Day 14: What Numeracy Means to Christmas....

Numeracy has become my new favorite word.  Numeracy, Numeracy, Numeracy....

Wikipedia defines numeracy as:  the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts. A numerically literate person can manage and respond to the mathematical demands of life.  Aspects of numeracy include number sense, operation sense, computation, measurement, geometry, probability and statistics.

What does this mean for Christmas?

I'll tell you!

This means four calling birds aren't six.

This means when I start an Advent blog I have to come up twenty-five witty or somewhat coherent blog posts.

This means how many gifts does each child need or want and what is my budget for each child and if I use a credit card for said purchases what is the interest rate and is the gift really worth it.

This means that if we are going to make the gingerbread houses I need to measure the sides so they match up just right and have enough red and green gumdrops and peppermint swirls for my son to complete his roof patterns without throwing a hissy fit it didn't come out even.

This means there are eight tiny reindeer not counting Rudolph who was added later.

This means planning out Santa's route around the world and how fast he is going and if he starts in Papua New Guinea when will he get to North Carolina?

This means fluffing a Christmas tree and putting the spherical ornaments in "triangular" formations. 

This means counting how many children are in line before yours to see Santa Claus at a shopping center, then looking at your watch to see how long you will be there and if you should get a tall, grande, or venti latte from Starbucks and still be able to wait in line before someone (you) has to go potty.

This means if you have to be at the church in your angel and cattle costumes at 9:15 ready to be in a pageant, you better set your alarm three hours early and have three outfits ready to go.

This means if you plan a cookie swap and need to bake a dozen cookies for each child and everyone RSVPS yes then you better start baking....

This means if you go to the Dollar Tree for ornaments and other plastic Christmas bling, it will all still be a dollar, so just count by ones....then multiply your tax whatever it is this week...

This means you will lose track of how many times you watch A Christmas Story, but the kid will ask for that gun every single time.

This means you really, really love your job, but know that those two weeks off are well deserved and you will go back to work ready to love your students,colleagues, and more numeracy!

Rock on teachers and have a nice long break!!!!

Day 13: The Smiths plan a family picture card

 Everyone has seen those extended family Christmas card pictures: the grandparents, the children, all the grandchildren and cousins. Everyone is wearing a complementary outfit  on a serene beach somewhere. It rocks.  It reminds me of a really long novel that spans two or three generations, like The House of the Spirits or East of Eden.  My family has never gotten their act together to produce one.

I have no actual personal experience to draw from for this. Therefore, I need to turn to the Smiths!

They sure could use a Wiki....


Mama Smith starts the Wiki:


I booked a session with Gunther Drosselmeyer to do our family Christmas card.  He is one of the best and very expensive and I don't mind paying it because I love my family THAT MUCH.  To show your love for me, I want everyone there at 10:00 am in khakis and a some form of a burgundy top.  Get haircuts or at least brush and comb everyone please.  I went by the Gymboree store and saw three adorable outfits for my grandchildren in their correct sizes.  I don't mind the cost, and please, please know they will get something else for Christmas as well.

Daughter Smith-Black:

The boys have hockey until 10:00 so can we make it 10:30?  They will be rosy cheeked but I will try to gel their hair back and don't be surprised if they don't wear the outfits, right now all they want to wear are their Lego Ninjago sweatshirts but at least they will match. I will have a long talk with both them and the coach about making sure they don't get bruised or bloody nosed right before a picture, but hey if one of them gets a shiner then this will be a documented record for when the Pens send a scout to watch them play in fifteen years.  I'll make sure they have short finger nails, wouldn't want them to scrach Emmeline again right before the picture.

Son Smith:

If I wake up in time I'll be there.  You might want to have some espresso and tylenol ready for me. I'm not sure if I have burgundy anything mother...is that a kind of red?

Daughter Smith-Jones:

I'll be there at 9:45 mother dear.  Emmeline already has the leggins and the hair bow from the collection you and I already talked about.  She and I have appointments early that morning for mother/daughter curls!  I would be happy to stop by the bagel shop if anyone wants anything-Bro, I'll make sure you have espresso-a dopio or a quad?

Son Smith:

Sure older Sis....whatever...if I wake up...don't text me if I'm not there I'm not coming....

Daughter Smith-Black:

Both of you make me want to throw up....

Mama Smith:

Can't my children just do one nice thing for me during the holiday season??????

Papa Smith still can't turn on the laptop....

I hope your Christmas picture was drama free!!!!!!!!!

Day 12: Mary was just a mom...

Today (December 12th)  in Mexico and other Latin American countries, they are celebrating The feast day of Guadalupe. I always wanted to talk about her when I taught in brick and mortar schools but I never knew how to work it in with its really heavy religious overtones...

It took me just about all day to figure out how to work her into this blog. Then I remembered it was my blog and I could do what I wanted.

I could tell you that she starts the "Guadalupe-Reyes Marathon" of celebrations in Mexico-From today until the Three Kings come on January 6th, there is one party and celebration after another.  Now would be an awesome time to be studying abroad in Mexico...

The best book about Guadalupe that I have ever read for children was written by Tomie dePaola. Check it out here. I visited her basilica when I went to Mexico in 1999. I'm not Catholic, but that doesn't mean it wasn't special to me.  The only thing that lessened it for me was the moving walkway that went by it-like I was headed toward an airport gate. Still, I'd go again and I'll never forget the image of her that appeared on the Peasant Juan Diego's tunic.  I love the emphasis on Mary-and how cool is it that all the other festivities start after hers?

She was the mom, and in the two stories about Jesus before he became an adult, she is taking on the lead role.

Forget newborn baby mommy in love for a minute.  Let's skip to age twelve.....


Mary was a day into her journey home to Nazareth before she realized she was missing her first born.  It was an 80 mile walk one way to the temple in Jerusalem.  He wasn't with anyone in their group and they had to turn around and get him.  Could you imagine the feeling?  Could she text him?  Could she call his phone and have all the elders and other citizens listen to her screaming at him how could you do this to me?  NO!!!  It took three more days to find him at the temple once they got there again.  Who gets blamed when something like this happens?  The MOM.

When she finally found him, his response was that of a twelve year old.  You should have known where I was, MOTHER...duh.....  

Really Mary, it isn't like he was normal from the beginning...silly you for freaking out when you couldn't find him....

My favorite story about Mary is when she and Elizabeth were pregnant together.  I wrote that up last year.  Literally, a year ago today.   Maybe Mary is always heavy on my heart on the 12th of December.  Call it her feast day, call it being a Spanish teacher, call it being a mother of three myself, but there she is.....The time she couldn't find Jesus is my second favorite story about her.  She was a mom and made mistakes and didn't always have her game on and had to deal with sarcastic pre-teens and other people judging her for the mistakes-just like the rest of us.

I'm glad to know I'm in good company...think about her on the Day of Guadalupe, Catholic or not, moms are moms...

Day 11: Getting dressed.....

My daughter is the youngest granddaughter on her father's side and the only granddaughter on my side of the family.  Between me and her two grandmothers, she always left the house looking like a children's catalog model for the first seven years of her life.

I don't know what happened when she turned age seven. Maybe it was an independence thing, maybe it was a mother/daughter thing, maybe it was something else, but she wanted to dress herself and the choices weren't always what I would have picked.


This became a full blown war about a year ago.  I won't lie, there were days when I gave in and let her wear what she wanted only to receive a call from the school to bring her something else.   There were days when I won the war and she pouted all the way to school because her socks matched and her bottom was covered.

This year I have kind of given her choices to mix and match, and although I still wouldn't have chosen it, everything is comfortable, on the right way, and seasonably appropriate.

Sunday is another issue.  We go to church.  The southerner in me doesn't miss church.  This was the one day a week she wanted to wear jeans. I had to put a stop to that too.

Among all the Hip Hop pants and Justice bling, I have made sure she has one nice quality skirt.  It's called a Flippin Skirt, and it was made by two super mama friends of mine who also happen to be sisters.  Check out their website here.

This morning she came out of her room wearing a mini skirt I wouldn't let an 8th grader out of the house in and a t-shirt with a sequin peace sign on it.

"Try again Frances..."

Then she came out yet again in a Christmas gown we bought her for extra special occasions-I'm sure her daddy will take her when he wins that Nobel Prize...

"Try again Frances...."

Then she came out in a sweatshirt from two years ago with a pair of jeans on.

"Just kidding Mommy, I'll be right back..."

Finally, she put this little gem together that restores my faith in her fashion gene:

That is her flippin' skirt and because it is made with such fine fabrics I know she can wear it probably until the fourth grade.  She will be wearing it again next week for the Christmas pageant and most definitely when she sings at the Epiphany service. 

Whenever we need to look extra nice, we will  pull it out.  No arguing...

Of course Frances, being Frances, had to one up me and out-do me somehow.....

Pink hair anyone???? (Dollar Tree during nutcracker hunt)

Get a flippin' skirt for your diva, or for the times you need a diva....

Day 10: A Nutcracker Scavenger Hunt

My sons have become obsessed with the Nutcracker.  I wrote about this yesterday.  Today was a cold day in the north and I didn't feel like bundling them up to run around the green but I also wasn't in the mood to let the television take over.  Yesterday we made Christmas Rice Krispie treats so baking was out.  Besides, I don't think I used enough cereal because the batch was quite sticky.  After haircuts and Legos, Barbies, and about ten Mouse King attacks, I had had enough.

We needed a Scavenger Hunt!

The mission: To see how many places we could find a Nutcracker.  If you saw one anywhere on anything, you shouted Nutcracker!  I kept score with tally marks for all three children (check out my numeracy skills-dear colleagues that read this blog). If we found the right one, we would buy it for our house.

They were all over this!!!!

We started with Wal-Mart, and oddly, they didn't have a big one.  They did, however have a New York Yankee Nutcracker ornament.  Kenneth won that round screaming:  "Nutcracker!  Nutcracker! Too bad it's not the Red Sox!"  Shhhh son, please.....

Next we hit the Dollar Tree.  This is just an example of how much I love my children, because only a commitment to a scavenger hunt would have me go in there for an extended period of time.  Side rant: there was a woman in front of us fighting over the price of an item-why would you ask how much something cost in a store called the "Dollar Tree??????"

Frances found the Nutcrackers right away. Lowell found some Nutcracker pencils!  Since it was the store that it is was, I let them each pick one Nutcracker item to buy.  Kenneth said, "Oh no, these are too little to crack a nut."

My son didn't seem to understand that these were for decoration and not make your own chopped walnuts for the mock pesto sauce....  Crap....Crap....Crap.....

We got the Nutcrackers and then I got bold, "Honey, we can go to the grocery store to keep playing the game, but I can also show you what a real Nutcracker looks like."

At the grocery store that stars in all my diaries, we found The Nutcracker on:  M&Ms, a tea box, chocolate candy, the egg aisle, and a poster for the ballet in New Haven.

We also found a real nutcracker:

And Kenneth began to cry."This is all wrong, this is all wrong, where is the man?  I WANT A NUTCRACKER MAN!"

Just once, I would like to go into that grocery store and not be the center of attention.  Actually, I'd like to go anywhere with our without kids and go unnoticed. It could happen.

I had to buy a bag of nuts and show my sons how much fun the other kind of nutcracker can be:

Please notice the Mouse King, the Nutcrackers, the pretzel swords, and the plethora of nut shells!

 
Now I am sweeping up nutshells as my children have sweet nutcracker dreams!

Frances found: three, Kenneth: four, and Lowell: two.  We found a nice one in a card shop that may show up here as a surprise in a day or two....

Plan a Scavenger hunt on a day you are bored, that was fun!

Day 9: Fighting the Mouse King

This is my fourth year at the Montessori center and therefore my fourth Christmas learning about the Nutcracker. I remembered watching it as a child in this post last year.  I saw it performed at least twice, but not within the last twenty years.  I have about twenty friends who were in it as children and about twenty more friends whose children are performing in it now, but I'm good to get my three to do the Christmas pageant. I'm not pressing my luck with a ballet in downtown New Haven.

As I said, I watched the play on PBS and twice on stage.  I never knew the details of it my sons seems to have down.  Forget Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort or Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.  My boys want to play Nutcracker/Mouse King.  Does this make the violence more acceptable?  Is this proof that boys will find a way to thwart my attempts at making them less aggressive towards each other?  Every time I turn around they have turned something into two swords and are humming Tchaikovsky while they whack each other.  "It's culture mommy!  Be proud of us!"

To be honest, I am kind of proud. I love it when they hum classical music in the back of the car, but it gets a little frustrating when the older one tells the younger one "your beat is off-it's blah blah blah..." I couldn't tell a difference between the two.  I don't think I can sing "Happy Birthday to You" in tune.  My children can hum the Nutcracker.

My kids can relate to the irritation and jealousy with a sibling.  They get it when Fritz breaks Clara's Nutcracker.  Again, this isn't permission to not have respect for a brother or sister's personal space or belongings because it is done to classical music.  It's just one more example of how it has always happened and always will.



They have a gift for pulling Nutcracker trivia out of their heads at just the right moment.  My three year old will see one at the grocery store: "Look Mommy!  There's a Nutcracker!  Now we need Clara and a Sugar Plumb Fairy!"  My ability to fool strangers in a frozen food section is amazing. :0)

I heard Kenneth tell a girl at his public school, "No, Clara is not a princess. She is not in Disney. SHE is a little girl in a ballet and sometimes her name is Marie."  One of these days he will learn to share information only when asked. Well, his mother hasn't learned that yet....

Tonight for their Friday night movie,  they asked to watch a version of the ballet and I let them. All three of them watched it and no one appeared bored.  Sure enough at bedtime, my tough middle man freaked out that the Mouse King was after him.  I thought he was putting me on until I realized he was sweating.

OK, this is wonderful.  Just wonderful. He has seen all eight Harry Potters and we only skip the snake scenes.  I think he was in the room for a couple of superhero movies.  I have a feeling he has seen all three Indiana Jones movies, but The Mouse King from the Nutcracker Ballet is making him shake?  Did he get a hold of my copy of The Black Swan?

I used my "Mommy Force," and it worked:

"Honey, Clara knocked The Mouse King out with her slipper, would you like a shoe in case he comes back?"

"More than one, please."

Now my son is sleeping with three pairs of shoes in his bed just in case the Mouse King decides to come get him.  I hope this is not at three o'clock in the morning and little brother ends up with a goose egg for fear of a rodent.

Every year and every season brings something new to learn from a classic. I can't wait to watch the Nutcracker again....

Day 8:The Office and the Christmas Party

The Office is the only show I watch on regular television consistently-everything else is on cable.

The very first Christmas episode aired in December of 2005 when Kenneth was two weeks old.  They were doing a "Yankee Swap" for an iPod.

Switching gifts like that is not the southern way. There have been some Christmas exchanges in my life where I would open a gift and I had no idea what the other person was thinking.  I just smiled and said thank you.  As I held my tiny newborn baby and his two year old sister slept in her bed, I knew that I would never have to worry about doing a Yankee Swap or a Yankee anything for that matter.  North Carolina was and always would be my home...

Ha ha ha life.

The first time I went to a Yankee swap it was a "Tacky Re-Gift Party."  I thought the tacky part was doing the re-gift, not the actual item.  I brought something nice to exchange...


 I have some very memorable moments from The Office Christmas parties:

1) Michael dressed as Jesus trying to get compete with  Phyllis as Santa.
2) Michael photo shopping himself into his girlfriend's Christmas card.
3) Jim giving Kelly the Edward Cullen vampire poster!!!!
4) Phyllis planned a Moroccan Christmas party...




 I'm really tired tonight, so everyone, take a moment to reflect on your favorite "The Office" holiday moment or another holiday episode from a different sitcom....

What's your favorite?