Monday, December 6, 2010

celebrating St. Nicholas

Seven thirty this morning seemed so early! That's when Dennis opened his door to find a pair of Crocs stuffed with candy and small toys. We talked a lot about giving today, about doing nice things for others, about how Santa was originally a bishop and how he was known then for his benevolence. I looked for a project for us to do. Toys for Tots was my first thought--we'd choose a toy and then drop it off for a child who needed one. But there aren't any pickup locations in our town. We may do this tomorrow when we head to Birmingham. We considered taking treats to the dog pound, but didn't get to put our plan in action during their business hours. We planned to take a portable Feast of St. Nicholas to Uncle Denny's house tonight, but he was a bit under the weather. Rain check on that as well. So, we collected all our spare change and took it to the Salvation Army bell ringer outside Walmart. And we made mugs of hot cocoa to take to Gran and Pop while they sat out in the cold to watch some work being done at a property (only they sat in the car, so they weren't all that cold). We bought a Christmas gift for Daddy and wrapped more gifts, but I still wasn't sure he was getting the message. So as I tucked him in, I talked about how it was better to give stuff than to get stuff. He said "but I love getting presents and I don't want to give away all my presents." I asked him how he felt when he gave things to other people that he had made for them, and he thought for a minute and said "it makes me REALLY happy." Me, too.

In other news, he played Driveway Troll today, blocking my path and then stepping off into the woods and growling "I am an ANGRY TROLL, and YOU CAN'T PASS THROUGH MY DRIVEWAY BRIDGE." I did what any self respecting person (or billy goat) would do in this situation--I took off running! It's difficult to put a troll down for a nap, which is what I had to do when we got back inside.

No comments: