We made it through another Christmas. That sounds tacky but that’s not the way that I mean it. We are very blessed with a lot going on in the month of December.
It usually starts in the middle of December with my Gram’s Christmas party. We drive down to Stephenville to attend and see family that we don’t see very often. Then Christmas Eve we drive to my family for dinner and to open gifts. Christmas day we start out at our house, seeing what Santa brought and then heading over to Aaron’s parents for more gift exchanges, games and dinner. Then a couple of days after Christmas we drive to the Dallas area for my Mother’s family Christmas.
It’s a lot of going, but I don’t think I would have it any other way. It’s a blessing to have the family and fun that we do.
Aaron and I were proud of Kiera as she opened presents this year. Before every gift she opened, she would ask one of us whom the gift was from. After we told her, she would find the person in the room and thank them for the gift. If she received two of the same gifts, she would exclaim in delight, “Now I have two of these!” instead of complaining.
I love Kiera’s honesty… most of the time. Sometimes, she gets right on the edge… right on the edge of making me nervous.
For instance, a couple of weekends ago, we went to my Mom’s house to pick her up and head to my Gram’s Christmas. Mom was standing in the living room and greeted us as Kiera and I entered the house. She had on a cute Christmas outfit and she looked nice.As I turned to close the door, Kiera said to my Mom, “Are you going to wear that?”
I cringed and turned back to face the conversation between my child and my mother. I considered making a run for it but thought if I survived the conversation it would make a good column.
Mom replied, “I was planning on it.” I could hear the hesitation in Mom’s voice.
Kiera looked her over for a moment. During that brief second of silence, my life passed before my eyes as I wondered how I could possibly defuse the possible situation.
“It’s… BEAUTIFUL!” She announced enthusiastically. I breathed a sigh of relief. Mom still hasn’t let me live that down. But, what Kiera said to me the other day beats this story hands down.
It was still a couple of days before Christmas and Aaron and I were standing in the kitchen cooking lunch when Kiera came in. “Daddy, can I give Mommy a hint about her Christmas gift?” She asked.
He turned to her and answered, “I don’t know, baby. Mommy is pretty smart. She might figure it out.”
Kiera turned to me and looked at me as if assessing my I.Q. “Let’s see.” She replied to her Daddy.
“Mommy, how do kangaroos jump?” She quizzed me.
I looked down at her as she watched me, waiting for my reply. “With their feet?” I responded, feeling fairly confident with my answer.
“No. With their ankles!” She exclaimed bending her ankles to show me how a kangaroo jumps.
She turned to her Daddy, shaking her head. “Well,” she paused before continuing on, “she’s not too smart.”
I stood there with my mouth hanging open. Best part about it, was that she wasn’t being mean. She just stated it to Aaron so he understood that I wouldn’t figure out the hint. As I stood there trying not to laugh at the almost insult, Aaron helped me feel better. He’s such a good husband in that aspect.
“You’re right, honey. Go ahead and give her a hint.” He told Kiera, giving me a mischievous grin.
Now, if that’s not bad enough, let’s fast-forward a couple of days. I was fixing Kiera’s hair and Aaron was sitting on the bed putting his shoes on. “Let’s see how smart Daddy is.” Kiera said.
I was stoked. I couldn’t wait for her to trip him up. Yes, it is possible she got a little bit of her competitiveness from me. Slightly possible…
I grinned at him as she opened her mouth to ask him a question.
“Daddy. What is 100 plus 1?” she asked.
Wait. What?
He shot me a grin, picking up on my indignation as he answered, “101.”
“Good job, Daddy.” She congratulated him. “Now, what about 100 plus 20?”
I’m a grown woman but I wanted to stomp my foot at the unfairness of the questions. I glanced his direction as he answered, “120.” He tossed me another proud smile.
“Ok.” Kiera thought for a minute before she asked, “What about 100 plus 24?”
Without any hesitation, he responded, “124.” I glared at him.
Kiera leaned back on her stool and said in awe, “Wow. He’s good.”
Perfect. I get to answer questions about kangaroos and Aaron gets easy math questions. Obviously, I am going to have to start watching Animal Planet to better educate myself for Kiera’s trivia. I guess I can make that one of my New Year’s resolutions.
Oh, I can’t wait to see what adventures this New Year brings us! Have a safe and happy New Year!
