Tag: holidays (Page 12 of 19)

Christmas 2013

December 26, 2013 / DB

First, my obligatory annual statement about how fast Christmas flies by when you’re an adult. The time from final dismissal before Christmas break for the girls to about 9:30 last night, when the kids were all in bed, most of the clean-up was done, and we could just sit and relax seemed to pass in a blur. I think that’s because we had a fine Christmas.

As is tradition, we had an uncle and two aunts join us for Christmas morning. I’m pretty sure our girls have never opened gifts with just S. and me, and we’re glad that someone is always willing to come hang out with us during the craziest 20 minutes of the year.

The girls did well. M. got the Monopoly game she requested, some My Little Pony stuff, and a new outfit for her American Girl doll. She also got Wipeout 3 for the Wii in her stocking. An interesting combination of gifts that fits a nine-year-old who sits between little girldom and pre-teendom.

C. got a Crayola Melt ’n Mold machine, which will cause trouble at some point, we are certain. She also got a Nintendo DSi and an outfit for her doll plus a Wreck It Ralph game for the DSi in her stocking.

Finally, L., who cleaned up. She got the obligatory new American Doll outfit, but she also upgraded from her Bitty Baby to Saige, the official doll of the year for 2013. Then she got a Hot Wheels racetrack and a four-pack of cars. Despicable Me 2 was in her stocking. Finally, with C. getting the new DSi, L. got her old DS. Like I said, she cleaned up! And another girl with a funny combination of gifts, hers being dolls and race cars and technology.

They didn’t get everything on their lists, which they knew coming into the day. But I’m pretty sure they were happy, because there were never any comments of, “Well, what I really wanted was…”

Later in the day, the girls got bean bag chairs and fuzzy blankets from their Mimi. For the rest of the day they never put them away, dragging them to each room they were sitting/playing/watching TV in. They even wanted to sleep in them last night.

By the way, M. never showed any outward signs of doubting Santa. As a parent, especially a parent who is really into all the trappings of the holiday season, I must admit I’m conflicted about that. For the past 2-3 Christmases, I’ve approached December with the worry that it would be the last all-kid Christmas in our house, knowing M. would figure things out at some point. So, one one hand, I’m pleased that the kid magic of the holiday endured another year. I’m not looking forward to the sullen teen years when the girls are shitty with us because we got them the wrong things.

On the other hand, sometimes I think to myself, “She is nine now. I knew when I was nine. How can she not know?” Other parents will understand this mental conflict. She’s not the type of kid who would keep it to herself if she knew. At least I don’t think so. Maybe I should give her more credit.

Anyway, Christmas 2013 was one in which all three girls were still very much into Santa, the Elf on the Shelf, and all the other secular, kid-oriented mysteries of the season.

As has been the case in recent years, we hosted most of the family Christmas Day activities. We had the immediate family over for brunch after gifts. Then more extended family came over in the afternoon for dessert. I think we had 14 in the morning and 21 in the afternoon, which is light for us. Two wings of the immediate family were not here this year, accounting for eight people. We did have one of our Denver residents and our Boston representatives in town, though.

So, Christmas Day was terrific. S. is back at work today, but there are still relatives in town for a few more days. We have a family game night on the agenda for tonight. There will likely be some playdates and kid-trading with the neighbors between now and when school resumes on Jan. 6. And, hopefully, lots of good times where the girls are having fun with their new loot.

I hope all of you had great Christmases, too.

Holiday Jihad #2

December 19, 2013 / DB

Before some kid notes, another holiday jihad for you.

Years ago I sent a Christmas card to the parents of a college buddy. I found out later I had misspelled his mother’s name – I thought her name was Lara but it was actually Lura – and I was horrified. I quickly apologized and she shook it off, saying I wasn’t the first to make the mistake.

There’s a simple act of respect that goes into getting someone’s name right. It shows you value your relationship with them. That’s why I get all fired up when someone misspells a name on the address label of a Christmas card.

One family in particular has been sending us cards for nearly a decade with my wife’s last name spelled incorrectly. This is from someone who worked with S. for most of that decade. Keep in mind, S.’s last name was clearly printed on the uniform she wore to work. Her last name appeared on all kinds of paperwork that this coworker surely had to read. And we’ve sent this family our Christmas card each year, again with S.’s last name clearly printed on the return label.

But every year they spell her name wrong.

I get that we make it tough on people, having two different last names. But that seems like a basic part of sending Christmas cards: reviewing address to make sure they’re up to date, changing names after marriages, and ensuring the names you already have are spelled correctly. It’s an act of care and respect.

Anyone can make a typo. But misspelling a name, when you’ve had countless opportunities to see it spelled correctly, over and over and over again means you’re lazy, dumb, or an asshole. Or, perhaps, all three.

People…they’re the worst.

Holiday Tunes Links

December 12, 2013 / DB

A couple articles about Christmas music to share.

First, the Legend himself, Darryl McDaniels, aka DMC, talks about the surprising RUN-DMC holiday classic, “Christmas In Hollis.” I say surprising because an awful lot of people scoffed when it appeared on the first A Very Special Christmas album next to songs by Madonna, Springsteen, Mellencamp, U2, and Whitney. “That’s not Christmas music!” Au contraire!

And I think the importance of food is a big part of the reason why that song was able to touch so many people—Asian people; Hispanic people; Italian people; Catholics and Buddhists and Muslims. People could relate to that video, because what do you do during holidays and celebratory times? You sit down with your family and share that special meal. So not only does that record touch black people in the hood. It touches Jewish people, German people. It touches people all over the world.

Mom’s Cookin’ Chicken and Collard Greens

Second, why are there no new classic songs? In the last 30 years there have been what, three new classics? “Christmas In Hollis,” “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” and “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” At Salon, Chris Klimen argues that’s another consequence of the digital music revolution.

It’s a shame that A Mary Christmas, like an increasing number of holiday albums, doesn’t bother to submit any new songs for our consideration. Since consumers can simply cherry-pick the songs they want, why make the effort?

I do agree that Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” is solid. Good enough to enter the canon? I guess we’ll see if anyone remembers it in five years.

I also think part of the problem is some of the better recent songs are not necessarily safe for radio. The Pogues’ “Fairytale Of New York” is an all-time great holiday song. But you don’t want to be playing it between songs about the baby Jesus. Same for John Legend’s “Nutmeg,” which appears on Stephen Colbert’s holiday album.

All I Want For Christmas Is A New Christmas Song

Teeth And Programs

December 11, 2013 / DB

Deep into the holiday season, are we. The DVR has gone from about 30% full to nearly 70% of capacity thanks to all the holiday shows we’ve recorded. The pantry is full of the dry ingredients for our annual Christmas cookies, which we’ll make soon. I’m beginning to run out of new places to put Elf on the Shelf each night.

But our holidays got a jolt of newness Saturday when L. lost her first tooth. I didn’t realize her tooth was even close to coming out, but Saturday she had S. take a look at it, and with a quick yank she had a gap in her bottom row. She was very happy, and wondered aloud how much money the Tooth Fairy would bring her. Which set off an argument when S. said she got $5 for a front tooth and M. insisted she didn’t get that much when she lost her front teeth. I honestly couldn’t remember, and didn’t bother to look it up, but I think that’s right. Regardless, L. got $5.

I’ve always been pretty proud of my Tooth Fairy performance. Each effort has come without incident. The closest call came once with C., when I stepped on a Zhou Zhou pet that was lying on the floor and set it off. Luckily neither she nor L. woke up before I tossed it out into the hallway¹. And once I forgot to make the switch until morning. But it was C. again, and being our deepest sleeper, I had no problem slipping in and making the last-minute switch before I roused her for breakfast.

All this went through my mind Saturday night after I slid the money under L.’s pillow. So naturally, in the dark of a 7:00 AM December morning, she kept coming into our room and telling us she couldn’t find her loot. When she left the room, S. would whisper to me, “Where’d you put it?” “UNDER HER PILLOW!” I’d whisper back then flip over and hide my head under the pillow, trying to squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep. Fortunately, with some help from the sisters, L. found it. Apparently it had worked its way from her beneath pillow to the space between her bed frame and her mattress. But there it was, thankfully, and she was ready to go to Target or anywhere, really, where she could spend it.

That wasn’t her only excitement. Her class has been practicing their songs for the school Christmas program for a couple weeks. The Pre-K fills the special role of acting out the first Christmas. Parts were handed out Monday and she nabbed the plum role of Mary. No lines, she just has to dress up and hold a doll. But this is a Catholic preschool, so Mary is about as big a role as you can get!

Her sisters are busy practicing for their programs as well. M.’s class is putting on a Christmas mystery of sorts. She has a lot of lines, in the role of Mistletoe the FBI inspector. FBI stands for something festive and funny, but she left her lines at school and I can’t remember what that is. C. is an angel in the first grade’s living nativity scene next week. She has four lines and gets to help hold the star that guides the wise men.

So pretty heady times for the girls. Drama camp can’t be too far off in the future if they nail these performances.

This was back when they shared a room. ↩

Fun With Lists

December 10, 2013 / DB

There is a danger in completing your Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving: the kids change their minds. L. made a brand-new Christmas list yesterday. Luckily one thing on it is up in the attic, so she won’t be totally disappointed.

I know many of you saw this last week, but it was absolutely worth making sure no one missed it. Enjoy Deadspin’s Drew Magary ripping apart his seven-year-old daughter’s Christmas list. Long-time friend of the blog Stacey B. said it looked like something I would do. I am both honored with the comparison and upset I didn’t do it first. But my girls aren’t nearly as ridiculous as his daughter is.

“1,000 bucks.” This is Christmas, not an Italian wedding. Uncle Vito isn’t gonna slip you an envelope in between stints at the raw bar. We put thought into our gifts here. You want cash? Clear the spiders out of the attic. I’ll give you three bucks for it. A thousand dollars. Jesus Christ. I’m sorry, but you cannot have this.

My Kid’s Insane Christmas Wish List, Annotated

Seasonal Sounds

December 5, 2013 / DB

The era of cheap and easy streaming music makes it easy for anyone to assemble a pretty nifty playlist for the holidays. However, you need to go beyond just your favorite songs. You need to dive into Christmas albums and build sets that can be spun for hours as the soundtrack for your parties, dinners, and Christmas morning celebrations.

The core of these selections should be built around the holiday music of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Dean Martin.¹ But to do it right, you need to go beyond those legends. So, as my holiday gift to you, here are some fine albums that should be in the collection (virtual or real) of every discriminating holiday entertainer.

Ella Wishes You a Swingin Christmas – Ella Fitzgerald
Merry Christmas From Lena Horne – Lena Horne
Two albums filled with the lightness of the season and wonderful vocal performances. Fitzgerald is more technically pure where Horne bounces along in a jazzy style. Fitzgerald’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” is the perfect song to end the holiday season with.

A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector – Various
The Wall of Sound comes to Christmas. The Ronettes, The Crystals, and the greatest pop Christmas song ever.

The Nutcracker Suite – Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.
Jazzy takes on the holiday magic that is The Nutcracker? Yes, please!

Ultra-Lounge/Christmas Cocktails – Various
Christmas Remixed – Holiday Classics Re-Grooved – Various
A fine way to spice up the season with classic tunes by the original performers reimagined through new backing music. The Ultra-Lounge set makes each song sound straight out of 1960s Las Vegas. While Remixed puts the originals over beats crafted by modern DJs. Both albums are fantastic and perfect for the uptempo portion of the night.

The Ultimate Classical Christmas Album Of All Time – Various
And here we find the balance to the swingin’ tunes. Beautiful songs for late in the evening, when the lights are dimmed and you can enjoy one last drink while admiring the tree. Forty-three tracks, so best when trimmed to fit your preferences.

Each offer several fine choices. I recommend A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra, A Merry Christmas with Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, and Deano’s Making Spirits Bright. ↩

Thanksgiving Wrap Up

December 2, 2013 / DB

Mondays are for catching up. After a long holiday weekend there’s even more to share, so here we go.

The girls had a long, five-day weekend. We could have used warmer weather as we really needed to shove them outside more. I’m not sure where they get all their energy. Or why they refuse to listen to us.

Wednesday M. got a replacement for her fish, Sparkle, which died two weeks ago. He was the last of our original fish, lasting roughly 28 months. Her new fish is named Aqua, joining Isabella and Grizzly.

Thanksgiving was excellent. We have family members who are new neighbors and they hosted all the locals for the day. Lots of good food, although I am a little sad that I can’t completely stuff myself like I used to. It’s not about trying to limit my intake because my metabolism has slowed down, either. My stomach just won’t accept as much food as it once could. As I told the girls that night, I remember one year in high school we had our Thanksgiving dinner mid-afternoon. Then a friend invited me over, I thought just to hang out. Turns out his family was having their Thanksgiving dinner at regular dinner time. So I sat down and had a whole second meal. Since I was 16 or 17, I’m sure I gained approximately a quarter pound that day.

Elfie, our girls’ Elf on the Shelf, magically appeared, ringing the doorbell as the girls were coming up from the basement for dessert. So far he’s hidden in the drapes in our kitchen, on a lampshade, under the Christmas tree with Barbie in her car, and in the drawer of our entryway table.

Friday was decoration day. I had to laugh at myself. As I drove up to our traditional Christmas tree place, at 10:00 or 10:30 AM, I felt a nervous energy and had Mr. Parker’s line from A Christmas Story going through my head, “If we don’t hurry all the good trees will be gone!” On the morning after Thanksgiving.

Fortunately there were plenty of good trees left and we got a beaut. The rest of the decorations went up, I strung our few exterior lights, placed our penguin at the front door, changed our welcome mat, and we were good. Every year I think about putting up more elaborate lights, but this wasn’t the year to do it.

While we were putting the tree up, I was spinning some of my favorite holiday tunes. The Mr. Hankey song came on and L. dropped what she was doing, yelled, “Ohhh yeah!” and started clapping and jumping around. That’s a parenting merit badge, right there.

As we do on years we don’t host Thanksgiving, we had our own mini-Thanksgiving meal with a turkey breast and the most important sides.

Saturday the girls went over to their Mimi’s to help her decorate. Since we are all about being done as early as possible, all their gifts were already here, hidden away in their Amazon boxes. We took their time away to get everything wrapped. Or, I should say, S. got everything wrapped. She smartly doesn’t let me within ten feet of a roll of wrapping paper. So now, other than getting some more stuff for their stockings, our kid Christmas prep is done.

After we picked the girls up we decided to beat the shopping crowds and went straight to a casual Italian place for dinner. We walked in at approximately 4:39. The hostess asked us if we had a reservation. It was hard for me not to laugh in her face, or make a sarcastic comment like, “Oooh, we don’t. Do you think you can squeeze us in?” There were maybe five tables occupied, and by the time we left the place was maybe a third full.

L. got a gift card for a local movie theater at her birthday party. We finally put that to use Sunday and took the girls to see the new Disney princess movie Frozen. They loved it and I thought it was pretty good. Without giving away too much, for those of you who hate spoilers, there’s a key moment at the end where two sisters come together to save the day for all the good people of the story. Afterward, I asked the girls if they understood the point of that moment. After I got a bunch of blank looks, I said, “Always love your sisters!”

M. immediately shot that down. “Dad, it’s just a movie, there’s no point!”

Don’t think I’m not saving that for the next time she takes a movie or TV show too seriously.

So the 2013 Holiday Season is underway. I’ll say it again, knowing I’ve said this for the past couple years: this could be the last, big, all-kid Christmas in our home. So I’m going to soak in as much holiday goodness as I can. M. shows no outward signs of “knowing” anything. She’s about as into all the little holiday traditions that involve magic-over-logic as can be. Of course, she could be hiding her understanding to make sure she doesn’t miss out on presents Christmas morning. We know plenty of other nine-year-olds who have things figured out. But I just plan on assuming she believes until she tells us otherwise; I’m not forcing the issue.

Sports: Mixed bag.

KU basketball was awful in the Bahamas. How did that team beat Duke? But I expected rough moments in the first half of the season. If they don’t work out their issues things could get ugly quickly, with road trips to Colorado and Florida up next, and New Mexico, Georgetown, and San Diego State soon after.

KU football. While the result against K-State wasn’t a surprise, the how of it was. Jake Heaps actually looked pretty solid most of the time I was watching. I don’t know how much of that was the offensive line finally playing half-way decent vs. K-State not trying to put too much pressure on him. But he looked calm and was zipping the ball around. Only to watch his receivers drop it over-and-over again. A couple of the drops made you wonder if they were intentional they were so pathetic.

I don’t love Charlie Weis, but I’m also not an advocate of forcing him out after two years. The last two Mangino recruiting classes were weak. Turner Gill got a few headline players but little depth. And Charlie’s first full recruiting class, which took the field this fall, famously fell apart like a family picture in Back To The Future. Charlie has to get at least one more year. And hopefully handing over the offense to a new play caller next year will help. Oh, and having one of these big-time transfers actually deliver on their promise would help a lot, too.

Colts: I saw the second half of the game. They continue to Meh their way through the second-half of the season. Too many holes on defense, too many injuries on offense. The Chiefs are going to come to Indy and kick the Colts’ ass in the Wild Card round. The promising start seems like a long time ago.

Speaking of receivers who can’t catch, Darrius Heyward-Bey had at least one more awful drop Sunday. That was his reputation coming in. Nothing has changed this year. The reaction shot of Reggie Wayne after DH-B’s fourth quarter drop, which came at a huge moment, was terrific. Colts fans have been lucky not just to go from Peyton to Luck, but that there have been so many sure-handed receivers here over the last decade-plus. Marvin Harrison and Wayne caught everything. Brandon Stokely and Dallas Clark were terrific. Pierre Garçon wasn’t perfect, but he caught some important balls. T.Y. Hilton has turned into a fine catcher. Coby Fleener had a rough rookie year but has improved tremendously this year. But Heyward-Bey? Yikes.

Pacers: Also caught the second half of the Pacers-Clippers game, the first of a big, five-game west coast run. The Pacers built a big lead in the third quarter, weathered the inevitable Clippers run, and made big plays late to move to 16-1 now, going to Portland tonight. Later is a swing through San Antonio and Oklahoma City followed by a home game with the Heat. They’ll pick up at least one loss in that stretch, but if you don’t pay attention to the NBA, trust me, this team is really good. That record is no fluke.

Happy holiday season!

Busy Times

November 4, 2013 / DB

A very busy few days. So let’s catch up quickly.

Halloween was postponed a night in most of central Indiana thanks to some heavy rain and dangerous winds that rolled through Thursday. It actually wasn’t bad until most kids would have been inside, but I doubt walking through the rain would have been very much fun for anyone. Friday was a gorgeous, mid-fall evening. We had a peacock (M.), cat (C.), and Power Ranger (L., of course). They were quite successful in the 90 minutes or so we were out.

We hooked up with a couple other families and at one point had 10 or so girls in our group. Which of course is all kinds of difficult, as certain kids are running ahead while others are dragging behind. At one point a few of the girls were yelling at others “WE’VE ALREADY BEEN TO THAT HOUSE!” The parents had to let the screamers know they were two houses ahead of the rest of the group and needed to chill out so everyone could catch up.

Friday was also All Saints Day, as my Catholic friends know. This one was especially poignant as it was the final year one of our girls was participating in the St. E’s parade of saints. L. reprised her role of St. Margaret of Scotland, and did so with aplomb. She marched right up to the mic and owned it. “I’m St. Margaret of Scotland. I helped feed the poor.” Of course, she said the same thing last year. And she saw M. rock the St. Margie gear at least once. Still, not every kid was as confident as she was.

Saturday I covered the state cross country meet, which meant a long, boring drive out to Terre Haute. It was brisk but dry, and really a fine day for early November. I only had three kids to worry about, but one of them had a legitimate chance to do well in the boys race. He did extremely well, running in one of the top three spots for the entire race, well ahead of the main pack after about the first kilometer. He finished second, partially because the kid who was leading by 20 meters collapsed about 200 yards short of the finish. But still, my kid did great.

His sister took 10th in the girls race a few minutes later, and I had a nice little theme to build my story around. Never mind that I did the same thing when I covered the regional meet two weeks ago, or the writer who covered the semistate race between just wrote about them, too.

We hosted some of our soccer team friends Sunday night for dinner and fun.¹ I drank some good beer and ate a lot of good food. So with the Colts down 18 at halftime, I packed it in. You’d think I would know better by now. But in my defense, Houston looked fantastic in the first half, the Colts awful, and two huge calls went against Indy as well. Just seemed like one of those nights when it wasn’t meant to be. I even woke up in the middle of the night and wondered if I should check the score to see what happened, just in case the Colts made a game of it. I’m glad I passed. I may not have gotten back to sleep if I had seen the score at 2:00 AM. 6-2, 2-0 in the division.

Now soccer is over and we can move on to important things like blowing leaves three times a week. We need one more good storm to clear out most of the trees, although just about everything left is a gorgeous gold right now.

Coming up this week, some leftover baseball links, the books of October, and the giddy look ahead to the Andrew Wiggins experience, which officially begins Friday. Oh, and I think I already have a groovy vid picked out for Friday.

A soccer season round-up is coming later this week. ↩

Holiday Mania

October 30, 2013 / DB

The girls are on high alert, as the holiday season officially begins this week. There is extra tension in the air this year, as the Indy area is expected to get hit with big storms tomorrow night, likely to include heavy rain, damaging winds, and lots of lightning. Several cities have already postponed trick-or-treating until Friday. Our city has not done so yet, but it would not surprise me if that changes in the next 24 hours. When I told the girls about other cities postponing yesterday, at first they were disappointed, but after a moment, they got really excited about it. Trick-or-treating on Friday, November 1?!?! It will be the most special Halloween ever!!!

In the meantime, there is nervousness over their costumes. They bought theirs three weeks ago and wore them around the house for several days after. Naturally, we’re missing accessories, tails need to be re-sewn, etc. In full Father Of The Year mode, I just keep saying, “I told you to be careful with them.” I have a feeling all the issues will get worked out before they leave to house to collect their treats.

Taking things to a whole other level was the arrival of the Target Christmas toy catalog on Monday. The girls have spent hours pouring through it, circling and putting their names next to items they want. It’s still early, but I think they will each ask for approximately 195 things this year. L. keeps yelling, “Guess what I’m getting for Christmas?!” which I quickly shoot down with, “You don’t know if you’re getting anything. You want to show my what you’re asking for for Christmas.” Already on my nerves.

The best request is that both L. and C. would like those little motorized cars that they can ride around in. One of L.’s buddies has two and each time she goes to his house, she spends most of the time driving his mini-Escalade around. Since she’s the expert, the sisters have decided that L. with “teach” C. how to drive one. I almost want to get them one so that I can see what L.’s driving instructions entail.

I was mildly annoyed when I saw Best Buy already running Christmas commercials over the weekend. That was alleviated a little by Will Arnett being the star of the first batch. Then Maya Rudolph showed up. Can Christina Applegate be far behind?

There are at least three Polar Express rides scattered across Indiana. One of them has been running ads on Disney Radio for three weeks now. We bought our tickets a month in advance last year, and had to struggle to find enough for our group of nine people. So I guess when there’s that kind of demand, you can justify advertising this early. Still, I’d prefer to see nothing about Christmas on TV until Halloween has passed.

Add This To The List

September 26, 2013 / DB

I’ll assume that people who are long time readers of the blog, and/or have known me for many years, have mental lists of my many odd traits. I’m not even going to jog your memories with a few examples. You know what you make fun of me for.

Here’s one more you can add to your lists:

Several times a year¹, I have a dream in which it is Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and I realize I haven’t watched any Christmas movies or listened to any Christmas music yet. And I freak out because between Christmas Eve Mass, family meals, and hosting people, there’s no way I’ll be able to squeeze in Elf, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, and my hundreds of Christmas songs before the season is over.

Now what the hell does that mean and why does it happen so often?

I had that dream last night, thus the occasion to share it with you. Now proceed in your fun-making.

Let’s say six, tops. Although I should really start tracking it, shouldn’t I? ↩