The Bird is really getting into the holiday spirit this year. If by spirit, you mean that she wants anything and everything that has ever been or ever will be in existence.... and is something a princess ballerina would wear.
Which, in our household, means that she will be getting a baseball glove and a bat.
The Bean, on the other hand, has decided that what she wants most for Christmas is hot dogs and water. Because that's her favorite. Apparently, nutrition in our house has been way lax since she joined our little family. And Mommy needs a refresher course on Parenting 101. Also, she'll be getting a wand.
But, in an effort to get both girls to understand the true meaning of Christmas, we had a discussion about how it's more important to give than to receive, and how making someone else happy or smile is the best gift we can give ourselves. We talked about how some kids won't get much for Christmas and how we should try to be Santa's Helpers. We picked a tag off the Giving Tree at day care and went shopping for some of the families that need a little Christmas help. The girls were awesome and were very excited to pick out a Batman action figure and some fun t-shirts for other people. We only had a "moment" when The Bean threw a fit because she wanted a Minnie-Mouse shirt, too.
If by "moment" you mean that Mommy had to threaten to cancel Christmas unless she put the shirt away because THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU.
Ahem. Overall, it was a positive experience. And when we were driving home and talking about giving gifts to people, The Bean stated that she weally wanted to give her best fwiend, Ivy, a toy. And not just any toy... one of her very own toys.
Dude. DUDE. How huge is that? She got it! The 2YO got it! I got a little teary-eyed and said that of course!! Of course we can go to The Island of Misfit Toys (our basement) and pick out a very special toy to give Ivy. And at that, The Bird decided she'd get in on the action for her BFF, Emmy.
So, yesterday we began the tedious process of choosing which toy our friends would like. The Bean's first selection? A plastic chicken leg. Yes... that's what we call toys around our house. Problem? I talked her out of that because, you know... maybe Ivy doesn't have a kitchen to put the chicken leg in, mkay? So maybe something else that she can actually play with.
After a thorough inspection of all of their toys, both girls decided on little racing cars that their BFF's would really like. Rather than wrap them up (because who has wrapping paper on December 18??), I put an oversized bow on each of them and off we went. When we got to school, The Bird had to put her gift in her cubby until her friend got to school, but Ivy was there when The Bean got to class. It was so touching to watch her run over to her little friend and hand her the toy car with the bow and say "Merry Christmas, Ivy! I wuv you!" Seriously... this kid is too good for me. I explained to the teacher the whole story because I wanted her to be able to tell Ivy's mom why she got a gift from The Bean... and I certainly didn't want her mom to feel like she needed to go out and buy a gift for The Bean. This was about giving... not getting. And, you guys? Parenting win! She got it! She totally, completely got it! ASK ME ABOUT MY MAD PARENTING SKILLZ OVER THE HOLIDAYS! I GOTS LOTSA ADVICE!!!
That night, when I picked The Bird up from school, I saw that she still hadn't given Emmy her gift. So, I went with her when she handed it to her friend with a quick "Merry Christmas". Emmy wasn't sure what to make of the car, so The Bird went on to solemnly explain: "I'm giving you this car for Christmas. Because I don't play with it anymore, cuz I don't like it anymore. Because I'm a big girl. And big girls don't play with cars. So, that's why I'm giving it to you."
Face. Palm. So. Hard.
Back to the drawing boards.
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