YOU get a friend, YOU get a friend,

"e-v'ry-body. Gets. A. Frieeeeeend!" I sang from the laundry room in my best imitation of Oprah. Sofia came running over.
"Ooooh, mama, can I clip some socks, too?" she asked, matching my excitement.
"Sure, baby. Grab a clip and jump in." I said, passing her a pair of socks and a sock clip.

I explained to her that I was trying to match the socks on their way into the dryer so that could have a friend with them and not be lonely.

"So we have to find them a friend?" she asked. I continued matching and clipping socks before tossing them into the dryer.
"Yup." I said. "But they have to be the same."

Sofia grabbed a clip between her skinny little fingers and exercised her super-girl strength to pry the edges open and over the cuff of a pair of socks. I had to help her out to get it the rest of the way, and then on we went,  matching the remaining socks in the washer.

Amazingly, this scene is not the fictional creation of my deepest domestic-related fantasies. It happened. For real's. Tonight. It turns out that, much like adults, a shiny new "gadget" gets my kids excited about helping out with the most mundane tasks. Even sorting socks.

Let me explain.

A few weeks ago I purchased these washer/dryer safe sock clips called sock cops. They are exactly what they sound like they are, little clips designed to be placed over a pair of socks to keep them together through out the entire laundry process. You can even keep them on when you take them out of the dryer and store them in your sock drawer that way, taking them off only when you're ready to wear the socks. And then, before you toss them in the laundry basket you can reclip them and the cycle starts all over again.

Yeah, yeah, I know. This seems a bit extreme to make sure I don't have a bunch of unmatched socks sitting around, waiting for their perfect mate to come along so they can be worn. I am well aware of this. Nevertheless, it makes me happy to have them. Even happier, still, that my daughter would be as excited as I am about the prospect of perfectly matched socks the next time she needs a pair. I'm sure this giddiness is only temporary but that's okay.  I can use them for clothes pins the next time I need to hang the cloth diapers out in the sun.

Scrooge, Interrupted

I'm not nearly as crotchety as Scrooge, yet every holiday season I struggle with the meaning of Christmas and how it manifests in my holiday celebrations. Until tonight I never had a good answer for myself on combating the gross commercialization that has sucked real meaning from the season. I have become an emotional Scrooge, bah-humbugging my way to the end of the year as I make myself crazy figuring out how much money to spend on whom, and for what.

Then there's the matter of trying to raise kids who realize that Christmas should not be about getting gifts, or even giving gifts to our loved ones (stay with me). It shouldn't be about gifts at all. But again, I've been at a total loss on what should fill that void, and how to do it. And then tonight I had a revelation of sorts.

Christmas is, ultimately, about LOVE.

It is the celebration of Jesus's birth- but to what end was he born? Jesus didn't walk around handing out the first century equivalent of ipods and XBOX 360 games. He walked among us to help us, to show God's love for us... he was born so that he could give his life for our eternal salvation whether we want it or not. Therefore, his life is about God's love.

We're living in a time when the economy is going down the toilet, when so many willing to work must do without it because the jobs simply are not there; this is a time when banks and big businesses have made incredibly reckless decisions and yet received bailouts on the tax payers dollar to continue business as usual.

Meanwhile, unemployment benefits are expiring leaving millions of people in our country even more desperate to find ways to buy food for their families, and pay for basic utilities like water and electricity... for many of them, the hyper-commercialized Christmas season may be an even more depressing time because they simply cannot give even when they want to. Just day to day living is sucking up every bit of income they've got. When necessities are hard to come by, something has got to give. And I get that. I totally do. And it breaks my heart that when many get the chance to receive something- anything, for Christmas, they'll ask for things most of us take for granted- toiletries, sweatshirts, blankets, pillowcases, socks, food...

We live in a time when our legislators are clearly uninterested in helping the American people ease their burdens even just a little bit, and billions of our tax dollars are going to fund causes overseas. In light of this the meaning of Christmas (to me) became undeniably clear.

LOVE.

We can only help ourselves so much, our government will help us hardly at all. But we are not hopeless. No one is hopeless. Because despite these uncomfortable facts, it is more important then ever that we come together and help each other. Jesus came to show God's love for us, and in turn, we should use this time to celebrate his birth by taking care of each other. Our loved ones already know we love them, and it's great to show them even more during the holidays with gift cards and goodies. But what about those who struggle to keep warm? Jesus showed kindness to strangers... that was sort of his MO. And I think it should be ours, too.

As far as raising ungrateful, materialistic punks, I realize I also had that all wrong, too. I shouldn't strive to make them grateful by depriving them of the luxuries they want, or harping on them about being grateful for the things they already have. Likely, my best chance at raising grateful children would be by teaching them the joy of helping others who need it. Emotionally, physically, materially. I can teach them to be grateful by teaching them to spread the love.

My renewed philosophy on the holidays, then, boils down to this-

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2

Love is the reason for the season. We don't have to have Scrooge's millions of dollars to make a difference, either. We just have to harness the power of One- one person, reaching out to fill another's need in love. This is the only way I can think of to truly honor the birth of Christ.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Santa's Going Green

I was chatting with Santa the other day and he was telling me about his renewed commitment to reduce environmental waste. Besides, with the economy being crap these days, wrapping paper seems like such a waste of resources.

"Ach, wrapping paper!" He said ruefully. "I hate that stuff anyways! My elves take so much time and care to wrap each gift and the kids rip it to shreds within seconds and the paper ends up in the trash! Noone ever remembers how elegantly a gift is wrapped, anyways."

I know what he means. I hate wrapping gifts, too. And then there's all that extra trash to contend with.

"So, what are you going to do instead?" I asked.
"Furoshiki." he said. I thought he'd sneezed.
"Bless you?"
"No, no, furoshiki. That's my solution this year. Replace wrapping paper with fabric. I've even hired a consultant to train the elves on the different ways toys can be wrapped using furoshiki. Google it."

So I did. And you know what? Santa is fucking BRILLIANT! Here's a little video to give you some idea on ways to do this:

Besides wrapping, I've been thinking of all the ways a furoshiki cloth can be used once the gift getting is all said and done. Here's what I've come up with so far:

* A tote bag
* Toy shopping bag
* Small apron
* Shawl
* Cloth napkins or table cloths for playtime
* Doll blankets

What do you think? Will Santa be dropping off paper wrapped gifts this year or is he going green at your house, too?

These days will fly by

I bought perfume today- Love by Nina (Ricci) limited edition. I haven't worn, much less bought perfume in over 6 years so this is a big deal for me. And like everything else I try, the girls are completely taken with the novelty of spray that makes you smell pretty. I don't think the cute little apple shaped bottle it comes in makes it any less enticing.

After their bath tonight they wanted a spritz. Because I have a short memory and am prone to lapses of judgement that end up in DOH! moments, I said sure. And gave them each a spritz. I mistakenly thought "a little dab'll do" them and their need to smell lovely would be sated. Riiiiiight. D'OH!

Twenty minutes later I was instantly overpowered by the now familiar fruity aroma of my newly purchased eau de toilet. As you know, even the most pleasant of scents can become an assault on your senses in excess. I'm sad to say that my living room is now awash in the perfume, and not in a good way. I have a headache, and my throat feels weird.

"Did you spray more perfume?" I asked the smelly offender without looking up. In response I heard "these days will fly by" in a soft and cryptic tone. I looked up to see Allie intensely fiddling with her handmade magic wand. Puzzled, I asked her to repeat herself. She repeated her enigmatic statement in the same low, trance like tone.

"These days will fly by..."

"Was it you?" I asked her suspiciously. She was practically chanting then, seeing as how her non-sequitor response was the only response she was giving up. My brain thought, thank you so much, Nostradamus. But my mouth said, "What do you mean by that?"

She lifted her eyes, peering at me from behind her choppy bangs. Pure mischief.
"These days will fly by. Tomorrow is a different day and then it won't matter that Sofia ruined my wand." I
paused, carefully considering my response. I mean, I couldn't exactly argue with that logic. And I was glad she had concluded that. But right then I didn't give a damn about Sofia and her magic wand. We're talking about my perfume, here.

"You're right," I said. "but I need to know that you understand you are NEVER to touch my perfume again without asking. Do you hear me?"
"It doesn't matter." she murmured, her attention still on her wand.
"Actually, it does. Don't touch it. Do you understand?"
After a brief hesitation, Allie grinned again and replied, yes.
"Just so we're clear, you won't touch my perfume tomorrow or in any of the days after it, right?"
"Right." 

And now, stewing in the thick residue of Love By Nina permeating the living room, I'm left wondering two things:
Where should I hide my perfume so their grubby hands can't find it, and what the hell is going on in Allie's head?

Although I'm not sure I want an answer to that last one...
These days will fly by, indeed.

Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition

Know what my favorite thing about having young kids in the house is? How everything turns into an Inquisition. EVERYTHING.

As I was getting the girls up for school this morning I noticed Sofia was unusually warm so I checked her temp. When 100.2 came up on the thermometer I decided she, along with Allie (who also had a fever) were staying home from school today. I didn't even bother waking Sofia up, since she wouldn't be going to school anyways. Once she finally did an hour later she looked at the clock and said, "Oh, no! We're missing breakfast!" (they serve it at school every morning). I told her she had a fever and she was staying home and she asked how many days she had slept. Confused, I replied the way I always do when I'm uncertain of the question- "yes." Unsurprisingly this answer was insufficient.

S: How many days was I sleeping mom? HOW MANY?
me: ummmm, one.
S: So I'm sick because I slept a whole day?
me: No. You didn't sleep a whole day. You slept a whole night, like you do every night.
S: Is that why I'm not going to school?
me: No. You're not going to school because you have a fever.
S: So I have a fever because I slept all night?
me: (sighing) ...yes.

Later:
S: Mom, how come I'm not going to school today?
me: Because you have a fever.
S: So I'm sick?
me: yes.
S: How do you know I won't be sick tomorrow?
me: I don't know but I hope you're not sick tomorrow
S: If I'm not sick I go back to school?
me: yes
S: How do you know I'm going to school tomorrow?
me: I just said I don't know.
S: How do you know I'm not going to school tomorrow?
me: I don't know. I hope you do.
S: BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW I won't be sick?! HOW?!
me: (utterly resigned) Yes.
S: Yes WHAT?!
me: I. DON'T. KNOW.

still later (Groundhog Day, anyone?):
S: mom, how do you know I won't be sick tomorrow?
me: uggggh. I. Just. Know.
S: because you're psychic?
me: yes.
S: oh, so you looked into my brain? And saw that tomorrow I would be better?
me: (seeing an opening) YES. YES. I looked into you're brain and saw you would be better.
S: okay.

Good God. Why didn't I just start with that?!
As I said, nobody expects (the Spanish) Inquisition.

DON'T USE THAT TONE OF VOICE WHEN YOU'RE WRITING TO ME!

What's better than having 2 sick kids at each others' throats all day? Listening to them have at it after one decides she's only going to communicate on paper because her throat hurts so badly!

following a disagreement:

S: ... you hate me?
A: (shakes her head)
S: you hate me a little?
A: (nods her head)
S: what's wrong with you, why aren't you talking?
A: (writes) my throat hurts
S: so you're not talking?
A: (writes) not for the rest of the night
S: you should take some medicine or something so you can talk again...
A: (indicates she wants some of Sofia's ramen)
S: you want my noodles? Just a little bit?
(spoons some onto a plate for Allie)
Here. That's all you get and you don't throw a fit

Okay, well as far as fights go, this was actually pretty civil but they were fighting earlier, Allie responding by writing in her notebook and putting it in Sofia's face. I could give you a better idea of how funny that was but I can't remember what they were fighting about at the time.

The Sweetest Thing

Holidays aren't usually my thing. They're my husband's thing, but since he's currently unavailable, the task of making Halloween an enjoyable occasion fell solely on my shoulders this year. But I have awesome friends, and I love getting together with them and our kids love each other, so it wasn't too much of a sacrifice to take the girls out trick-or-treating myself this year because, really, I was far from alone!

Altogether our group consisted of 11 kids (12 if you include the baby, which I didn't) and 9 adults. Believe me, we needed every single one of us to make sure we didn't accidentally lose anyone as we made our way from house to house! But we all made it around and back with fairly little drama and the entire kid-tourage intact. I call that a victory!

But the best part of my night so far was after the candy-corn panhandling was done, after a lovely time just hanging out with my friends while our kids raided and compared their loot, after getting the girls home...

Right before going to bed, Sofia came downstairs with a TWIX in hand (it's one of my favorites). She handed it to me and said, "mommy, I just want to give you this TWIX to thank you because I had a really good time tonight."

Now, I really LOVE chocolate. Really, really. I have a wicked sweet tooth. But you know what? That moment was definately sweeter than all of the candies the girls brought home last night put together. Better, even, than the pumpkin pie cheesecake waiting in the fridge for me.

For once I was extremely grateful that I went ahead and participated in Halloween, even without my partner in crime here to enjoy it for me. But that one moment was certainly the sweetest thing I could have experienced last night, and possibly even the nights to come.