12.27.2005

Recovery

Three days of Christmas, grandparents, and gifts means about 3-4 days of recovery for our kids. It'll be a fun three days for DearWife as the kids get back on schedule.

BigBrother's favorite gift was whatever he was opening or playing with at the moment. LittleBrother really liked opening the gifts, but tragically, most of his gifts required unpacking. Whomever invented that horrible awful plastic covered metal twisty thing that EVERY kids toy uses has a special place reserved in hell.

In our family, this was the year of Soduku books (Sudoko?) and this stupid little electronic-parlor-trick. The Soduku phenomenon is something I just don't get. I play the damn thing, although I'm not sure why. When I beat it, it gives me no great pleasure, but when I screw up, it pisses me off. I've screwed up 3 times, and I am still mad about each one.

The parlor trick referenced before is an electronic version of 20Q. You remember, pick a common object, your opponent asks 20 y/n questions....Well, let me tell you, this thing is fucking possessed. It got 'underwear,' 'bichon frise,' and almost everything else. It got to the point that people wouldn't say out loud what they were thinking of because they were paranoid that it could hear them. It was passed around for 7 hours straight on Sunday.

My memories about Christmas when I was really young are about being tortured about when we'd open presents, the fact that the men had to do the dishes (oh the horror), and what I actually got.

This year, I'll remember my whole family sitting on the couch at the end of the day watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Big Brother and Little Brother snuggled up with parents and grandparents after a long day of excitement.

I'll remember my cousins from Atlanta trying to get LittleBrother's attention, and playing with the kids all day.

I'll remember the fervor and joy that my kids had playing with all their new toys.

And I think the thing I'll remember most is a small moment that happened on the way home last night. We were driving home from my parents (1.5 hours away), and it was way past BigBrother's bedtime. He'd been opening presents, eating candy, playing, meeting new people, staying up late, being around family for three straight days. Out of the blue he looked as his little brother and said "I remember when my little brother was born. I rocked him in a rocking chair."

I have no idea if it's even possible that he remebers that moment from 15 months ago. But the fact that he was thinking about that was really moving. It sums up what this Christmas was about.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I bet you had a lot of things for this little device..like bichon frise....frilly underwear....Brokeback Mountain is my autobiography. Things like that.

drmagoo said...

My wife's dad has one of those 20 Q things. We find ourselves overthinking it "Is it useful?" Well, it's the moon, and it causes tides, which have uses, and perhaps there's things on the moon we can use, so...yes? It's weird.