I went down the hill one more time for good measure, and that was all I needed to fill the rest of my clothes, boots and gloves with snow, so I decided to head inside. I didn’t remember the snow being so cold when I was a kid, but it was still a blast!
I’m glad we have another long weekend in front of us, because that means more time with family, playing games, and maybe catching up on laundry! I hope you have all had as wonderful Christmas as I have!
Chatter From a Single Mama 