A Tangle of Days

The holidays are upon us, and time swishes by like Santa in his miniature sleigh with eight tiny reindeer. The guys feel that speed, the excitement, the anticipation; ad I do my best to share with them the magic, the joy, the love that goes into Christmas here. I also do my best to not go insane. It's an interesting tangle.

Meanwhile, life continues.

Joey wasn't feeling so good this morning. He didn't eat much for me yesterday, and he didn't eat today (I emailed his teacher about it, so she kept me apprised). He wanted a sandwich for dinner, but he didn't eat it, he just carried it around on its plate. I think what he really wanted was the routine of having food. I was supposed to take them to Chuck E. Cheese, but with Joey feeling off, I thought it might be a dangerous plan. Stomach bugs can be nasty and sudden.

Andy had a lovely tantrum at the end of the day, because I tried to talk to him about his habit of co-opting Joey's toys. In particular, there is a small blue plastic bin that belongs to Joey, and Andy decided he wanted it. The chorus of "Mine! Mine!" commenced, upsetting Joey (who wanted his bin). Yes, tantrum city. Biting, kicking, screaming, total tantrum- we even reached a level one meltdown at one point, where all we could do was hug him and not let him kick things. Yikers.

On the other hand, he was a perfect angel at lunch, despite noise, crowds, and not our usual table. He ate his lunch and gabbled about his food and his coloring and his dinosaurs, the other people in the restaurant, school... a charming little four-year-old boy.

If I can get everybody even-keel, I plan to upset the schedule by pulling everybody during the week to go up to Baltimore and visit Valley View and the trains at Kenilworth. After their trip to Chuck E. Cheese. Oh, and in the middle of putting up garlands and trees. And...

As we ease into the "holiday mode" we'll have fewer hiccups, it will become something of a baseline norm. But now, as the decorations start to go up and realization of impending fun and excitement dawns, we're in for some roller-coastering. Because hey, they're kids, and its Christmas. It's still a bit of a tangle.