Where to Start?

It’s my favorite time of the year. I love Thanksgiving. I love that I hosted several members of our family here for dinner and got to use our china. I also love that the day came and went and ushered in the Christmas season. I do love Advent and the whole penitential mindset in preparation for Christmas. I’m looking forward to getting our Christmas treasures out of the basement and attic and decorating our home. This time of year also brings our anniversary, so we are doubly blessed when we pull out our Christmas decorations...many of those things were given to us as wedding gifts and serve as a reminder of a wonderful occasion!

But it is busy. I have a list as long as my arm of things to do...and as usual I’m doing too many things that really should’ve been done months ago. Making Christmas cards, trying to make Christmas gifts for friends and family... not to mention the shopping for kids and wrapping and hiding...

But it’s fun.

Today I got a laugh courtesy of J. She wandered into the kitchen to show me that she had independently removed her pants (what’s up with that? Why do toddlers have a fascination with undressing?!). She asked what I was doing. I told her I was making dinner. She asked “Is it ice cream?” When I told her no, she said, “No. Oh! It’s soup!” She then went on, in true J fashion, to restate her discovery. “It’s soup! Mommy make a soup! Puppy, it soup! Mommy have a soup! I have a soup dinner!” And on and on, until her little pantsless self was out in the living room. I laughed because her little monologues are so cute and will continue ad nauseum until someone actually acknowledges what she’s saying, even if it doesn’t quite fit with what’s happening (or make any sense at all). I also laughed because in her little world, nutrition apparently boils down to two things. And if it ain’t ice cream, it must be soup.