2.28 Meaning - Those Tiny Memories

Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twenty-eighth day of the month is "Meaning."

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For every holiday, the adults all end up in the kitchen because that's where everyone's doing their part to make food happen. The kids manage themselves, frequently holed up in the basement with a very occasional adult wandering through. (This is such a change from even three or four years ago when we still had toddlers. The youngest is six and the older kids watch out for him and we didn't have a single injury or crying child at all on Christmas Day. For those of you with young children, it gets better. We had all eleven and it was lovely and joyful and they were wonderful!) The kids wander up when they want food, there's a pot of chili simmering on the stove if they want "real" food before dinner, and there's a plethora of snack for all.

One of the eight-year-old girls comes up to her mother.

"Can I have some mini powdered donuts?"

You can see my SIL's face as she goes through exactly what this child has eaten today. Pancakes, syrup, one grape, half a sandwich, a million cookies, dozens of mini bags of M&Ms, and a snack bag of Lays chips. 

"Of course. It's Christmas."

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Our two youngest nieces, born just months apart, are 8. One of them got a glorious makeup kit for Christmas, with pink, blue, purple, and green eyeshadows, some complete with glitter. It didn't take much convincing for me to end up in the downstairs bathroom with them, helping them apply makeup. I became the invisible makeup artist (close your eyes, tilt your head, purse your lips, do you want glitter or no? peach or baby pink?) while I listened to them. They KNOW there's a swear word that starts with d, but they just don't know it yet.

"D-U-C-K?" 
"That's duck." 
"D-U-K-E?"
"That's duke."
"Hey, Aunt NGS, what's duke?"
"D-I-K-E?"
"That's dike."
"Hey, Aunt NGS, what's dike?"
They never figured it out and I'm so pleased that they're so precious and innocent still, despite older siblings and cousins and school and the ability to access the internet. 

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Zelda is not relevant to any of these stories because she enjoyed her Christmas Day at home, alone, with no interference from the dog. However, I'd like to note that if there's anything better than me, a couch, a book, and my cat, I don't know what it is. The book is Inda (meh), the blanket is fleece, and the cat was purring.

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Our 13-year-old nephew who has not yet gone through puberty (as opposed to the other two 13-year-old boys who are official teenagers) is quite good friends with the 10-year-old nephew. They are both the oldest of three and have a lot of complaining to do about their younger siblings. I was coloring in the basement (did you know I love to color? I am the aunt who will color with you for sure) and I think they honestly forgot I was there. I listened to them as they debated all the things. And then, IMAGINE MY HEART GROWING TWO SIZES, they started debating the pros and cons of the following fantasy stories: Wings of Fire, Keeper of the Lost Cities, and Percy Jackson. My little nerds!!

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The oldest 13-year-old nephew has been colonized by the six-year-old. As soon as the 13yo walked in the door, the 6yo grabbed his hand and I never saw them further apart than four feet for the rest of the day. The 13yo played games with him, threw him up and down to try to touch the ceiling (all of us were yelling at him about form and bending his knees and I thought he was going to murder all of us), and listened to him talk endlessly about Top Gun: Maverick. I have rarely seen such a pair of opposites enjoying each other's company so much.

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To see what Bestest Friend makes meaning of, go visit her at Too Legit to Quit.