The Truth About Boys


My boys eat fish sticks or chicken nuggets at least four nights a week. They pick their noses and were born with the innate sense that farts are hilarious. The house is always cluttered, there are always crumbs in the seats of the car and sticky fingerprints on the windows. Sometimes they like to read books; most of the time books make good frisbees or weapons. Every toy in the house is missing at least one peice, making your brother cry is good entertainment and timeout is usually worth whatever you did to get there. Welcome to the Chretien house. Mothers have this constant voice in their head telling them that they could do better, their house could be cleaner, their waist smaller, and their kids more polite. I fall into this trap almost daily, and I am slowly learning that my success not measured by these standards. I may not be the perfect mom, but I know that my boys are happy. They know that they are loved, and they love each other. All day long they will fight over the same toy, the same book, the same spot on the couch. But, when evening comes, and they have sleepy eyes, jammied feet, and sweet smelling hair damp from bathtime, I know that we must be doing something right. This blog is dedicated to two sweet boys learning, playing, growing, and finding their place in the world, and to their mommy learning how to guide them.



Monday, December 26, 2011

'Twas the night before Christmas

Christmas Eve began some wonderful traditions for our family.  We spent the evening at Granma, Papa, and Nana's house.  The boys enjoyed making their own homemade pizzas and snacking on Christmas goodies.  We watched Frosty the Snowman, and Granma read 'twas the night before Christmas' to Aiden.  He has always loved being read to, and he sat at rapt attention, soaking in every word.  As they do every year, the boys got to open their gifts from Nana on Christmas Eve, which always includes some new jammies and an ornament.  As we got ready to leave, they put on their new pj's and got a little surprise to take home- reindeer food!  The tag on each little tube instructed them to sprinkle the food all over the yard and then go straight to bed.  The reindeer can smell the food from 100 miles away and will come straight to your house, so you better be asleep!  We piled into the car, and the boys held tightly to their reindeer food, excited to get their job done!  When we got home, they dutifully showered the yard in the sparkly, sweet reindeer food (which appeared to be glitter, oats and sugar).





After the reindeer food was done, it was time to get the cookies ready for Santa!  We had made some sugar cookies earlier that day, and had gotten a brand new special plate from Granma, just for Santa's cookies.  They were so proud of themselves, and Aiden was very careful and particular about setting it in just the right place on the fireplace.




As soon as they had finished all of their Christmas Eve duties, they went straight to bed, trying hard to contain their excitement.  Aiden told me multiple times that day that he was so excited, and couldn't wait.  It was so sweet and fun to watch them get so excited about all the fun little things we did.  They both went to sleep easily, squeezing their eyes shut and waiting patiently for sleep to come.  Once they were asleep, Santa visited our house!



On Christmas morning, Jonny and I both woke up at 5:00 am and couldn't fall back asleep!  I think we were as excited as they were.  I just couldn't wait to see their faces.  Over an hour later, they finally started to stir.  Suddenly, Aiden popped up and the grogginess was gone when he realized it was finally Christmas morning.  We tried to get him to wait for Cole, but he ran out and yelled that Santa had come!  That got Cole moving in no time!  They were greeted by a new train table with a huge, red bow, and stockings stuffed to the brim.  Cole was literally jumping up and down in excitement.  Santa worked so hard to get Aiden THE toy of the year- a Leap Pad!  He was thrilled.  Cole, who is not so much into electronics, got a big, metal, yellow Tonka dump drunk.  He loves to pile all of his Toy Story 3 charactes in the back and drive around, just like the movie!  We opened gifts slowly and enjoyed playing with each toy as it was opened.  It was such a nice, relaxing morning. 






The rest of the day was spent at Granma's house, and Uncle Kenny, Aunt Courtney, and cousins Neely and Nolan joined us.  The day could not have been more perfect!  We all enjoyed a big brunch of sausage and egg quiche, an amazing french toast casserole, fresh fruit and mimosas.  The kids played like a dream, and the weather was sunny and gorgeous!  After gifts and playtime, everyone in the house took an amazing 2 hour nap.  Refreshed, we enjoyed a beautiful dinner and the kids just played and played.  Everyone was so relaxed and pleasant, it was the calmest holiday we've ever had with all of the kids together!  We ended the night with jammies and a  movie.  Christmas this year lived up to everything we all had hoped for!


















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