Happy Holidays 2011

With Some Decorations Bought at Tiffany's!

Scene:  Monday morning, J is dressing for work in the bedroom. M (designated baby-sitter) and A (off from school) are looking at Christmas ornaments in boxes in the living room.  A reaches for a bright blue chain of glass beads.

M: "Now A, we don't wear Christmas ornaments."

J (snorting as he reaches for a shirt)

A:  "But J wore these last year!"

(J bursts out in laughter)

Army Romance

Scene:  The family is watching the final moments of Bye Bye Birdie

Dick Van Dyke (singing about Rosie).

A:  "Ugh. Romance, romance, romance."
M (leaning into J):  "Ah. Romance, romance, romance."
A: "Hey!"  Tries to lean into J and M.
M:  "Nope, oh no.  No romance for you.  We'll call L and S and we'll build a barricade between the adults and the kids" (a reference to Thanksgiving, where the kids built a barricade across the living room entrance).

The movie concludes.

A (mouth hanging open as Ann-Margret sings a final "Bye bye Birdie."):  "But... but... M, I thought you said that he goes into the Army."

J:  "He does."

M:  "Did you think you were going to see him fighting in the Army?"

A:  (stricken dumb as the realization that he's been tricked into watching Romance Romance Romance.  Nods head)

Selecting the Holiday Tree

Kidzilla

School Play Fox Outfit

More school play.

Bats

School play. Small place.

Inserting the Tree

Yesterday we got a tree.



Today we put it in the stand. We'll decorate it in about a week.

Soundtrack of Angst

Scene: A foggy morning just before school. The frigid air is not quite cold enough to transform the dew to ice. A has left the car and is meandering toward the gated steps that lead down to the school. A pack is over one shoulder, a car seat is over the other.

J (wondering to himself as A stops): What's he looking at?

Car radio: A strong cello chord from Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis A continues to sidle back and forth, slowly making his way across the grey landscape to the opening in the cold chain link fence.

J (suddenly struck with an urge to leap out of the car, run to A, wrap him up, and lead him to the classroom): Oh my God. (A continues to trudge to the steps, weighted down with pack and chair, while stark cello chords reverberate inside the car). How will he make his way? Who will guide him? How can I send him out into the current of life? I can only be like a lighthouse that shines from a short that grows more distant and... damn you Ralph Vaughan Williams and Mother Nature for tweaking with my hormones!

(A has made the top of the steps. J navigates the traffic of other parents dropping off their children)

J (thinking he should turn off the radio): I used to think this music was profound and now I can never listen to it again without having an ABBA Slipping Through My Fingers moment.