New Year

Christmas has come and gone, with all its bells and whistles. The circumstances weren't ideal, but we made the best of them. For our Christmas eve, we set up a tent in the boys' room and filled it with blankets and stuffed animals and flashlights. When they were still awake with Christmas anticipation at 10 pm, we created an opportunity for them to catch a glimpse of Santa's hat above the back of the couch. A Santa who was waiting for them to finally go to sleep so he could deliver the presents. I'm giving myself a strong D+ in the parenting column for this particular idea. They both were pretty skeptical, and didn't seem to like any of my imaginative answers. Also, it weirded Brent out a bit that there was Some Stranger in the other room. So a few minutes later, we let them see that the cookies were gone and presents left in their place. We listened as the reindeer charged across the roof and flew off to the next house, and their mental exhaustion finally lulled them to sleep.

Three days later, they grew weary of the tent. A week later, there are still toys in various stages of being discovered, still games left to beat, still candy and cookies to eat. It's as if the year builds up to this grand finale, and then starts anew with a crisp winter morning.

Today, my alarm went off at 6:30 (yes, on purpose). I snuck into Brent's room and asked him if he still wanted to watch the sun rise with me. He murmured something that sounded like 'yes', and then pulled the covers over his head. I whispered that if he did, it was starting soon, and he leaped up and rubbed his eyes as we headed out to the door. I wrapped him in a large blanket, stuffed a knitted cap over his ears, and carried him out to the porch swing.

For a few minutes, we sat in the foggy darkness. I knew that the morning wouldn't produce any significant colors, but we were both excited. And after all, it was a New Year, why not ring the first morning in properly. It wasn't as quiet as I like my sunrises to be, but I couldn't have asked for better company. We watched the feral cats (and kitten) playing in the trees. We talked about the deer that frequent the woods line to the west, and how much fun it will be when we practice camping in the side yard.

Slowly the sky became a lighter shade of gray, which turned out to be all glamor this particular morning had in it, from the view of our swing. And yet it was simple, and beautiful, and perfect.

Mike made special milkshakes for breakfast, to go with my homemade chocolate chip pancakes. We declared it our New Year's morning tradition - it was that good.

Now we are back to our games and toys, enjoying the last few days of winter vacation. And settling in for another awe-inspiring year.