My very own mini-me

The Christmas and birthday festivities are winding down here at the House of Crackers. The tree is down in anticipation of some house guests who will be arriving at our home this evening and who will be staying with us for the week. Since we bought the tree right after Thanksgiving, we thought it prudent to take it down before it burst into flames right in front of our guests one evening. Although it would make the trip more exciting, it would also send them home sooner than we would like.

Looking back over the past week, I have to say that this year's Christmas was really nice and peaceful. There was a lot less rushing around. We enjoyed what we were doing rather than worrying where we had to be next.

Mr. Crackers and I had a blast watching the kids open their gifts this year. While C exhibited the normal level of excitement over each present he opened, K took everything to an even higher level. A level not seen since I myself was just a young hooligan.

You see, when I was small I would get so excited about the act of receiving and opening a gift that I would declare loudly "It's just what I always wanted!" after opening every single gift. I would do this even if I had absolutely no idea what the gift actually was. This was brought home very clearly one year when I opened a particular present on Christmas morning & declared my undying love for it. My parents had cleverly deduced that I had no idea what it was.

And so, they asked me, "Karen do you know what it is?"

"Yes, it's a book!!" I probably shouted loudly & excitedly.

"Yes, honey, but what kind of book is it? Do you know?"

"Yes, it's a Dick Toyon Airy!" I called back.

"Umm, honey, read it again" Mom said ever so patiently (And probably sadly, as she was now discovering that her eldest born daughter may perhaps be just a little bit dumb).

"It's a Dick Toyon Airy! Thanks Mom and Dad!"

"Honey, please read it again, more slowly" (At this point she was probably thinking she'd like to set up a conference with my teachers once school was back in session...)

"What? Isn't it a Dick Toyon Airy?"

If memory serves, it took at least 1 to 2 more tries and then some direct intervention from my Mother until at last I understood what I was looking at - A dictionary. Here it is, I still have it:

Darn those tricky bastards at Thorndike-Barnhart! Why can't they just put the letters all together to spare their young readers some embarrassment?

I'm not sure a dictionary was ever met with such enthusiasm before or since. Even after discovering the true identity of the gift, my love for it did not dim. To this day, I am teased mercilessly (& rightly) for my enthusiasm over things that I often do not fully understand.

So, you can imagine my own amusement as K started to exhibit this same tendency for excitement about gifts even when she had no idea what they were. Several times this Christmas, she declared "Look Momma, it's just what I always wanted!" And, when I asked her what it was, I would hear back, "I don't know! Isn't it beautiful?" Ahhh, the enthusiasm of youth! It is what makes Christmas so fun.

So far, all the gifts seem to pretty big hits with both of my hooligans. K's Christmas gifts were primarily in the 3 themes of horses, princesses or furniture for her doll house.

C received a lot of Legos (he especially loves the Star Wars ones), cars and Playmobil sets.

I know they must love their gifts because they have asked several times if instead of watching TV, could they please play with their new toys? Yes! I am very psyched about this new development. Hopefully, this excitement will not wane before school starts up again next week.

Now I am just hoping they can share those new toys with our houseguests who will be arriving in about an hour. What are the chances our week will remain this peaceful? Hmmm, I'll try to keep an optimistic (dare I say enthusiastic?) outlook.