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mister stripes

anticipation

Eyes on the prize, watching, wondering, waiting his turn.  This is why I take them for the requisite Santa mall pics.  Not because the photo matters or that Santa is an elaborate ruse in our house (just a minor one!), but because of this.  From first mention that today would be the day, to pulling out tights to match their "fancies" and trudging out in the blustery wind there was this unmistakeably joyous anticipation.  

I can still picture the photos taken of my sister and I in the late seventies, in some very interesting corduroy ensembles. Today's photos were surely not worth the $23 I paid for two 5x7 shots.  Nor was it worth the rushed "what do you want for Christmas?" portion, but honestly I'm the only one that noticed. I think I'll leave the magic to these three.

I'll leave open the possibility of dreaming for that one special thing they managed to whittle down their list to.  I may or may not be making a last minute exchange for something less Barbie and more Strawberry Shortcake owing to my three year old's in person Santa request.  Well maybe that or the Toddler Tiana doll she was pining for in the Disney store when we were there to buy the movie soundtrack.

Years from now, I'm sure they'll wonder why on earth I dressed them in such gaudy matchy matchy outfits.  Today, though, today at least a half dozen people stopped me or commented in passing on how sweet they looked.  These three only get one chance to be this small, this believing, this willing to take our messages of hope and wishing and turn them into something full of perfect truth. 

There is no need for tiny etch-a-sketch stocking stuffers or matching lip gloss sets.   My guy doesn't need a handful of matchboxes or me to go out and find some  matchbox trucks now that TRUCKS are the wish his sisters remember him making.  But I will for my own sense of anticipation.  The anticipation that sees these three twenty years on laughing over corduroy jumpers and argyle vests.  

but why?

I wrote you a letter for school this week.  It's your turn to be the classroom star kid.  We were supposed to write about why you are special to us and even in my best kindergarten-ese I had trouble simplifying that into a page.  You peeked at the letter today as we were packing the bag of your favorite things that you'll get to share.  You made it through three paragraphs, reading to me aloud before you leaned in for the squeeziest hug and thanked me SO MUCH for my words.  You know I know you know how beyond special you are.  You were just trying to make me cry again as when I first wrote the letter.

You try harder than anyone I know to understand the way of things.   We made gingerbread cookies today and you bent my ear about Jesus.  You know we're not technically Christian, being a clunkier variety of Unitarian Universalist which even I have trouble pronouncing.  But we've been watching a copy of the Boz Christmas DVD I have for review and you are uniquely intrigued by the Christmas story.  You drew parallels between Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr and this book we recently read.  You are five.  

Let me tell you, kid,  the but why? question about why we celebrate Christmas---that was infinitely easier than the but why? question that came next.  Why anyone would want to take the life of someone who wanted to change the world?  I am pretty sure most five year olds aren't having  discussions on major world religions whilst baking spelt gingerbread cookies, but most five year olds aren't you.   And yet you can still simply tuck away the unanswered and unanswerable questions and get back to dunking cookies in a cold glass of milk.   

small hands

She will know that photography is so much more than the shutter click at the perfect moment in the perfect light with the perfect combination of aperture and shutter speed.  Photography is the small recollection of the wind in your face, the sun at your side and the conversation between you and the world that goes unspoken as you walk down a street you wish you knew years ago.  

Or it's just silly portraits of each other snapped between giggles.  I was doing my daily practice of collecting images of bowls and objects and sweet little feet and light through windows and she wanted to join me and never a day will that not please me.  Not even the days when she grabs the more expensive camera from the studio.  The world does not need fifteen photographs of our Christmas tree, but the world needs more of someone who sees fifteen ways of looking at a Christmas tree.

Playmobil Christmas in the Forest Advent calendar set

Well I was going to tell you what a disaster an adventure putting together this Playmobil Advent Calendar was.  I mean there was the fact that it took more than 45 minutes to assemble, not the 25 noted on the box.   I'm sure it didn't help that this is the first box of Playmobil anything to cross the threshold in our house and four simple illustrations in the direction booklet didn't quite do it for me. 

I was going to mention all the little things that made me rue ever opening the box, but then fast forward to this morning, Day 3, and two more little birdies and this bit of magic.

"Oh, Mommy, I just love these tiny little boxes!!"  

Yes, these would be the very same boxes I had vowed the day before would be headed for the trash.  Not only was it not fun to fold together 24 of them and try to finagle them onto the larger cardboard calendar, there was also the tedium of placing, sorting and putting the tiny pieces in the tiny boxes and did I mention the tiny?

"Oh little birdies!  Look, mama, I'm tweeting!  I'm tweeting!  chirr--up!  chirrr-uuup!  I'm tweeting!"

So you have to know for someone on Twitter, all these little bird conversations are hilarious.

"I gotta give my buddies some space to tweet in the trees"

MomSelect sent me this Christmas in the Forest Playmobil set (4155) to review at my discretion.   I actually didn't even know Playmobil made Advent calendars and we don't have any other Playmobil sets in the house.  It is designated a 4+ toy and my 3.75 year old is beyond smitten.  I may yet follow through with my plan to discard the calendar and boxes and lay out a piece of felt or fabric on which to unfold the scene.  Other than the aforementioned tiny! the woodland scene is delightful.  The feeding theme--think tiny carrots, radishes and cabbages---is going to be a predictable winner.

My big disappointments, other than the flimsy backdrop was the sheer waste in plastic packaging.  While I'm certain the plastic figures and trees will last for many, many years to come, I can't say the same about the rest of the set.   Bottom line---I would absolutely buy this and other similar advent sets for my family.   Open-ended play and storytelling possibilities abound.   I found this set priced at our around $41.50 and that is the amount I will add to the tally for donation to the Acumen Fund as mentioned in the "do even better" post.  

I'm sure this will be the first of many Playmobil sets in our home.  Any tips from parents of older kids on how exactly to manage the teeny tininess of it all?  I've heard from a few friends that have some of the different Advent sets and it seems that I'm not alone in fumbling over assembly, but I wouldn't let that stop you.  Even a few days in, I would say it's still not too late to find a set for your little ones.  The little kid in me is so watch this forest wonderland unfold through my kids eyes.  This is the scene my three year old created this morning, wooden trees courtesy of a train set.