A couple of weeks ago we went to playgroup. At this playgroup, there were lots of balloons to kick around. Henry was very happy. When it was time to leave, he asked if he could take one of them with him, and I told him they weren't our balloons to take, but that, thanks to his Great-Grandma Ethel, we had some at home that we could blow up and play with. When we got back home, Henry selected a yellow one, and he was very happy. The next morning the first thing he did when he came downstairs was locate his balloon so he could run around with it, bounce it, and, finally, sit on it. It popped. Henry was a little confused about what had happened and after I explained that he was a little too heavy to sit on a balloon without it popping, he asked for another yellow balloon. I brought out the baggie, but there were no more yellow balloons to be had. I suggested green. Nope. How about blue, your favorite color? Nope. It had to be yellow. While I was telling him that other colors were just as much fun as the yellow ones, I went out the front door to check the mail. Sitting in the mailbox was a Valentine's Day package from his Great-Grandma Ethel. And what's the first thing he pulled out of his box of presents? A baggie full of balloons, at the center of which was a yellow one. Henry was very happy.
Last Friday evening the three of us were hanging out in the back room. Dave was on the computer and Henry and I were messing around on the bed, playing musical instruments, having tickle fights, and generally raising a ruckus. For whatever reason, I started singing "I'm gettin' nuthin', for Christmas/Mommy and Daddy are mad/I'm gettin' nuthin' for Christmas/'Cuz I ain't been nuthin' but bad". Henry turned away from me and was very quiet. I leaned around to see if he was all right and his lower lip was stuck out, his chin was quivering, and tears were welling up. I asked what was wrong and he said "Nothing" but still there was the quivering and the welling and the lip-sticking-out-ing. I asked if he was upset about my song and he turned to me with tears running down his cheeks and literally roared at me. There was just no other way to express his feelings I guess. So I dissected the bits of the song: "Are you sad because you think mommy and daddy are mad?" *sniff* "Are you sad because of the part that says 'I ain't been nuthin' but bad'"? *sniff* "Are you sad because you think you aren't getting anything for Christmas?" *WAIL*, *TEARS*, and of course *horrible parental guilt*. I assured him that it was just a song and that it didn't mean anything, that of course he'd be getting Christmas presents, etc, etc, and also GOOD GRIEF. The next morning we got up, I went out to check the mail, and Henry had a package waiting for him from his friend Clementine. And in this package were awesome blue (his favorite color!) pajamas that were housed in a lovely Christmas gift bag. I was all "SEE? I told you you'd get Christmas presents! It was just a silly song!" And so if there were any lingering doubts left over from the previous night's musical debacle, they were successfully put to rest by a very sweet little girl and her family. Henry was very happy.