 |
| Minnie snow globe |
The kids each had a Christmas snow globe that plays “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” when wound. Ella’s is a pink globe with Minnie on the inside, and we wisely had it sitting on an unreachable wall shelf in her room. Cal’s was a green globe with Mickey on the inside; and this we had sitting on his changing table-turned-dresser, the top of which is very reachable by even our youngest. Not so wise.
One morning early in our 11 stay-at-home days, I was brushing my teeth in our master bathroom, enjoying the pleasant noises of the kids playing nicely in Cal’s room. How sweet. Next thing I saw, Ella was proudly entering our tile-floored bathroom, Cal’s fragile Mickey snow globe in her hand. Yikes. Don’t act as alarmed as you really are. Our Chapstick standoff (see My Chapstick) came to my mind as I turned and faced her. She had no clue of the gravity of the situation we were in. I mean, that snow globe was heavy and breakable; and Ella... well, Ella isn't exactly sure-handed just yet. So I slowly moved toward her and ever so carefully reached for the snow globe. I may have been an inch from retrieving it when it slipped out of her hands and crashed on the floor, shattering into pieces of all sizes. Nuts! All that was left of Cal's snow globe was its green base, a wet Mickey figure holding a gift and many sharp edges surrounding him. I immediately removed Ella from the room and quickly cleaned up the mess, tearing a bit as I did so. I really liked that Mickey snow globe. How will Cal take this news when he finds out?
By accident, I just didn’t tell Cal about this. He never asked and maybe even never noticed that his Mickey snow globe was missing from his dresser.
A couple of days later on Christmas Eve, the kids and I ran some errands, and one of them was a stop at Bed Bath and Beyond for some candles. Every trip to Bed Bath and Beyond includes a little additional browsing for stuff we don’t need, and this trip was no different. I steered us to the Christmas section, and I saw a Frosty the Snowman decoration/toy that I thought Cal might like as a replacement for his broken Mickey snow globe. Tough to describe, Frosty was stuffed and soft, about 8 inches tall and kneeling on a blue felt sled. Under the sled were a couple of little wheels that, when Frosty was wound and singing his own song, would turn and bounce Frosty along whatever surface he happened to be on at the time.
Holding Frosty, I turned and asked Cal, "Baby Bear, would you like this Frosty to replace your broken Mickey snow globe?"
Cal responded, a concerned expression on his face, "My Mickey snow globe is broken?"
Doh. Rather than throw Ella under the bus, I chose this response, "Yeah, Baby, we broke it the other day. Should we buy Frosty to replace Mickey?" Of course he thought we should.
We barely had Frosty in our possession and Cal had already forgotten about the fate of his Mickey snow globe. We got home, pulled Frosty out of the bag, wound him up and watched him bounce around on the coffee table. If we did this three more times during what was left of our 11 stay-at-home days, I'd be surprised. Cal lost interest, and it turned out Ella was a little disturbed by Frosty. As for the Mickey snow globe, the only sign of sadness over its demise was what he showed in Bed Bath and Beyond on Christmas Eve. Foreshadowing to next Christmas, I suspect he will remember all of this, only slightly different than what really happened: "Mommy, remember my Mickey snow globe?" I'll say that I do remember it, and then he'll say, "Yeah, you broke it last Christmas." And I'll probably suck it up and take the blame for it.
A couple of days later on Christmas Eve, the kids and I ran some errands, and one of them was a stop at Bed Bath and Beyond for some candles. Every trip to Bed Bath and Beyond includes a little additional browsing for stuff we don’t need, and this trip was no different. I steered us to the Christmas section, and I saw a Frosty the Snowman decoration/toy that I thought Cal might like as a replacement for his broken Mickey snow globe. Tough to describe, Frosty was stuffed and soft, about 8 inches tall and kneeling on a blue felt sled. Under the sled were a couple of little wheels that, when Frosty was wound and singing his own song, would turn and bounce Frosty along whatever surface he happened to be on at the time.
Holding Frosty, I turned and asked Cal, "Baby Bear, would you like this Frosty to replace your broken Mickey snow globe?"
Cal responded, a concerned expression on his face, "My Mickey snow globe is broken?"
Doh. Rather than throw Ella under the bus, I chose this response, "Yeah, Baby, we broke it the other day. Should we buy Frosty to replace Mickey?" Of course he thought we should.
We barely had Frosty in our possession and Cal had already forgotten about the fate of his Mickey snow globe. We got home, pulled Frosty out of the bag, wound him up and watched him bounce around on the coffee table. If we did this three more times during what was left of our 11 stay-at-home days, I'd be surprised. Cal lost interest, and it turned out Ella was a little disturbed by Frosty. As for the Mickey snow globe, the only sign of sadness over its demise was what he showed in Bed Bath and Beyond on Christmas Eve. Foreshadowing to next Christmas, I suspect he will remember all of this, only slightly different than what really happened: "Mommy, remember my Mickey snow globe?" I'll say that I do remember it, and then he'll say, "Yeah, you broke it last Christmas." And I'll probably suck it up and take the blame for it.
No comments:
Post a Comment