Wait, and fight over their new toys. And 'unclean' all the cleaning I've done.
Seriously. Call me crazy.
Anyhoo - back to Christmas.
That sneaky old elf Santa brought me an extra-special gift on Christmas Eve - the flu! Wasn't that sweet of him? I didn't have a fever, but spent most of the evening/night enjoying the other flu-like symptoms (My Mamo had a very polite, very Southern word for it: upchuck.)
Still, we powered through and brought Christmas to the Feldmann house. So, so much work leading up to this one day. And yet, our morning played out like this:
- 6:12 am: Paige begins yelling that she would like to get out of bed to see if 'Snanta' ate his cookies.
- 6:20: Still yelling ... really just one, long continuous yell.
- 6:30: Derrick goes to get Paige out of bed, as she has yelled to let us know her clock has turned yellow. (She was not allowed to get out of bed on her own today, because she had to wait to see everything until Blair was awake).
- 6:31: The suggestions of "Let's go wake up Bear" begin.
- 6:40: The hazing is successful, and we finally wake up Blair.
- 6:45: The girls come downstairs, run to check to see if Santa ate his cookies, then race over to see their gifts.
- 6:55: Gift opening is complete.
- 7:00: The girls are playing with toys they already had, some of them since Paige was a baby.
- 7:01: Paige begins asking when she's going to see her cousins.
Yep, I'd call that a success. I guess?
Since I was still feeling horrible, I decided I'd take a hot bath. I was hoping I would be able to relax enough to start feeling a little better. I slipped into the water and grabbed my book "Raising Your Spirited Child." Perfect bathtime reading, right? Welcome to my life.
Then the bathroom door opened, and Paige walked in. The following conversation occurred:
P: "What are you doing, Mommy? Are you in the bath? Why are you in the bath? Can I take a bath with you? Pleeeeeaaaasssse?"
M: "No, honey. Mommy is just trying to feel a little better. Remember, I don't feel very good and sometimes a warm bath helps."
P: (touching the water) "OH, MOMMY!!! That is WAY too hot! Look! The circles say 'HOT!'" (pointing to our non-skid stickers that also have temperature warnings. Yes, the temp warnings work. No, the anti-skid does not. Ironically, they slide all over the place and I've almost 'shang-haied' it multiple times while showering.)
M: "It's okay, honey. Grown-ups can have their water a little warmer than kids."
P: "Mommy, your book is going to get wet. That is NOT safe. Here." (She takes my book and tosses it. I'm beginning to feel less better, and a little bit bullied.). "You know what? I'm just going to sit here and watch you, okay? Then you will feel better and be safe."
M: "Thanks, honey. Nothing makes a bath more relaxing than having someone sit on a stool and watch you" (luckily she doesn't yet sense all the sarcasm).
(After a few minutes of me closing my eyes and pretending to be alone while Paige stares at me and continues to touch the water to make sure it's cooling down, we hear someone on the stairs.
Enter Blair - pushing the door open so hard that it bounces off the wall.)
B: "Maaaaaammmmaa!!! Ba?" (pointing to the water). "Ba? Bebe, ba?" (This loosely translates to "Mommy? Bath? Baby bath? She now refers to herself in the third person when she wants something. She's totally "that girl.")
M: "No, no baby. We're getting ready to leave soon." (Come to think of it, I call her 'baby' a lot. Maybe she thinks her actual name is Baby?).
B: "Bebe ba!"
And she jumps in. Headfirst. In her jammies. And her diaper.
And then Paige, who is already dressed in her Christmas outfit, runs into the hall, yells "Daddy, I'm getting into the bath with Mommy and Bear," undresses faster than I've ever seen her undress (seriously, this process usually involves at least two fits) and jumps into the tub with us.
And that's how my relaxing Christmas morning bath turned into a VERY full tub (we live in an old house, and our tub was crowded already with just me). We all played for a bit and got squeaky clean.
And, you know what?
I actually DID feel a whole lot better.
It was a FULL day with lots of gifts, laughs and love, even though I didn't feel great. And the day ended much the way it began.
The girls, Derrick and I were all in our jammies in our big bed. The lights were off, the small Christmas tree in our room was lit, and I was showing the girls a few scenes of 'The Sound of Music.' They were mesmerized. And I was practically purring I was so happy.
A very, VERY Merry Christmas indeed.
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