Thanksgiving

I was sick over Thanksgiving break.  It was as if my body knew it was a good time to rest.  In another world, a bad cold would have kept me down for a day or two and then I’d be up coughing on everyone while doing the dishes and laundry, but this is the time of CORONA so my family locked me up in Mom’s old room which has its own bathroom and brought me food and checked in on me every so often.  I took the covid test at my doctor’s office, and he called me on Thanksgiving to let me know that it was only a head cold, which gave me the confidence to venture out and talk to people as I ate the leftovers Mike brought home from the restaurant he and the kids ate at.  All my plans for spending the week lesson planning, making pysanky eggs, and baking baklava went down the drain, though the Christmas cards have been sent out.  Instead, I watched eighties movies and judged them for their lack of social distancing.

We were supposed to spend a day driving out to visit Mom’s grave and play board games.  Instead, the kids had to make do with television and games of their own.  Mike bought a basketball hoop which we had installed on Monday.  Sophia video called me so I could watch the excitement of the kids trying it out in real-time.  While Jonah, Xenia, and Justin all loved playing basketball, Jonah was the best being the oldest and biggest of the three.  Sophia turned the box that the hoop came in into a huge sled painted white with ornamental circles and strips of Christmas foliage along the sides.  Xenia and Justin spend an entire day in that sled.

On Wednesday Jonah went outside to join Xenia at the basketball hoop.  Xenia wanted to play alone, and when they came in to ask Mike who was right, he told them they had to share.  Xenia refused to play with Jonah and hear him brag about how much better he was, but she didn’t think it right that Jonah should take it over.  Knowing that I was sick and unlikely to intercede for her, she went to Basil for help.  He grabbed his nerf gun, opened Xenia’s second-story bedroom window which overlooks the garage, and took up sniping.  Jonah came to me to complain that he couldn’t play basketball for fear of being hit by nerf bullets, but when he shared the whole story, I did nothing besides hide my smile. 

Sometimes it’s good to let the children handle their own problems.  It would be great if Jonah were aware of how his bragging made his sister feel and was thoughtful in how he spoke.  It would be great if Xenia could have a little more grace for a boy who was thrilled with himself. It would be a wonderful world if Xenia could tell Jonah how his words make her feel and Jonah could encourage her instead of boasting. In real life the conflict ended with no one playing basketball. However, Xenia felt empowered about being able to solve her problem, and Jonah did realize what he does to frustrate her.  It wasn’t the ideal solution, but the thought of Basil coming out of his teenaged bedroom lair to defend his little sister with nerf bullets is delightful.

We put up the tree on Saturday with the help of Sophia’s boyfriend Anthony.  It’s nice to have strong able-bodied young men around for heavy lifting.  I directed the event but was glad to not be lugging heavy boxes and tree sections around.    I pulled the Christmas piano music out of its box but ended up playing Christmas music on the phone.  Basil watched YouTube videos in the dining room.  Anthony sat out the Christmas decorating in the office.  Mike and I stayed in the music room, where we had a view of the front room, sipping hot wassail and reading, and Sophia, Jonah, Xenia, and Justin decorated the tree.

After the tree was finished, Sophia, Basil, Jonah, Xenia, and Justin sat in the sled put in front of the tree for a Christmas photo.  First, they ran upstairs to get dressed.  Xenia came down as a reindeer in full camo with her hair twisted up in stubby antlers.  Jonah wore a pillow in his shirt and a Santa hat.  Basil wore his ugly Christmas sweater.  After I took the picture and posted it on Facebook, the kids scattered.  Sophia went to hang out with Anthony, and the rest of the kids started running around.  Mike escaped to our bedroom.

I caught the kids as Basil, Jonah, Xenia and Justin ran through the music room and asked, “What do you kids want for dinner?”

The boys yelled, “Venison!”

I puzzled over that strange request during the meat-free Advent fast for two seconds before the boys pulled Xenia to the ground and pretended to eat her.  I snapped another picture just before she made her escape and the four of them ran through the kitchen, dining room, living room, front room, entry hall, and back through again.  Sophia and Anthony braved the mayhem to find me and suggest they bring home take-out from Fuzzy Tacos which I thought was a great idea.  The house had settled before they came back with fish tacos and a shrimp burrito for me.

I finished the evening watching the second Die Hard movie with Basil and putting the stamps on the final pile of Christmas Cards.  School starts up again on Monday and I’ll be ready.  Just two and a half more weeks to go!