Saturday, December 20, 2008

Gosh, A Post About Christmas!

Christmas Pageant last night: Anna's in the Ensemble, so we still had to attend, despite my defection from Angel Duty - plus, I was on the clean-up crew for the party afterwards. I enjoyed the pageant, as I really like sitting in front of 2 women who obviously attended the festivities in order to talk non-stop in non-whispers all through the singing and the instrumental solos and the speaking parts while letting their kids run wild up and down the aisles.

And, no, Larry wouldn't let me turn around and ask them to please speak up, because really, I came to listen to them...he's no fun at all sometimes...

Rachel informed me today that there is no Santa; and I explained that there would also be no presents for her if she ruined things for Susie. So she and Susie went to visit Santa at the pageant (he was there!) and came back with goody bags filled with candy (because, really, there wasn't enough cookies and cake and other junk at the party). Upon seeing the girls' loot, Brian decided he needed to see Santa also; but by the time he got to the head of the line, the elves had run out of bags. I told Brian that's because Santa knew he really didn't believe in him.

Okay, no, I didn't; but I wanted to.

Anna has been doing her best to make me feel lousy the last 2 days, and it's working. Thanks, sweetheart. As if being 45 and turning gray and being 15 pounds overweight isn't enough, I need to have someone looking at me with disgust all the time. And when she looks annoyed when she hears my voice, well...it just makes my heart sing. I made sure to whistle Christmas carols as I drove her home from the pageant. She likes that.

21 comments:

  1. Were going through a bit of a peaceful phase with the seventeen year old right now. I hope your Christmas present is a smiling Anna.

    Maybe?

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  2. Okay, whistling Christmas carols to further annoy your Anna? Made me love you more.

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  3. Teenagers--the gift that keeps on giving.

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  4. I don't know how I've missed your blog after all this time. I am sure I've seen it in the past. I have one of those 15 year old daughters too. It often makes me wonder how the female gender has survived throughout history because I am still convinced that even though her 16th birthday is just 4 months away, she is not going to see it. In fact after sitting here listening to her smart ass mouthing off with her dad down the hall, she might not survive the rest of the DAY. And there is also a 17 yr old boy here who went through a maturing phase recently. So he's pretty safe. For now.

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  5. Geez, you're like the Ghost of Christmas Future. Cut it out already.

    Seriously, I hope it gets better soon. Want I should send you some snow? We've got plenty.

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  6. Ah, but Grasshopper, it is even more effective if you whistle the Christmas tunes *off-key*!

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  7. Next time don't just whistle - Belt out that tune Baby. Then enjoy the look of mortification. I certainly do when I embarress my kids.

    We lucked out and a snowstorm made the school district cancel all the Christmas Programs and Parties planned for the last couple days of school. Whew!

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  8. I've been trying to perfect my evil eye for people like that (doesn't work so well behind me, though). Although I brought my sock knitting(yes, very portable) to the last children's concert we went to (and only knitted while we were waiting at the beginning) and ended up having a lovely conversation about knitting with the ladies in front of me. So, it can go either way. My youngest (7) claims he doesn't believe any more, but then will ask me all sorts of detailed questions and "what if"s so I think he still believes after all.

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  9. I don't think my almost-9-year-old believes in Santa Claus, but I think he WANTS to believe. It's really cute!

    On the other hand, The Husband has set up the train set around the tree, and The Boy is trying to split my head open with the "train noise" feature. Oy.

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  10. Best moment of motherhood ever: looking calmly at my screaming 16-year-old, and then telling her, "Thank you."

    That stopped her. She stared, disbelieving.

    In the very mildest voice, "I take that as a compliment. If you did not know that I absolutely and unconditionally love you, you would never have dared say such a thing to me."

    She stomped off to her room, slammed the door, stayed alone in there for two hours, and then...

    ...came out an angel. Never said a word about any of that stuff again, and neither she nor I even remember what it was.

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  11. My head has been swimming in chaos this past week now that the 15 year old is back home from living with Grandma for a year and a half. My head also tries to split open from the noise. I missed my son, but not the chaos that trails around with him.

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  12. Eh...it's a 15 year old's job to be annoyed with adults right?
    And that drives me to drink when people talk through the school performances that's why I don't go to them anymore. I go to the dress rehearsal so I can sit in the front in peace.
    Our plays become so crowded that many parents treat it like a cocktail party and chat in the back the whole time.
    Oops - sorry for the rant.
    Uh...peace.
    Merry Christmas.

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  13. Keep all her misdeeds tucked away in your mind. I promise, someday she will come back and apologize for them, and those will be the sweetest words you will ever hear. Teenagers, bah humbug!

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  14. OH!! I'm so sad for you and for your 6 year-old and for all the other little ones mentioned in the comments who don't believe anymore! My oldest will be 10 in Feb. and I'm certain this will be the last year he believes, but for now he's still on the "believer list". Actually, I think he's suspicious this year. None-the-less, if he doesn't believe, he's not saying. Here's what I tell my kids when they say their friends say it's just the parents: Santa only comes to kids who believe in him. For the kids that don't believe, yes, it is their parents. It's worked this long. I'll be very sad when the cat's officially out of the bag...although it would make it easier for me if I could just say, "sorry, we can't afford that $100 Lego Star Wars thing you want AND the 12 million other things you want".
    PS, I'm not letting my kids turn into teenagers. That doesn't sound fun AT ALL!

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  15. It's a teenagers job to be a royal pain in the A$$. They outgrow it, eventuallly. My 18, 16 and 14 yr olds are fairly reasonable responsible young adult now. My just turned 13 yr old is a royal pain in the neck and was acting like an annoying teenager for at least a yr before her birthday last week.

    Just remember, you need to live long enough to be a royal pin for your kids. Payback is a bitch.

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  16. I like your whistling tactic...I feel the need to annoy everone in my family right about now.

    And they've only been home two days. Sigh.

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  17. Since Anna turned into a teenager, have you apologized to your parents? LOL!

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  18. That anna. When oh when is she going to come out the other side and be sweet to you again?

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  19. I told my oldest if he ruins Christmas for his brother there will be no Christmas! Yeah, I know mean mom. BUT with teenagers come crazy mom...

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  20. Amber -- you're a godsend!

    "Santa only comes to kids who believe in him. For the kids that don't believe, yes, it is their parents."

    It's brilliant!!! :D

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  21. I'm sorry you are having a rough time with Anna. I've been chastising my 17yo lately for his attitude. Since he wants to borrow the car to go on dates, I have extra leverage. I look forward to 10 years from now: "Grandchildren are the reward for not strangling your teenagers."

    Whistling as revenge = brilliant!

    And I'm sorry Larry stopped you from making that comment at the pageant. I would have LOVED being there to see how perfectly it worked, because you just know there were others wanting to say the same thing. (Is Larry a PC peacemaker?)

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