Poptropidox

(I believe this has been my longest lapse since starting Life in A-Town. I guess it’s the holiday preparations that have consumed my usual post time. I don’t feel I have anything significant to say today, either. But I’ll blog. And possibly bore.)

I mentioned last post that Pearl has recently become a die-hard fan of Backyardigans. Her obsession persists. While Ben enjoys a good episode of backyard fun (oh-so-ironic, since the kids are actually glued to their chairs staring at the boob tube), his real passion these days is for an online video game called Poptropica. He is intent—intent!—on winning more islands. I am not sure what this means, but it concerns me, his level of determination to spend as much “quality time” as possible with a character named “Big Nate.”

About 3 weeks ago, we deemed it necessary to limit the kids’ computer time to 45 minutes per day. This restriction pains Ben, truly. It’s almost alarming (bordering on amusing) to see him writhe in protest when his Poptropica time is up.

“OK, Ben, it’s been 45 minutes. Time to get off the computer and play something else.” (This after a 10-minute warning and a 5-minute warning.)

“It hasn’t been 45 minutes!” snarls normally mild-mannered Ben. “It’s only been, like, 45 seconds!”

An ugly altercation ensues, ending with the computer off, Ben sent to his room, and parents shaking their heads at their son’s turn of character. Is ours the only 5-year-old showing signs of early gaming addiction?

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One other noteworthy obsurdity before I go wrap some more gifts:

Will and I took a rare trip to the McDonald’s drive-thru the other day. We were coming home from Ben’s “Gingerbread Man” kindergarten play, so maybe we were feeling a bit nostalgic for the fries of our youth. We decided to stop for some fish sandwiches (because ordering fish seems semi-respectable, even if the Fillet-o-Fish is anything but).

We pulled up to the walkie-talkie thingy, prepared with our selections, when the pleasant young female voice said, “Hello and welcome to McDonald’s. Would you like to try a Big Mac Snack Wrap today?” I practically guffawed in her electronic ear. A Big Mac Snack Wrap? It’s the most oxymoronic notion I’ve heard in a long, long time.

Then again, so is ordering quasi-healthy fish sandwiches with eggnog milkshakes to wash them down. Which we did. It’s a world gone mad.

Some Slices of Life

Pearl has become a Backyardigans junkie. It’s animated operetta…kind of “High School Musical” for the preschool set. I love my daughter, but her taste in music is getting on my last nerve. Is this how parents of the ’90s felt about Barney? (“Barney is far worse,” says Will from the other room.)

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Speaking of Will, his grocery-buying habits continue to amaze me. This is a guy who, as I have blogged on one or two occasions, personally spikes our nation’s sugar stats by purchasing cereals such as Reese’s Puffs and Cap’n Crunch, also routinely grabbing super-sweet yogurt products (YoCrunch, YoSnack—Yo, High-Fructose Corn Syrup), and rarely coming home without a jumbo package of Strawberry Twizzlers. And yet two days ago I opened the refrigerator to find a package of organic alfalfa sprouts. I LOL’d!

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Vi performed in her school’s “Winter Holiday Concert” last night. She sang a solo with the chorus in a song called, “Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child.” She also played with the band as part of a 2-girl trombone section that really rocked the house, especially in the upbeat opener, “Jingles on the Housetop.”

The vocal solo, in particular, was the cause of much anxiety in the days leading up to the performance. Yesterday morning, careful coaxing was required to deliver my dear daughter to the Middle School for rehearsal. Then, further coaxing was required to prevent said daughter from vomiting in the nurse’s office and retreating to the safety of our Home-Sweet-Home. To see my poised girl standing at the microphone, 10 hours later, singing sweetly of the season in front of approximately 800 people, was nothing short of a Christmas miracle. It was, in a way, a Susan Boyle moment—a moment when she faced the dragon of doubt and vanquished its fire with the beauty of music.

Thanks to my Moms group, especially, for praying Vi through the day and through the concert. (As one who has actually puked before many-a-big moment, I don’t take anxiety lightly.) And thanks to the music teachers for giving kids—and parents—these kinds of opportunities. Aside from Vi’s solo song, of course, my favorite piece in the concert was “Beautiful December” by Amy F. Bernon (link leads to a grownup rendition, not the A-Town 5^th grade chorus). Enjoy!

A-Charmed Friend

I got to show my friend Holly around A-Town last night, and I think she was thoroughly charmed. We picked this night to get our families together because, it so happened, there was an A-Town Christmas Festival going on the same evening. We’d have our supper and then take the kids to see Santa, sing carols, make Christmas crafts, and so on. That was the plan. And it worked! (Don’t you love it when plans work?)

The John and Holly family arrived a little late because I had failed to emphasize how truly “forever” it takes to get here from either of the major metropolitan areas to our east or west (at least that’s what first-time visitors often tell us: “I felt like I was driving forever!”). But that was OK. Kids eat fast (if they eat at all), and the grownups had about a half-hour to chat over Gypsy Stew before we hustled up the block to witness the Christmas tree lighting and join in the caroling. We were in view of the Courthouse lawn when the lights went on. We weren’t there, but we didn’t completely miss it, either. Good enough. (And, as it turned out, the lights malfunctioned a couple times during the caroling, so we got to see the tree “re-lit”…and relit again.)

“Fa-la-la-la-la!” Holly and I were enthusiastic carolers. Where we were standing, we felt like the only ones singing. Undeterred, we joined our voices and crooned with gusto. Holly is a really good singer who can harmonize without any written music in front of her. I was impressed.

As a bonus, Santa Claus showed up on an A-Town Fire Department ATV right where we caroled. The kids were duly duped and dazzled, and they earnestly offered their requests to the man in red. When I told Holly that the jolly old guy was the M-A-Y-O-R, she Awww’d with appropriate small-town sentimentality. (I was later corrected by Will, who knows everything-about-everything about local politics. Santa was a Village Trustee who had recently served as the interim M-A-Y-O-R—details, details…still sweet.)

The bonus of Santa coming to us was that we could head straight back to the house. “Baby, it was cold outside.” We sent Vi and pal to the Fire Hall with the pack of merry-makers and returned to the Waters residence for cake, cookies and coffee. Then, after about 45 minutes had passed, Holly and I went to retrieve the girls, which allowed me to show my friend a bit more of A-Town, sans little ones. We strolled by our church, the local pizza place, the Fire Hall (where Vi and friend had waited the full 45 minutes in line for balloon weiner dogs), and ended up at the Main Street coffee shop, one of my favorite spots on the globe. Along the way, we discovered my dad out walking. He joined us on the trek to the coffee shop, where a community band was playing a concert of holiday tunes. Enchanting.

We listened for a bit, then made our way back home, by way of the downtown craft co-op/variety store, where Holly found an oh-so-charming picture frame she simply had to have. And even though the proffered discount of the day was 15 percent and not the 50 that Holly’s optimistic ears had heard, she purchased it anyhow, because it really was delightful.

Back at the homestead, Holly announced to John that they were moving to A-Town. I second that Christmas wish!