Santa and other lies we tell

Christmas is the time for spending time with friends and family, for making cookies and for giving gifts.  Christmas is also the time when parents tell the most creative lies to their children.  Tonight, I found myself in the middle of a big one.  Earlier in the day, I got out my toolbox from the living room closet and forgot to close the door.  I got busy around the house and completely forgot about the closet.  So, I'm in the kitchen feeding Nora when Leo starts talking to me about something in the living room.  Honestly, I'm really only half listening, when it dawns on me what is talking about, our Santa presents are hidden in the closet that is wide open.  Thankfully, I have already wrapped them all.  I have no idea what I'm going to say to get out of this mess.  "Who are those presents for?" Leo asks.  I reply with the first thing that comes to mind, "they are for some other kids."  Needless to say this leads to more questions - "What other kids?, Why do you have them?, Can I have lots of presents like these?"  The questions are flying at me like bullets.  I respond again with the first thing that comes to mind "I'm helping out Santa."   Big mistake, why did I bring Santa into this.  We don't stress the Santa part of Christmas but Leo is really starting to pick up the idea from his friends.  He is totally into Santa and his helpers, the gnomes (for some reason Leo refuses to believe they are called elves, not gnomes like the one on the Travelocity commercial).  Now Leo is really concerned because I'm not a elf/gnome.  The lies are starting to grow.  I explain that he doesn't need to worry because he will have plenty of presents for Christmas.  I then suggest to Leo that we could call Santa later to check to make sure that Santa knows what he wants for Christmas, hoping I could put an end to this crazy conversation.  Leo informs me however that "Santa doesn't work like that and besides I don't have his number."  Great, now it's time to ignore him and hope he gets distracted quickly.  After thinking it over for a minute, Leo decides that my friend, Amy "probably has Santa's number."  How else can I respond to that one except, "lets give Amy a call and see."  Thankfully, this worked and Leo is no longer obsessing over the presents in the closet.  Mental note - Don't even think about opening that closet again until Christmas!

Superheros

Leo loves to pretend that he is a superhero.  I'm sure most little boys got through this phase where they pretend to be Batman, Superman or some other popular superhero.  Not Leo.  His superhero is completely made up and changes everyday.  I never know who he is going to be when he wakes up.  At first it was cute.  He had a cape that he wears and would pretend he was fighting bad guys that somehow make it into our house everyday.  I thought it was a phase that he would soon get tired of and move onto something else.  Oh no, not Leo.  For the past 3 months, Leo's superheros have gotten more and more elaborate.  When he gets overly tired or doesn't feel well, Leo will cry because he doesn't have real super powers ( Leo tends to be a little dramatic to say the least).  No matter how I try to explain why he can't fly or be super strong or have some other super power, he doesn't believe me and cries even harder.  Recently, he has become obsessed with the cartoon, Ben 10 Alien Force on Cartoon Network.  Apparently this boy Ben 10 has a watch that he can use to turn into aliens.  Now Leo loves to pretend that he is Ben 10 and turns into crazy aliens like Humongasaur and Swampfire.   At first I tried to humor him like a good mama would, but now it's just plain crazy.  Really Leo, I'm not going to call you Swampfire or Ben 10 in public.  But of course I do.  Why you ask?  Sometimes it's just easier to go along with Ben 10 than to try and fight it.  I even find myself using it to my advantage.  Ben 10 always eats all his vegetables.  Humongasaur needs lots of rest so he can fight bad guys.  Swampfire listens to his teachers at school and follows the rules.  I even call regular old spaghetti, Superman pasta and tell Leo that it will help his superpowers grow.  Now who is the crazy one?!  Oh well, I figure he will outgrow this one day but until that day comes, I'm going to make the most of it.

Billy the Exterminator

So I hate to admit this but Leo is obsessed with the A&E show "Billy the Exterminator."  He watches it every Tuesday evening.  He will sit there and not move a muscle, which is a big deal for my hyperactive 5 year old.  Not only is he fascinated with all the bugs and rodents and strange animals in people's homes and yards, he wants me to be fascinated too.  I'll admit, I was the one who turned the show on for him one afternoon.  He loves bugs and all things gross so I thought he might like this show.  Little did I know that I was creating a monster.  The show is strange, to say the least, but definately entertaining.  It is hard for me to get excited about roaches and spiders, though.  Last night, Leo was watching his show while I was washing the dishes .  He came running into the kitchen talking 90 miles an hour about some furry animal in a person's yard.  I just smile and nod, like a good mama.  Then, of course, he ends his story with "come see mama."  I can tolerate some things but thinking about what creepy, crawly bugs/rodents could be lurking in my house is hard to stomach.  Thankfully, I just repeat in my head, this could never happen in my house or yard and watch Leo get super excited as Billy traps some kind of furry rodent.  Who knows, maybe Leo has found a career path already.

Birthdays

Wow, what a crazy two weeks it has been!  Last Monday, Leo turned 5 years old.  It doesn't seem right for him to be 5 already.  For his birthday, we took cookies to his preschool for snack and took him to Chuck E Cheese.  I really am mother of the year for that one.  I'm pretty sure that my version of Hell is a crowded Chuck E Cheese!  Thankfully, it was a Monday afternoon so we had the place to ourselves.  Leo had a blast, of course and even Nora got in on the fun.  She loved dancing to the music and crawling around.  We also took Leo to Toys R Us (or Toys That R Us as Leo calls it) to pick out any toy he wanted for his birthday.  It was a fun but long day (the Chuck E Cheese and Toys R Us were an hour away from our house).

Today is Nora's first birthday.  It's even stranger to think of her as a toddler now.  For Nora's birthday, we had the traditional birthday party at Nana's house.  She loved being the center of attention and eating her cupcake.  It was a lot of fun to see friends and family from Birmingham.  Tonight for dinner we are having all of Nora's favorite foods, mac and cheese, oranges, and peas.

I'm both relieved that we survived Nora's first year (and the adjustment of having two kids) and a little sad.  Honestly, I'm not sure if I will miss the baby times.  It is a lot of fun now that Nora has a little personality and can actually play with Leo.  Since we are not going to have anymore children, it's time to say bye-bye baby and hello toddler!

Questions

Today, like most days lately, Leo started the day with his never ending stream of questions.  "How do you make cars?"  "How did God make cats?"  "Where does that road go?"  "Why does it get cold in the morning?"  I really try to answer the questions as honestly as possible.  I'm proud that Leo is inquisitive but sometimes it drives me crazy!  How do you really answer some of these questions?  I don't know how God made dogs.  I could not begin to explain why Leo can't really turn into Superman and fly.  No matter how I try to answer these wild questions, it is never good enough.  My answer turns into more questions.  After a morning of questions followed my an afternoon of more questions, I snapped.  I turned to Leo and told him that I was all out of answers today and he would have to wait till tomorrow to ask any more questions.  I cross my fingers and hold my breath, hoping Leo will believe me.  Hallelujah, it worked.  He simply turned around and said "OK mama."  Wow I'm definitely Mother of the Year today.  I just lied to my 4 year old for a few minutes of peace.  Oh well, sometimes a mama has to do what a mama has to do in order to save her sanity!