After
returning from our annual Christmas visit back to the home country, we noticed
our two boys’ behaviour had taken a clear turn for the worse. It was not a
shocking development – we’d just spent four nights in four different places and
they’d been bombarded with attention and toys at every stop.
This year,
they asked Santa for the usual little-boy stuff; trains, trucks, robots, dinosaurs,
robot dinosaurs, etc. And thanks to some very generous, loving, overzealous
relatives, our boys had the kind of Christmas that many kids can only dream
about.
At three and
two years old, Grayson and Rylan had gotten used to the idea of been treated
like royalty over Christmas. At Grandma and Grandpa’s house, it was all about
them. On Christmas morning, they were excited, grateful and gracious about the
many gifts laid before them.
By the
second round of family visits on Boxing Day, they had developed certain
expectations.
After an
aunt presented Grayson with some spiffy new clothes, he quickly set the package
down, looked around and said, “What else did you get me?”
If there’s
one thing that bugs me, it’s ingratitude, so after that mortifying incident, we
had a little talk about greed and good manners. I explained to him (again) that Christmas is more about
giving than getting, to which he replied, “I know Dad. People like to give me
toys!”
When we got
back home to Red Deer and unloaded their vast bounty of toys and gadgets, a
massive brawl broke out over which items belonged to who. Apparently both boys
had laid claim to everything and neither appeared willing to compromise in any
way. As a result, we spent the first few hours back in our own house breaking
up boy battles and making trips to the ol’ Time Out chair.
Now that
we’ve been home for a few days, they seem to have grasped the idea that
Christmas is over and Daddy’s Rules are back in effect – though the occasional
brawl sparks up over the particularly contentious toys. That damn Nerf gun is
going to be the death of me…
Though my
boys’ behaviour could certainly use a little… ‘refining’ it was a fantastic
Christmas for the Pare crew. Having little kids of our own definitely revived
some of that childhood magic for my wife and I, though next year, we’ll definitely work a little harder to
teach them about the true meaning of Christmas.
Leo is a former Advocate editor. Contact him by
email at newsdeadline@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LeoPare
No comments:
Post a Comment