It's Christmas time again and I can't believe how quickly it's gotten here! With Christmas comes all of the fun activities; visiting family and friends, baking, shopping, decorating and school programs. Doodlebug seems to enjoy this time of year. Not just the excitement of getting new stuff, but the whole atmosphere; decorating and spending time with family we don't see as often as we'd like. This year will be the first time that he has ever participated in a school program where he will be up on stage singing with his classmates in front of his family and complete strangers. I'm not really sure how that will all play out, but we are keeping our fingers crossed all goes well.
His teacher has been prepping them during class and helping them rehearse the songs they are going to sing; "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Up on the Rooftop". He seems excited about the whole process, but shares little with us. What he did share wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. When I picked him up from school one day I asked if his class had been practicing their Christmas songs and he said yes. I asked him to sing a little for me and he proceeded to begin singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", but with some added words like armpit and butt cheeks. I calmly explained that while I didn't mind if he playfully sang the song in the car with his new additions, it would be under no circumstances acceptable to sing it that way in class or on the day of the program. He just said, "I know. I can sing it in the car, but not in my class." and then continued to exchange new words in place of reindeer into his version of the song.
I continued to press him for any details about his Christmas program and he rambled on incoherently about random things that had happened in class and then said, "But the most important thing is Christmas joy." I thought, "Oh that's nice." so I asked him where he heard the phrase Christmas joy and if he had any. He said his teacher explained all about Christmas joy to them and that everyone in the class had plenty. I told him that was nice that all of his classmates and teacher had Christmas joy. He quickly responded with, "Not my teacher." I asked, "Your teacher doesn't have Christmas joy?" He said, "Of course not. She has a classroom full of kids." I laughed and continued to press him for further information about why his teacher was lacking in Christmas joy. He thought about it and said, "Well, sometimes she has Christmas joy." Before I could ask another question he said, "She has Christmas joy when she goes to the bathroom.". I didn't even bother to ask why or try to get further details. I'm sure he notices when the teacher returns from a "mini break" to the restroom how calm and put together she is, while in the classroom she may appear frazzled and at her wits end. In the end I learned a valuable lesson; Christmas joy can come from anywhere.
