Kiddobeans

Birthday Bash

On Saturday, our whole family went to a birthday party for Phil's nephew, who was turning 3.  A couple of church friends of the birthday boy were invited, but for one reason or another, it ending up being just family.   Now, family provided no slouch of a party, with nine adults and five children 3 and under.  For us, "Just family" always means a party because we are fortunate to have so many relatives living close by. 

All of our kid parties so far have followed that same model--lots and lots of family (for the kiddobeans, a party includes those mentioned above plus my parents and sometimes my siblings if they happen to be in town).  Little Man's first birthday, which included just our family and one other family of close friends, featured twelve adults and eleven children ages 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 1, and 8 weeks.  Now that's a party!

It's not that I don't enjoy these parties (I really do! and in fact Phil's preference would be to have in excess of 20 people for every kiddie birthday), it's just that I'm beginning to wonder if every birthday party that I give for the kiddobeans should include the cast of thousands.  As Little Man's second birthday approaches at the end of March, I find myself considering options other than the tried and true all-family party.  What about an outing instead, like a trip to the zoo or a special kid-friendly restaurant?  Or maybe a little party for the immediate family and the grandparents?  When should I consider a party just for the kids?  There are so many different approaches.

So what great ideas do you all have for Little Man's second birthday?  What have you done for your kids?  What were your birthdays like when you were young?  What is your favorite birthday memory?  Maybe one of you has the key to making Little Man's second birthday his best ever :-)

The Christmas Play

We have a multi-generational tradition in my family known simply as "The Christmas Play."  It started when my Mom and her five sibs were young.  They would write some sort of nonsense to be performed for parents and sundry other relatives, always ending with the classic line "Let's Invite the Neighbors in for Carols," which would then usher in the caroling portion of the evening.

My Mom brought the tradition to my three sibs and myself, encouraging us to sing the various carols and Christmas songs we had learned at school, basically as a stall tactic to keep us busy until bedtime on Christmas Eve.  Eventually, we started acting out existing Christmas stories on our own...the Nativity, "Twas the Night Before Christmas", and (famously) "A Christmas Carol" (in which we four actors played multiple roles to fill out the cast; I was all four ghosts).  This performance goes down with comic splendor in our family history because my older brother adopted a Scottish accent to play Scrooge, imitating the only adaptation of the story he had even seen--the Disney version featuring Scrooge McDuck.

My sister and I took the helm when we were about 10 and 12, respectively, and I have to say we really took The Christmas Play to the Next Level.  For the first time we, like all great artists, began writing our own original material.  Our first attempt was "A Christmas for Little John", in which the poor housekeeper tries to steel her rich employers piano for her poor, but musically gifted, son Little John.  We created recurring characters, including Plucky the Elf (who was known to save Christmas on occasion) and Sven the Street Urchin.  We included every possible inside family joke, and I recall dissolving in gales of laughter as my intrepid sister and I wrote these ludicrous plays.  We kept this up not just for years, but for decades.  The last play we ever wrote and performed actually featured my then-fiance Phil.  My siblings and I were 26, 23, 21, and 18 years old at the time.

Naturally, this is something I want to pass on to my own kids.  "They should do a Christmas Play!" I thought.  Nothing fancy, just sing a couple of their Sunday School songs.  I even re-wrote one of our favorite play-time songs "The Hokey-Pokey" with Christmas lyrics, so that we could all "perform" it together.  Well, of course 2 tired-out toddlers who are only midway into a multiple day celebration of Christmas could not be prevailed upon to perform on any level. It's only to be expected.  Still, I thought my "Christian Hokey-Pokey" was quite  cute and worthy of inclusion in any Sunday School Sing-A-Long, so I'm putting the lyrics out here for all to enjoy.  What's the use of having a blog if you can't self publish?  Enjoy!

The Christian Hokey Pokey

We put our right hand in
To do God's work without doubt
We put our right hand in
And we've got no cause to pout.

CHORUS
Our lives are okey-dokey
Cuz God's love is all around
And that's what it's all about.

We put our left hand in
To help a friend who's in need
We put our left hand in
Ready for every good deed.

CHORUS

We put our right foot in
We're walking in God's way
We put our right foot in
And as we walk along we pray

CHORUS

We put our left foot in
To stamp out selfishness
We put our left foot in
And it's other's lives we'll bless

CHORUS

We put our whole self in
We give God all we are
He gave His Son to us
Underneath the Christmas Star

CHORUS

Our lives are okey-dokey
Not trying to be jokey
I know it might sound hokey
But that's what it's all about.

Christmas Traditions

We had the best time finding and decorating our tree to begin the holiday season.  We cut down our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, in keeping with my family's tradition of tree hunting.  We began the day with brunch at a friend's house, then all went out together to find our trees.  That's our own pleasant addition to my childhood tradition (when I was a kid, we used to go to a tree place near my Grandma's farm after spending Thanksgiving with her at the farm house).   The kids loved visiting our friends, who also have young kids, but I have to say, they were not all that excited about the tree farm.  It was pretty cold that day, and they were bundled within an inch of their lives.  Poor Little Man kept tripping on the frozen ground and then rolling around trying to get up, like the little brother in "A Christmas Story."  Little Miss refused to wear a her hat.  I have trouble with her hats because they have to fit differently depending on her hairstyle.  I had her in a multitude of twists that day, and the hat just wouldn't stay on properly, so she kept pulling it off.  Eventually she wore my hat, and I wore her's.  That's all good except that I look like a dork in our traditional cutting-down-the-tree photo.  I have no shame...check out the photo at the right.

We had Phil's parents and grandma over to decorate the tree.  I made cookies and spiced cider, and it was all very Norman Rockwell, but in a nice low-key, natural way.  You can't force Norman Rockwell.  We have lots of pictures of the kiddobeans putting up ornaments, being helped by Mommy and Daddy or Grandma and Grandpa.  The kids were, and are, quite taken with the ornaments and and other decorations, especially the lights.  Little Miss points out every decorated and lighted house when we go out at night.  Her favorite decorations are the giant inflatables shaped like bears or penguins.  She's going to love our next little family tradition--driving through a local neighborhood that uses homemade decorations (of varying artistic quality) to illustrate "A Charlie Brown Christmas" in all the front yards.  It is so exciting to see the kids actually participating and helping to create the Christmas traditions of our growing family.

What Christmas or Holiday traditions are your kids most enjoying?