Disney is Different

During the Christmas vacation week, we had the wonderful opportunity to take our princesses to see the number one princess castle in the world...Cinderella's.



I had friends tell me that Disney is different with your own children than when you went when/if you were a child. I scoffed. But they were right. Disney is different. How blessed we are that we could experience this with our children.

As we walked down the main street after finally making our way into the park, I was not prepared for the overwhelming emotions that I had. Of course, as I watched our children take in all the sights, sounds, noises, people, characters, I cried. Never did they think our Christmastime trip to visit Grampa in Florida would include Disney World!

I don't know who was more excited to see Cinderella's castle - them or me! They were afraid to go in it, didn't want their pictures taken near the castle. I guess they, too, know that some pictures and memories are just better off inside your head.

We shared stories with our girls of things mommy and daddy did at Disney World when we were little. They seem to think it is funny, this idea of Mommy and Daddy being little kids! But Mommy and Daddy more so think it is funny this idea of us having little kids of our own.

We finished our trip with renewed promises to our girls that once our newest baby-to-be is old enough, we will find our way back to Disney World. Just to see if anything is different.

Too Many

The emails, phone calls, text messages and Facebook posts over the last two months have been too many. Too many people in our little world are passing away. Parents of friends, friends of friends, friends of parents, people we know well, people we don't. People who have touched our lives in some way.

Earlier this week, our oldest daughter's Sunday School teacher passed away. It is a shock to the entire community, not just our church. Loss has been prevalent in our lives the last few years, but this is the first time that someone in her little life will no longer be there.

On Saturday, I will be taking her to her first funeral. She is excited to go, as she doesn't really know what a funeral is. It will be interesting to watch her learn, as well as see how she will say goodbye to Miss Mary.

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“Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.”
–C. S. Lewis.

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Merry Christmas

A little child
a shining star
a stable rude,
the door ajar.
Yet in that place
so crude, forlorn,
The Hope of all
the world was born.

--Anonymous

The Carol from Downstairs

I am sick again. The kind of sick that, for me, lasts about nine months or so.

Last week, at the end of a particularly sick-feeling day, my husband arrived home and sent me to bed. He would see our busy little family through dinner, swim practice and the rest of the chaos that comes with four little girls in our little yellow house.

As I laid in bed trying to quiet my queasy stomach and calm my aching head, I listened to my family carry on the evening one floor beneath me.

I heard my husband in the kitchen making dinner for our children, talking with them about their days. I heard my daughters answer, taking turns, interrupting, and all the while helping daddy to make dinner and continue their play all at the same time. I heard the baby, recent crawler that she is, make her way around the rooms, babbling, shouting and shrieking in order to be heard, not to be left out of the fray.

All the noise didn't seem like noise, but rather parts of a song being sung. I could see the glow from the candles in all the windows, and the warmth of the colored lights on our Christmas tree making its way up the stairs. A song, a carol, a Christmas carol.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas ...

Christmas is still over two weeks away, but I got our first group teacher gift solicitation this morning at ballet class for one of my girls.

The suggested amount was $15 per student ($10 for the teacher, $5 for the helper). Well, sorry, that's a little rich for my budget. And for a lot of people's budgets, I am sure. They just don't say anything.

I did. I gave $5. Total. Cheapskate? No, not really. Honest is more like it.

Multiply that amount times the three school age children I have, times all the activites, leaders, teachers, helpers, etc., and you get one hefty sum of money. So, I'm sorry. I just can't give that much.

Does that mean I do not appreciate the teachers who help my children learn? Absolutely not. But it appears I was judged that way, taking in the whispers and corner-of-the-eye looks I was given by the group of moms organizing this gift. Personally, I would much rather receive the random notes and hugs throughout the year. But that is just me.

It's not the first time I've balked at the too-high suggested amount for a gift for children's teachers. And it's not the first time I gave an amount that was less than asked. And it won't be the last.

Christmas isn't about the present anyway. Well, it is... just not that one.