Santa Claus comes to the Teddy Bear Tea Party.
LaVerne, Raina's adopted grandmother, and Raina trekked out to the Teddy Bear Tea Party yesterday to eat finger sandwiches, play bingo, and learn proper tea-time etiquette. Raina now knows to pinky-up her tea cup, to dap delicately with her napkin, and to ask politely before having thirds and fourths and then eating off the neighbor's plate.
Each kid received a teddy bear and the chance to visit with Santa. We don't do the Santa thing in our house, so I was interested to hear Raina's stories when she got back. She did not disappoint.
Raina: I met Santa today!
KSW: Really? What did you do?
Raina: I sat on his lap. That was weird. (And she scrunched up her face as she wondered whether that was a polite thing to say.)
KSW: (Nods, because having little girls sitting on some random guy's lap is REALLY weird.) Anything else?
Raina: I asked for a baby stroller for my baby doll. And he said he'd bring me one for Christmas.
KSW: Hmmm. Well, Raina, I don't think that's going to happen. We don't celebrate Christmas. And Santa has never been to our house before, so I don't think he'll start now. But we're celebrating the new year with a gift; if you want, Daddy and I can get you a baby stroller.
Raina: (Thinking hard as she decides a good plan.) Okay, let's do this. If Santa doesn't bring me a baby stroller on Christmas, then we can go shopping for one together.
Awesome. And I mean it. I fully expected the Santa conversation to be a knock-down drag-out battle over "presents, presents, presents!" Raina wants one thing and, when asked later, she said she wanted it because "Lola has one and this way there will be two and we won't fight about it."
It occurred to me on the drive home that I have never purchased a gift for my daughter and presented it to her all wrapped up. She has never received a holiday or birthday gift from us, so she's never had the surprise of guessing what a gift is from her parents. She's so incredibly excited to receive goodies of any sort -- getting a sticker puts her sky-high for hours -- so I'm interested to see if her face is all happy when she unwraps it or if she'll have a blase "I already know what this is" expression. Does the surprise and anticipation make the gift?
Each kid received a teddy bear and the chance to visit with Santa. We don't do the Santa thing in our house, so I was interested to hear Raina's stories when she got back. She did not disappoint.
Raina: I met Santa today!
KSW: Really? What did you do?
Raina: I sat on his lap. That was weird. (And she scrunched up her face as she wondered whether that was a polite thing to say.)
KSW: (Nods, because having little girls sitting on some random guy's lap is REALLY weird.) Anything else?
Raina: I asked for a baby stroller for my baby doll. And he said he'd bring me one for Christmas.
KSW: Hmmm. Well, Raina, I don't think that's going to happen. We don't celebrate Christmas. And Santa has never been to our house before, so I don't think he'll start now. But we're celebrating the new year with a gift; if you want, Daddy and I can get you a baby stroller.
Raina: (Thinking hard as she decides a good plan.) Okay, let's do this. If Santa doesn't bring me a baby stroller on Christmas, then we can go shopping for one together.
Awesome. And I mean it. I fully expected the Santa conversation to be a knock-down drag-out battle over "presents, presents, presents!" Raina wants one thing and, when asked later, she said she wanted it because "Lola has one and this way there will be two and we won't fight about it."
It occurred to me on the drive home that I have never purchased a gift for my daughter and presented it to her all wrapped up. She has never received a holiday or birthday gift from us, so she's never had the surprise of guessing what a gift is from her parents. She's so incredibly excited to receive goodies of any sort -- getting a sticker puts her sky-high for hours -- so I'm interested to see if her face is all happy when she unwraps it or if she'll have a blase "I already know what this is" expression. Does the surprise and anticipation make the gift?
Comments