Now that's a switch

ellybean is not the least bit afraid of getting a lump of coal in her stocking from Santa. She wouldn't be offended, even if you told her that's what Santa gives the naughty kids. She would respond, "You're joking!"

Don't get me wrong, she believes wholeheartedly in Santa. She just thinks he gives a light switch to the kids on the naughty list. Really. And she won't be convinced otherwise. In fact, she is declaring that as gospel to her younger sister and any other kids who will listen.

Why a light switch? For the past two years or so, we've been reading Laura Ingalls Wilder books aloud to her (and Peanut just got to read her first as well). She loves Laura and Mary books (as she calls them), and we intersperse them with picture books. Being that those books are set in the mid-1800s, apparently the lore at that time was that if you were naughty, Santa would put a switch in your stocking. Like, the kind of switch you get a lickin' with -- but that part is just implied. (and she wouldn't know what a "lickin'" was anyway)

The reference to the switch in the stocking has shown up in two of the books, as I recall. Both of those books are probably three books ago in our reading. But Jellybean remembers it well -- well enough to reinterpret switch to mean light switch, even though such a thing didn't even exist at the time. What other kind of switch is there to a 5-year-old?

She was having a conversation with Peanut about Santa, and I heard her espousing this belief. I had to choke back my giggles, and at the same time, I was savoring her innocence.

Let this serve as a warning: If you wake up Christmas morning and have a light switch in your stocking, you'll know that something has gone terribly wrong.

What we're thankful for

Both girls have had the chance to express their thankfulness through school activities this year. I have enjoyed finding out what they're thankful for, and I thought I'd share.

Peanut listed three things through her school activities. What are you thankful for?
1. My sister
2. My dad
3. My room

Jellybean had to list and draw 5 things she was thankful for.
1. Peanut
2. Rain
3. Nature
4. Flowers
5. Peanut
(Yes, the duplication was hers, not mine)

I can't get over how thankful they are for each other. That warms my heart! I will focus in on their thankfulness for each other so that we don't have to talk about how I was not mentioned by anyone. Actually, I'm not saddened by that -- I get hugs and smiles and "thank yous" every day (sometimes mixed in between tantrums and disobedience) that let me know how thankful they are for me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

All about loveys

Both of my girls are good sleepers. And they have been since an early age. Part of that is their temperament -- they sleep when they need to. And, part of it I credit to my being borderline OCD about their sleep times and nap times, starting when they were babies.

Most parents whose kids sleep well have a favorite sleep book. Mine happens to be Good Night, Sleep Tight by the Sleep Lady, Kim West. The Sleep Lady advises giving babies a "lovey" starting when they are about 6 months old. Something that doesn't have any removable parts, that's nice and small, that children can snuggle and feel comfortable with, no matter where they are.

We gave both of the girls loveys around that time, and they still have them: Jellybean has Berkeley, her formerly white bear, and Peanut has Rodrigo, her penguin. I have restricted the loveys only to their beds, for fear of something happening to them otherwise. (We do not, as is recommended, have a duplicate for either one.)

The girls cannot go to sleep without their loveys. We take the loveys when we travel for overnight or a nap. Maybe 2 or 3 times they have conked out somewhere without Berkeley or Rodrigo, but night in and night out, they must have their lovey in hand in order to go to sleep. Certainly, it doesn't hurt anything. But now that they're 5 and 3 1/2, are they too old to rely on their loveys? Will there come a day that we should take them away? Or, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?"

I love our loveys, but I want to make sure I'm not doing them a disservice. I don't want Peanut's college roommate to make fun of her because she can't sleep without her Rodrigo. I guess time will tell, and I hope it's all for the best.

Mondays are my new favorite day

I knew I would enjoy volunteering in Jellybean's kindergarten class. A room full of 5-year-olds, with a savvy teacher in charge of them -- what's not to like?

I did not know, however, how much I would LOVE it: so much so that my favorite weekday has shifted from Friday to Monday (the day I volunteer). And Jellybean loves having me there.

My "shift" is officially about 20 minutes (although I've been there up to an hour, depending on the happenings of the day). I am there to help with literacy centers, which divide the children into small groups to accomplish a task about words: phonics, writing, spelling or reading. I serve as back-up question-answerer to the teacher, about the centers.

Now that I've been there several times, the kids are more and more comfortable to seek me out with their questions. I love being able to help them and seeing the "lightbulbs" go on when they figure out a word or make a connection.

When I arrive each week now, many of them will run up to me just to say "hello." Or they'll shout my name from their seat and wave. So cute. They all love the extra attention, and, sadly, some of them crave it more than others.

The best part, paradoxically, is when I leave. The class tells me "thank you" in unison, at the behest of the teacher. I help them get their jackets and hats on, because they're headed out to recess. Then, many of them on their own accord -- so many of them! -- come up to me to give me a HUG goodbye! Sometimes, there is even a LINE to give me a hug. It is the best!

They are the sweetest group of kids. I hope they all can keep at least some of the innocence for as long as possible. And if I can make their day brighter by giving them a big hug, then you bet I will. Sign me up! See why I love Mondays now?