Pages

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Christmas is going to be legen—wait for it...

Excitement is mounting at our house already and we haven't even got a single decoration up, because of course we don't! It's not even Thanksgiving yet (and you know how strongly Andrew feels about the sanctity of Thanksgiving). That doesn't mean other households aren't experiencing Christmas creep. Our neighbours across the street are completely decked out.

Last night as we were driving to church Benjamin noticed a Christmas tree lot that had sprung up on the roadside. They had Christmas lights strung up all over and beautiful wreaths on the posts of the fence surrounding a forest of pre-chopped Christmas trees.

"What's that?" he wanted to know.

"A Christmas tree store," Andrew informed him.

"What do they sell?" he asked eagerly (though technically he said, "What's lat?" and then "What do ley sell?" because he recently switched out all his voiced /th/ sounds for /l/ for whatever reason).

"What do you think they sell?" Andrew asked.

"I dunno," Benjamin shrugged and then, after pausing to see if we'd just tell him, ventured a guess. "Christmas...stuff?"

"Yup," Andrew said. "Specifically Christmas trees."

"For what reason?!" Benjamin huffed, seemingly miffed by the whole idea.

"Uhhh...Christmas."

A few days ago Miriam came up to me and requested that I "Wikipedia" Santa Claus for her (because in our house "Wikipedia," much like "Google," is a verb).

"Miriam says he's not real," Rachel interjected. "But," she said meaningfully while pointing at Benjamin with her eyeballs, "He. IS."

"I'm just saying we should look it up on Wikipedia, that's all," Miriam said, throwing her hands up in the air innocently (because she would never try to stir the pot just for the sake of stirring the pot, not her).

"Fine," I said. I pulled up the entry and read, "Santa is a legendary figure of Western culture who is said to bring gifts to the homes of well-behaved children on Christmas Eve."

"Haha!" Miriam cackled triumphantly. "See?! I knew it! Legendary."

"Yes, legendary," I agreed. "But we don't have to tell everyone what legendary means, if you catch my drift..."

Rachel turned to Benjamin and, fulfilling her role of eldest sister beautifully, explained, "Legendary means awesome!"

"Well, it does!" she insists, every time we bring up this story now.

And speaking of Christmas, did you notice Miriam's new grin? She's nearly toothless!

All she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth
She came up to me one evening and asked me to wiggle her tooth, so I did.

"Yup, it's wiggly," I agreed. "It will probably fall out in the next few days or weeks."

I was the type of kid who left teeth in my mouth until they were dangerously dangling. Miriam, apparently is the polar opposite of that.

Now at least I know what to get her for Christmas!

1 comment:

  1. leg·end·ar·y
    ˈlejənˌderē/
    adjective
    adjective: legendary

    1.of, described in, or based on legends.
    "a legendary British king of the 4th century"
    synonyms: fabled, storied, heroic, traditional, fairy-tale, storybook, mythical, mythological
    "legendary knights"
    antonyms: factual, historical (Proof that Miriam's definition is correct.)

    2. remarkable enough to be famous; very well known.
    "her wisdom in matters of childbirth was legendary"
    synonyms: famous, celebrated, famed, renowned, acclaimed, illustrious, esteemed, honored, exalted, venerable, well known, storied, popular, prominent, distinguished, great, eminent, preeminent, high-profile; formallauded
    "a legendary figure in sports" (Proof that Rachel's definition is correct.)

    So...they are both right! (And what a great word to use to describe Santa Claus so as not to offend both the believers and the nonbelievers!)

    ReplyDelete