Good Evening Patriots,
I don't know about you, but I am level ten, excited, and ready for Winter Break. Like many of us, I knew my remaining energy was running on the ole high school days gas tank level fumes. The severity of this reality became embarrassingly apparent when I caught a glimpse of my overly messy bun, mascara-smeared face in the office mirror.
For any parents that came to see me last week and probably this week…I sincerely apologize.
As we head into the celebrations of the holiday season, I see, like many others, the landscape of my own home changing. What was once a home filled with the sounds of giggling and tiny excited tiptoes is now an oddly quiet space where the adult or almost adult children move on to make their own traditions and memories, and we, as parents, are left to do the same. It isn't sad, it is just different, and takes a little time for the old ticker to get used to.
This quiet space often creates the perfect space for welcoming old packed-away holiday memories to come home for a visit. One of my favorite parenting Christmas fails of all time centered around a simple request for an All-A-Dollar flashlight, and my bright idea to be the cool mom that would do gloriously better than that.
It was a simple Christmas request. The ONLY thing our oldest son wanted for Christmas was one flashlight from All-A-Dollar. Now being a super young and super broke parents, we should have thanked the stars for such a simple request, but the new parents in us couldn't settle for just a simple dollar-store flashlight. With this in mind, we set off on a mission to find a super cool, or in today’s teen-speak, a "drippy" new flashlight to have ready under the tree.
As Mr. Summers and I embarked on our flashlight mission, we were surprised at how quickly we found what was, without question, the holy grail of all flashlights. On the shelf, staring back at us, sat a perfectly packaged, possibly one-of-a-kind, flashlight cow. This was a flashlight unlike any other. The light was housed square in the middle of the cow's mouth, and with the push of a button, the cow's mouth would open, and just like magic, light up a room. This alone was enough to make any flashlight-loving boy's heart flutter, but as an over-the-top added bonus, when the latch opened, this cow let out show-stopping MOOOOOOO!
Like old-school Beanie Baby collectors, we snatched that cow off the shelf, threw it in the Delta 1988 baby blue Oldsmobile, taking it to its new and sure-to-be-loving owner. It was sure to be a Toy Story level boy and toy match made in Heaven.
Fast forward to Christmas morning...There we were, two parents just as excited about the gift being opened as our son, who was about to open it. This was our first big moment, and without question, we had nailed it. We handed Buzz (our oldest son) the gift, overflowing with excitement with anticipation. His adorable chunky little hands ripped into the package, and upon seeing the contents, looked up at us, immediately confused. We were prepared for this confusion and quickly leaned in to show Buzz how the fancy cow flashlight worked.
It was almost immediately that the cow mooed, and in a moment of complete despair, Buzz wailed. These were not wails of joy. Confused, and like Price is Right presenters, we tried to show him how AMAZING this cow flashlight actually was. Trying to sell him on this was the very definition of insanity. Through gasps and tiny sobs, Buzz kept saying, "All I wanted was an All-A-Dollar flashlight." Defeated, we tried to console a child, absolutely heartbroken that the All-A-Dollar flashlight did not show up as expected. It was so awful that it was rolling on the floor, hilarious.
As the years continue to roll on, I find that with each passing year the things we get mean less and less compared to the relationships we care for and create. May we head into this next year with hearts full of gratitude for the privileges we have, and always be more excited about what we can give verses what we will get.
However it is that you celebrate this holiday season, we hope that you are surrounded by love, joy, and excitement for all of the possibilities this new year is sure to have in store.
As always Patriots...
Mrs. Summers
Mrs. Turley
Mr. Joyce
