We went to bed last night like we do pretty much every night, only last night we let Gideon stay up a little later so that he could see the firetruck roll through our neighborhood. It’s a tradition around here on the Sunday after Thanksgiving to dress up a fat little bearded man in a red suit and put him on a firetruck for all the kids to see. They run the sirens and turn on the lights and it is in general a giant spectacle.
Last night was no exception, although they did change it up a bit. Instead of being on the fire truck they hitched up a float-like sleigh to a white pick up truck decorated with Christmas lights that drove behind the fire truck. For some reason there were also about four or five cars following the sleigh. I don’t know why…reindeer getting uppity? some kind of poorly orchestrated tailing by the police? angry home owners who are tired of the sirens? Hard to say.
It was cold last night and as usual, Gideon was sockless, so when the truck was headed down our street, I wrapped him up in the warmest blanket we own and stood on the cold pavement in my bare feet. He loved it. So did a gaggle of children at the end of the block who rushed the sleigh, causing the truck to stop for fear of running over the children. Disaster was avoided and the little parade rolled on behind our house. We watched from our deck until we couldn’t see them anymore. It’s a good way to end a holiday weekend.
So he got to bed a little later (and you know what happens then, right? They get up EARLIER. It’s some kind of horrible inverse reasoning that make me want to yank out handfuls of my own hair). I was anticipating six or maybe five thirty, but 4:45 saw a little boy walking out of his room, ready for the day, who could not be coaxed back to sleep. He is now, at 10:00 am nearing the hazy daze of exhaustion but I will keep this song and dance going until one in order to keep their naps synchronized (how else will I get some minutes to sweat off all that cream, butter and starchy goodness from Thursday and the resulting leftovers?). Act II begins in 5, 4, 3….
