Deck the Halls with Bowls of Popcorn

We put up our Christmas tree last night. It's a sorry little thing that we borrowed from a friend (thanks Denise!) when we decided at the last minute to cancel our travel plans; a four-foot artificial tree that leans noticably to the right. I love it! But more importantly, the kids do too.

Having never put up a tree in the five years we have been married, we had no lights and very few ornaments. I made a special trip to the store for the lights (which were already 50% off! Hooray for last minute shopping.) and had the wonderfully brilliant idea of stringing popcorn as an inexpensive means of adorning our little Christmas twig.

The lights went on the twig the moment I got home. The kids, who were nearing bedtime and therefore already a little squirrely, were hovering around the action excitedly. We turned the lights on and Little E squealed with delight, danced about and clapped his hands. He now gets scolded about every 10 minutes for pulling/touching/wiggling nearby the twig. Goose sat at the base gazing lovingly at the twig for a good 20 minutes. I realized it would be best to put off the
popcorn stringing until the following day; any more excitment and the kiddos would explode.

We aren't popcorn people, so when I unearthed the popcorn popper from the basement and set it up in the kitchen, the kids were curious. Little E, knowing the chances of being picked up for a good view of the countertop were slim, retrieved a chair from the dining room and dragged it into the kitchen. He flopped his body on the seat, grabbed the rungs and hoisted with all his might.

He does this about 50 times a day and each time he does it I think about what the equivalant movement for me would be. I'm sure if I mimicked everything he did in a day I would eat much
more and sleep much longer than he does.

Anyway, the kids were wowed by the air popper. We could have stopped there and it would have been a successful activity. But, no! There was a twig to decorate! And so, in a move that some professionals may classify as certifiable, I set the popcorn bowl on the floor of the living room and handed my 3 year old a needle and thread. As I placed the sharp object in her hands I wondered if I was a stupidly permissive mom, but, Goose has amazing fine motor skills for a 3 year old and was aware of the pain needles were capable of inflicting (from watching me use them), and the stringing proceeding with only one needle stick. My needle. My finger.

I am not so entirely permissive as to give Little E a needle, so he was relagated to eating the popcorn. That soon lost it's appeal, so my resourceful son decided to create an indoor sandbox, dumping the entire bowl of popcorn on the floor. The entertainment kept the children's attention so well, I got bored and irritated with the mess first and despite protests put it away about an our after we began. Our own White Christmas. I think we've found our very first Christmas tradition.