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So I decided to buy new ornaments for my Christmas tree.

We have a smallish tree that sits a window seat, so buying all new ornaments isn't that crazy of an idea.

For the last three years, we have had a tree with a garden theme... birds, birdhouses, butterflies... all in sage green. It's very pretty, but I'm ready for a more kid-friendly theme with Clementine in mind.

My first thought was to do a penguin tree because she loves penguins and then accent the penguins with red ornaments because she loves the color red.

My second thought was to do a toy themed tree with ornaments that looked like classic or old fashioned toys... rocking horses, toy boats, jack-in-the-boxes, etc.

Mr. Incredible's vote was for the later because the penguins are all about what Clementine likes and in a couple of years when Dashiel is older, we won't a tree that only has his sister's favorite animal on it, so the toy theme would be more lasting. Also, who really knows how long the penguin craze will last with Clementine anyway.

So there I was at the store earlier today. I had picked out penguins and then put them all away as I changed my mind and started to gather toy ornaments when my friend Kara arrived.

Kara's all, "I thought you were going to do penguins."

I explain Mr. Incredible's incredible logic about how the penguins are only for Clementine.

Kara's all, "Um, Dashiel doesn't really care about the tree. He's six months old."

"Yeah, but in a couple of years..."

Kara, "In a couple of years, you're going to want to redo the tree anyway."

I bought the penguins.



When I got home with the penguins and told Mr. Incredible what Kara had said, he just shook his head and asked, "Why did she have to go and point that out? Who's side is she on anyway?"

Mine, obviously.

Mission: Advent

Alright people, here is your mission

should you accept it

What am I saying, of course you should accept it

Help me come up with 25 Christmas activities to do with Clementine during Advent.

Remember, they have to be things a three year old would enjoy doing and can easily participate in. Other than that (and a reasonable budget), the sky's the limit.

So, in the comments section, let's see how many activities we can think of, shall we?

How do these people find me?

Stupid paparazzi.

Angela Lansbury Can Sing and Dance

Bedknobs and Broomsticks came on the other day.

Do you remember that one?

Disney, circa Mary Poppins. Had the same live action movie with an animated sequence in the middle shtick.

I am always amazed when rewatching movies I haven't seen since I was a child at the things that I thought were important at the time and the things that I notice now that I am older.

For one, did anyone else realize that Angela Lansbury starred in it? You know, the Murder She Wrote lady?

And another, apparently in WWII, Britain had a home guard made up of all the men who couldn't go off to war and that's why all these old men are parading about in uniform in the movie.

On the other hand, I distinctly remember this whole dance sequence in which my sister and I would "call" which of the girls we "were" and then dance about. It was half of the reason for watching the silly movie and upon rewatch, I can tell you that those "girls" were on the screen for all of ten seconds and were much, much more African and about ten years older than I remembered them being.

Funny how time changes perspective.

Character Education

This evening, I was telling Clementine that I couldn't play with her because I was holding her brother.

She said,

"Um, you could try. You just try and try and then you can do it!"

Who taught this girl persistence?

I blame PBS.

Cold Weather Days

One of the tough parts of being a Kindergarten teacher is that your students are still so young and their parents expect the teacher to act as a surrogate parent... which would be fine, but I'm parenting twenty different children from twenty different families and every single family has their own rules and somehow I don't follow all of them.

The rule for jackets is my case in point.

When is it cold enough to wear a jacket?

When the child feels cold seems like such a reasonable answer to that question. But I have students who are too young to stop playing long enough to realize they are cold. And helicopter parents who think a slight breeze is a sign to wear gloves and a scarf. Not to mention just the variance in what each individual feels as being cold.

So most days, I follow three simple guidelines:

70+ Even if it's breezy, they won't feel cold once they are running around.

60-70 degrees Wear a coat if you want (i.e. if you think your coat looks cool and you want another chance to wear it. Heck, wear the matching gloves, scarf, and hat, too if you like.)

45-60 degrees If your mother sent you with a coat this morning, she meant for you to wear it. Put it on. Hat, gloves, and scarf as well.

Below about 45 degrees If you don't have a coat, you can't go outside. Sorry. I don't care if your mother didn't tell you is was going to be cold.

Then there are days like last Friday. When I got to school, it was a nice 70 degrees outside. By lunch (when six or seven parents joined us for our Fall cookout), it was 55 degrees and at least four parents made some comment about their child needing a coat for recess (which was after lunch). As in, "why didn't you remind them to put on their coats?"

I'm standing there, in my short sleeved shirt, capri jeans and flip flops, freezing and all I can say is:

My mother didn't tell me it was going to be cold.

It's Only Sacrilegious if I'm Joking

In my house, Christmas starts sometime around Halloween. I know other people think that's wrong and commercial. I happen to think it's prudent to be done with the shopping part early so that from Thanksgiving onward, the entire focus is on the birth of our King.

That being said, I am already looking at Christmas gifts and Christmas decorations. Last year, Clementine received a Little People Nativity set and I am really neurotic about her playing with it.

Because, of course:

What if she loses Baby Jesus?

What good will the set be without Him?

You can lose a few sheep, even a shepherd. The wise men are important, but not that important. Any Little People girl could stand in for Mary.

But without Baby Jesus, the set just isn't the same.

So I was surfing the web, looking at Fisher Price toys on Amazon (for Christmas gifts), and it turns out you can buy a replacement Baby Jesus.


On the one, it sounds like a bad punchline and I keep waiting for the lightening to strike.

On the other hand, what a relief!