Monday, December 17, 2007

santa

It would have been a lot less unsettling if Santa hadn't stayed in character. As we waited for the photo girl to gear up for the shoot, Santa told us that he had almost been stabbed one Christmas. "What do you want for Christmas?" he asked Ben, pausing mid-story. "A green present," Ben replied. Santa told us that green slime makes him slip when he comes down the chimney. He then continued with his stabbing story. He almost got a knife between the ribs, apparently, but his guards protected him and he got away by sliding down a chimney. Of course. "Scary, huh?" he asked. Scary indeed.

What makes a man want to be Santa Claus? You'd like to think that they are all just philanthropists at heart, that nothing makes them happier than to make a child smile, to make his or her eyes twinkle with Christmas magic. Maybe there are a few Santas out of the thousands who genuinely feel this way. But I can't help but think that the rest of them must be lonely old pedophiles or ex-cons putting in some community service hours. You have to make yourself not think about it for too long...

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Saturday, December 01, 2007

illness

Benjamin is sick again, and I think Elliott has an ear infection. Next week, Ben is scheduled to get his adenoids taken out. It's a minor surgery, but I am dreading it. I know they will put them under and that scares me. Yesterday, we got results of his school district speech assessment, and discovered that he is in something like the fifth percentile for speech. Ryan and I were both a little sad about this--you don't want your kid to be behind in anything--but the good news is that he will be going to a speech class twice a week and the pathologist thinks he'll be on track by kindergarten. Ben was a punk for most of the assessment, and I can tell the pathologist was a little wary of having him in her class. I don't think the fact that he is still not pottytrained is helping. She just wryly smiled and said, "I know two other boys who will get along with him very well." So Ben is a handful and he has a speech delay. But I think the class will be good for him, and I'm looking forward to it.

Elliott has constant ear infections. Ben never had this problem, so this is a new one for me. He is irritable and sad and screeching a lot of the time. But then I'll look over at him sitting in his high chair, munching on his Cheerios, and he will smile at me despite his pain. Last night Ryan was out and Elliott was crying and I got him up and took him onto our bed and sat down with him for awhile. He was sweet and smiling--happy to be up--and he touched my face with his hand. It is the best feeling. In a few more months he will be a year old, and I will have made it through another baby's infant stage, and I can't believe how fast it has gone.