Ho Ho Ho...it's that time of year again. "Winterfest", as Bronwyn's school seems to call it. For heaven's sake! (I mean, for "nice-place's" sake!). This system of watering everything down until it all becomes bland, meaningless, and stupid irritates me. Anyway, that's not what I mean. I mean it's that time of year when I crawl out of bed feeling, and looking, as though I attended a crazy party the night before, got totally bombed, and then slumped into bed at around 3AM. But no, the sad truth is that I got to bed relatively early (and sober), had a few boring dreams AND STILL manage to look and feel like a wreck. It's the time of year when I don't even bother to shower in the morning...I just grab the same clothes that I had on the day before and scrape my greasy hair back into a pony tail. If I'm feeling energetic I will splash water on my face. I drink very strong coffee and hassle the kids, repeating the phrase, "Come on, we're going to be late" about 100 times until it becomes meaningless even to my own ears. Then I put on my baseball cap and jacket and we head off we go to school...arriving late. Yes, officially, no longer making an effort. Good job school's finished for the year. I need a Winterfest break...soon...it is coming, I can almost hear the jingly-tinkly sound of ice-cubes in a cocktail shaker.
We attended Mark's work "Holiday" dinner on Wednesday. It was at VanDusen gardens. The lights were fantastic; numerous and twinkly, but the music wasn't up to much. It seemed very slow compared to previous shows that we've been to. Maybe my expectations are getting too high. I am often underwhelmed and difficult to impress (I think that's where Bronwyn gets it). When I first saw Stonehenge I was disappointed. To my eternal shame, my first remark was, "It's not as big as I thought it would be." And it wasn't. River enjoyed the lights at VanDusen...I think watching millions of lights turning on and off to music is one of River's dreams comes true. It could only be made better if he could actually switch the lights himself.
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| Happy Jolly-day! |
We did decorate the "Winter tree" last weekend. Here it is...
River had his preschool holiday party today. It was fun, although he spent most of it running around. Santa and his wife came to give out gifts. River didn't really know who they were.
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| Who are these people? |
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| Jingle bells, jingle bells... |
So Friday was Bronwyn's last day of term. She is positively humming after a week of crazed hype and seasonal activities at school. I must admit I do enjoy seeing how excited and happy the kids get. Lately, I have overheard parents (and people on the radio) going on about how the holiday season isn't like it used to be, how kids today are the "right here, right now" generation, how they no longer understand anticipation, how they don't really appreciate the toys they get (and they get too many that break quickly and end up in landfills, polluting the planet) etc., etc. I suppose there is some truth to it. I may be an optimist, but it seems to me that children today are far more knowledgeable and caring than previous generations. I hate to the think of the weight of guilt and responsibility that they have to carry. The messages they hear seem to be something like, "We trashed the planet (with your grandparents and great-grand parents etc) and it's up to YOU to put it right. And if you don't, the planet and all the people and animals will DIE and it will be YOUR fault because you don't appreciate anything. Merry Winter!"
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