Last night I took both kids to Sam's Cub Scout Christmas party. I haven't been to a Cub Scout event in over a year - Ben and I have an agreement where he does all things Cub Scouts and I do all things 4-H with Maria. And it seems I really get the better part of the deal since 4-H only meets every two weeks for half of the year, and Cub Scouts meet each week during the school year. Not to mention the camp-outs.
But last night Ben had a basketball game, and since it was the Christmas party, and the craft looked pretty involved, we decided I should take Sam instead of having Gage's Dad take him. And I had mixed feeling about going - I was looking forward to the dinner - I love potlucks - little work with lots of food. I was looking forward to the end result of the craft - I have to say one unseen bonus of Cub Scouts is adding some cool, although very large, holiday decorations to our collection. But the reindeer required wood-working, and my wood working skills are pretty lacking. In fact, I can't think of anything I've ever done in my 40 years of life that could be categorized as "wood-working."
So Sam, Maria and I headed off to the party last night (Maria either had to go to the meeting or the game with Ben, and since her friend Makenna would be at the meeting with her brother, that is what she chose). We enjoyed a delicious dinner, and then the instructions for the craft we given. I was listening closely, most boys weren't listening at all - I guess that's why the parents are there. And its also why, as a teacher, I can't stand Cub Scouts meetings. I was relieved that no sawing was involved, only drilling, using a ratchet (I think that's what it's called) and some nailing. All the pieces were already cut. I prided myself on letting Sam do as much as possible. I also watched other Dads very closely so I would know exactly what Sam was to do. And I will admit that I never said no to helpful hints from some of those Dads.
Sam and I had a great time. He loves to put things together like that - and was so proud for doing everything himself - I only held pieces in place for him (even nails when he had the hammer, which was frightening but I only got hit a few times). When he was done, I took his picture with his reindeer and was thinking about how successful the evening had been. It was time to find Maria and head home.
That's when I learned that Maria and Makenna were making their own reindeer but were a couple of stations behind us. I had been so involved in Sam's craft I figured the girls were off somewhere working in Maria's Christmas puzzle book. But there were extra materials, and so they were allowed to make reindeer as well. My first thought was "Cool, now we'll have a matching pair." My second thought was "I hope Sam's not upset since Scouts is his thing." I was worried that he might feel bad about his reindeer because hers was a little more polished, since she is much older than he is. But he seemed fine so far. He was noticing that other boys were painting mouths on their reindeer, and he was bored, so he decided to paint a big black mouth on his reindeer and outlined it in red. And then 5 minutes later he decided he didn't like it. We tried to wipe it off, but the paint had started to dry, and so I told him to go to the bathroom and get a wet paper towel.
And that's when things started to go wrong. Apparently on the way to the bathroom, the thing that hangs on his shirt, where the boys collect beads for each activity they complete, had come undone and beads had scattered all over the floor. So he came to me in tears, and eventually I was able to figure out what happened - he was crying pretty hard and I couldn't understand him. So we went over to the area where it happened and I could only find 1 bead - he should have had five. Meanwhile, the paint on the deer's mouth, which Sam wants to disappear, is still drying. So I told him we would deal with the beads later and told him to go get that wet paper towel. He was upset but came out of the bathroom with a piece of dripping wet paper towel, which of course lightened the paint but did not take it off. So now he's really upset - he lost his beads and feels like he ruined his deer, which he had been so proud of 15 minutes earlier. I am losing patience and just want to go home.
We ran into Bryan, Makenna and Gage's Dad, who asked me if I would take a picture on my phone of all four kids and their reindeer (you can tell Sam is not very happy in this picture). But he also told Sam the best way to get rid of the paint would be to paint the whole reindeer head at home. So we take the picture and get out of there. Ben had called and wouldn't be home for at least another hour, which meant this reindeer thing was not going to be fixed right then. So I had Ben talk to Sam on the phone and come up with a plan to fix the deer in the morning.
When we got home, Maria gave Sam some beads that she had that were exactly like the ones she had lost, which stopped the tears, finally. Then she asked him if he would like to use her paint to put his name at the reindeer base like she did, and he was happy about that too. So now he was satisfied with the reindeer, and with the promise that Dad would fix the paint problem in the morning, and all was well again. He was in a pretty good mood by the time he went to bed. But boy did I need a drink.
After Christmas Eve dinner, each of the kids played some Christmas songs on the piano.
This was followed by most of us playing a game of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."
Then we each opened a gift - we give the kids new pajamas and Maria gave each adult a knitted creation that she whipped up in the last 48 hours.
Then came the traditional reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with Ben, leaving out cookies and milk for Santa, and off to bed with the kids.
Christmas morning was a flurry of activity, with the kids opening their gifts first, then the adults. The kids each got a mini-DVD player form Santa, and other toys, Lego sets, clothes, and winter outside fun stuff. The adults got the usual boring stuff - clothes, cookware, calendars, and books.
My parents left after lunch on Christmas day, and Rita and Darrell left in the late afternoon. The four of us played with more Christmas gifts, then watched Despicable Me before bed. All in all, another wonderful Christmas for the Kellers.
