Morning People

My oldest child is a morning person. As a small child, she was always awake before we were, and is usually awake and cheerful, even as an almost teen. This is why we set the rule that morning offically starts at 7 am. We don't want to be up earlier than that. Period. Even at Christmas.

Christmas when I was growing up was all about how early we could get the adults up so we could open presents. Because we were awake at 2 am, and ready to go, while the grownups were yelling at us to go back to bed. I remember a Christmas or two where we were able to convince them to get up at 5 am to open the gifts.

NOT so, our house. Presents do not happen until 7 am. Period. No arguments. I don't care HOW early you wake up. And mostly, this hasn't been a problem. Except for the year my brother-in-law came to spend Christmas with us.

He and my sister were engaged, and this was our first Christmas with him. He ended up sleeping on the couch in the living room, right under the tree and the presents. Mostly, he slept pretty well. He was able to weather the dog coming and sticking her nose in his face, and the noise from late-night people wandering back and forth to the bathroom. But when we opened his eyes very early Christmas morning and found my daughter staring at him with her big eyes, he was very startled. He was even more startled when he saw how very early it was. She had come down to quietly check the presents, and then stood in front of the couch hoping that he'd notice and maybe it would be okay to start Christmas early this year.

No such luck. He told her to go back to bed. Morning does not start until 7 am around here. Period.

Young Love

When my youngest was three years old, she met the man she was going to marry. He was in her preschool class, and the way he colored with crayons caused her to lose her heart. She would proclaim frequently that Sean was the boy she was going to marry. He apparently agreed with this plan, and told his family the search was over for his future wife.

When Sean invited my daughter to his fourth birthday, she was thrilled. I, as the future mother of the bride, was nervous about my child meeting her future in-laws. After all, their opinion could seriously shape her future. What if she said something embarrassing- knowing my daughter, this was not a stretch. What if she smeared frosting all over her face- also not a stretch. Either way, I wished her lots of fun as I dropped her off, and went to do some shopping before picking her up again. Sean's mother met me at the door. With a story.

At some point in the party, my daughter needed to use the bathroom. She asked Sean's mother where it was located, and she was pointed down the hallway to the left. She wasn't in there long. She quickly came running out, found Sean's mother and said, "The water's blue!" We don't put blue toilet treatments into our water at our house, so this was a new experience. Sean's mother explained that it was fine, and she could still go to the bathroom.

My daughter went back into the bathroom, but after a few minutes, she came running out of the bathroom, worried. She ran to Sean's mother again, and said frantically, "The water just turned GREEN!" Trying not to laugh, Sean's mother explained that it was okay, and she could go ahead and flush.

The rest of the party went without incident, thankfully. So much for impressing the in-laws, but I suppose you didn't HAVE to have a great relationship with your husband's parents.

When my daughter started kindergarten, Sean no longer attended the same school she did. After a month of kindergarten, she announced that she didn't love Sean anymore and that her other preschool friend Rachel could have him. She has fallen for a few other boys in her time, but with the wisdom of a fourth grader, she plans to wait before getting serious about marriage.

I just hope when the day comes that she REALLY meets her future in-laws, she does a much better job of impressing them.