The girls and I are always looking for new things to discuss during our walks in the neighborhood. The holidays gave us lots of fodder, beginning with Halloween.
There were scores of pumpkins and some black kitty cats, which the girls loved to point out. One house a couple of streets over had some ghosts and witches hanging from a tree right by the sidewalk.
Although I hadn’t intended to teach them those words just yet, the girls were intrigued. I opted to call them all “ghosts” [fearing their mispronunciation of the word "witch"!], and we waved to them every time we passed. “Good morning, ghosts!” the girls would say excitedly.
And then one day, the ghosts, along with the black cats, were gone. “Ghosts?” the girls asked as we rounded the corner. “The ghosts went bye-bye, because Halloween is over,” I reassured them.
They accepted the explanation, but it still seems top of mind for them. “Ghosts, bye-bye…Halloween over,” the girls still say every time we walk by that house.
Many of the pumpkins stuck around until Thanksgiving. I’m not sure how the girls rationalized that against the pumpkins being gone. Maybe they were distracted by the appearance of a few turkey flags on our route.
The first of December of course brought a plethora of conversation topics…reindeer, snowmen, Santa Claus, oh my! The girls have never been so entertained!
Our walks – and car rides, for that matter – were filled with all sorts of holiday chatter all the way through New Year’s.
Earlier this week, I actually dreaded our first walk since our neighbors (well, almost all our neighbors…ahem…) took down their holiday decorations. We made our first turn, where the girls were expecting to see their first set of reindeer friends.
“Reindeer!!!” the girls demanded. As with our Christmas tree, and our Santa Claus collection, I had to explain that the reindeer are gone, because Christmas is over.
So now, what do the girls say every morning when they come downstairs to an empty den? Or when we pass formerly decorated houses? “Christmas tree, bye-bye…Halloween over,” of course!
Although without the necessary conjunction “because”, that is a true statement, the girls’ logic doesn’t quite hold…
…but give ‘em a break. I can see how holidays could be pretty confusing to a two-year old!
Ticker
10 comments:
LOVE their logic! So cute and mine get kisses to reward them for all the faulty logic or words misheard, like please and peas, or hair and here :)
Mr. Mischief rolled all 3 holidays into one greeting. "Happy Halloween! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!" in no particular order all poped out together all the time. He still tells people "Happy Halloween!" especially if they are giving him candy or stickers.
We're having similar kinds of conversations over here. T&B have finally stopped asking for Twas The Night Before Christmas and have recently come to terms with the fact that I've removed all of the Christmas decorations. We still see lights from time to time when driving in the evenings (or late afternoon, as it really seems to be), and it's hard for me to explain why a few still exist when the majority have been taken down.
Fortunately (depending on how you look at things), they're really looking forward to their birthday (in 2 months). So that seems to be the new focus. We've already talked about all the other birthdays, holidays, and events that will come between now and then to try to get them to understand how much time still needs to pass. They, of course, don't really get it, but it keeps them from asking about Santa. :o)
Mine were pretty sad when the tree came down too. Kept saying bye bye!! But we have a neighbor who still has lights up. I have to go tell him to keep them up so we can continue to say "goodnight lights!"
Thank you for bringing back such sweet memories. I loved strolling with my girls and teaching them new words - lake, stop sign, tree. I loved those days!
too cute! Soon they'll be spying Valentine and Easter Decor!
Lol...I dreaded taking down our tree, because they talked to it ("Hi, tree! Bye, tree! Night-night, tree!) ALL the time. so far, though, it's been pretty smooth.
They saw the snow today and said "Ho, ho, ho"...but I have no idea why! More of that logic, I guess. : )
My kids are freaking out b/c the "lights no come on."
OH, and don't make fun of us b/c our decorations are still there! It's cold outside!!! LOL
Even at age five, we had to have a shorthand version of that discussion. We spent many nights hopping the car and driving through nearby neighborhoods to see the Christmas lights. About a week after Christmas my girls didn't understand why we couldn't do that any more.
That's pretty darn cute!
Lboy is still too young to notice, though when we took him to the town square to see all the Christmas lights all he could say was "ooooh cooool!!!!"
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