From Amalia's Holiday Diary

Last Tuesday at preschool we did our Thanksgiving program.  We all wore pumpkins on our head and sang a Thanksgiving song.  I'm the short one in the middle.  I'm starting to think that my future career will not be in musical theater.

On Wednesday Mommy, Papi, Papou, Tia Marina and I drove from Manhattan to Grafton, MA in a snow storm.  It took five hours instead of the usual three. I threw up in the back seat before we left New York.   When we got to Massachusetts we made snowballs.  I don't see why everyone was so excited about the first snow.

I felt better when I saw my toys and my friends that I've left at Yiayia's house.  Here I'm talking to the Christmas Mouse who sings "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and the Gorilla who sings "Wild Thing" and says he loves me.  In the back, wearing a beret, is an American Girl doll named Molly, who belongs to Yiayia Joanie.  I like to throw Molly on the floor and stomp on her when Yiayia's not looking.

The next day I liked the snow better when Papi took me sledding.  He'd drag me up the hill and then push me down.  Sometimes backwards.  Last year I was too scared to even get into the sled.

We also made a snowman.  He's about my size and, as you can see, doesn't have a very good fashion sense like I do.

 

I helped Yiayia make two of the five pies for Thanksgiving dinner.  I decorated the pumpkin pie with pecans, which made all the difference.  Then Yiayia poured a little caramel sauce on the pecans.

When we ate the turkey at the big table I got to wear the turkey hat and gnaw on a turkey leg, just like last year.  But the thing I liked best of all was the rolls.

After dinner Natasha and Sofie and I decorated gingerbread men.  Natasha's proud of her design.  I'm still pondering  which  cutting edge fashion  statement my gingerbread man will make.

The next day we went to the Grafton Country Store which had so many themed Christmas trees.

And we went to Hi Hill Farm to pick out our own Christmas tree.  I spent a long time decorating it--especially on the lowest branches.

When  we got done, everyone said it looked beautiful, even though it was a little sparse on top.

That night we ate at the Westboro House Restaurant and I helped Yiayia Neni blow out the candle on her birthday cake.  She only had one candle but I'm going to have four on my next birthday cake.

The next day, Sunday, before we left to drive back to New York, I put up my stocking on the fireplace--in case Santa comes early--

And I put up everyone else's stockings too.

And every night when I slept, I dreamed about what Santa  will bring me on the day when I put the Baby Jesus in my advent calendar.  So far I've asked for two things--flowers and an airplane.  I just hope that David, my Elf on the Shelf, doesn't tell Santa about when I stomped on Molly, the American Girl doll.

Trapped by Thanksgiving Traditions

  I am a firm believer in simplifying and using shameless shortcuts to take the terror out of cooking the Thanksgiving meal.  If you want to know all the ways I do this, (canned gravy?  Martha Stewart would faint into her turkey deep fryer!) check out last Thanksgiving's post:  One Grandma's Sneaky Shortcuts for Thanksgiving.

But I've noticed, since becoming a  Grandma, that any popular innovations in the Thanksgiving routine have a tendency to become suddenly a TRADITION that you're required to repeat next year and forever after.  Way back many years ago I added a Chocolate Kahlua Pie to my traditional pumpkin, apple and pecan pies. Now my family considers it as essential to Thanksgiving as the turkey. (Full disclosure--this year I've ordered the apple and the pecan pies from a new bakery that's just opened in Westborough, MA called Yummy Mummy Bakery, and her decadent pastries are unbelievably good.)

Ever since granddaughter Amalia has learned to talk, new Thanksgiving traditions have been popping up like mushrooms after a rainstorm.  Last year we made gingerbread people for her to decorate with guests Sophie and Natasha.  This year Sophie and Natasha are coming back and  I learned that at Michael's you can buy Wilton kits with already-baked gingerbread people plus all you need to decorate--including the frosting piping bag and the jelly beans.  And they're on sale!

Last year Amalia told me that she wanted to make a "pink pie" and an "orange pie", so we made a Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake Pie right off of the Keebler Ready Chocolate Crust label and a pumpkin pie from a recipe right off the can of pumpkin.  Amalia's job was to decorate the pies with leftover candy corn.  So this year, she's demanding the same pies again.  It's become a TRADITION.

The paper crowns in the holiday poppers (known in England as "Christmas Crackers") have always been a tradition, but last year someone brought in a Turkey hat, which daughter Marina wore with grace and good humor.  You can bet that turkey hat will be back

 

And by the end of the Thanksgiving visit last year, Amalia had discovered a brand new tradition--one that has successfully driven millions of parents to distraction as they have to think up new positions every night for the Elf on the Shelf.  Amalia immediately named her elf "David", and I have a feeling he'll be back this thanksgiving as sure as that first blizzard.  After all, David is now a TRADITION.

The Kitchen God—A Chinese Elf on the Shelf

Recently, at an auction, I bought a box of delightful Chinese prints—including various Chinese gods and posters for oolong tea—all colorfully printed on thin rice paper and block-printed in bright colors.

I was charmed by the jolly fellow pictured above and started poking around on Google to learn more about him.

Turns out he is the Kitchen God, who is tacked up behind the stove in every Chinese kitchen along with a small altar to hold incense burners, candles and offerings.

The Kitchen God observes the behavior of the family all year long and, seven days before the beginning of the Lunar New Year celebration, his image is taken off the wall and burned.  This releases his spirit  so that he can go to make his annual ascent to the Jade Emperor to report on the way the family has behaved during the past year.  After hearing his report, the Jade Emperor decides how much prosperity and abundance he will give to each family in the New Year.

But before burning the Kitchen God, the family will attempt to bribe him into making a good report by bestowing on him sweets, like fruits, honey and lotus cakes as well as candies and rice wine and especially sticky rice—perhaps as rice balls served in a sugar soup.  The plan is that, if the Kitchen God’s mouth is full of sweet sticky rice, he won’t be able (or inclined) to report on any bad behavior by the family.

Seven days after the old Kitchen God is burned, a new image is installed above the stove to keep an eye on things during the coming year.

This year the Chinese New Year of 4712—the year of the wooden horse—begins on January 31, so you’d better start making sticky rice balls right now, because the day to make sweet offerings and send the kitchen god on his way is —Friday Jan. 24!

When I read this, I immediately thought of the Elf On the Shelf—a not-as-antique tradition familiar to nearly every parent and grandparent in the U. S.  Based on a book written by the mother/daughter team of Carol Aebersold and daughter Chanda Bell in 2005, the Elf is a little bendable doll who comes in a box along with the book (cost: about $30) and, beginning in December until Christmas, he sits around somewhere in the house and observes the behavior of the children (naughty or nice) then, after the children are asleep, he flies back to report to Santa every night.  The Elf reappears every morning in a different spot.  Finding him makes it a game.  But no child must ever touch the Elf or he will lose his magic powers.

When I first heard about the Elf on the Shelf, it all sounded rather sinister and scary—like Big Brother watching you from the TV set in “1984”.  This past season, the Elf seemed to be the most controversial thing about the holidays, discussed even more than the  elimination of the word “Christmas” from “Happy Holidays “ and “Holiday tree.”  It seems some A-type parents were one-upping each other by creating elaborate scenes of mischief or magic created by their personal Elf overnight—inventing yet another laborious task for moms during the holidays.   Others complained that the Elf was a means of terrorizing children into good behavior out of fear of what Santa would hear.

At Thanksgiving, when her family came to our house in Massachusetts,  someone (not me!) gave 2 ½ -year-old granddaughter Amalia an Elf on the Shelf which she promptly named David for no observable reason.   She loved the whole idea—especially after seeing a TV special based on the Elf.   She didn’t seem frightened of him, although I did see her freeze with surprise when, back in her New York apartment, she realized that David had followed her from Massachusetts and was perched near the top of her family’s, uh, holiday tree. 

No one created elaborate scenes for David in the ensuing days—it was all we could do to remember to move him, but when Amalia found him on the window ledge in the kitchen, I did imply that he had bitten the head off of one of the tiny gingerbread men I bought at Trader Joe’s.

When I came to Manhattan to see Amalia after Christmas, she confided to me rather sadly, “My little friend David has gone away.”

I promised her he’d be back next Christmas.

Amalia Does the Holidays

Amalia traveled from Manhattan to Yiaya and Papou’s home in Massachusetts for Thanksgiving, knowing that she’d have to cram some Christmas into the four-day weekend, because this year she and Mommy and Papi would be spending Christmas and New Year’s in Nicaragua with Abuela and family.

 The first thing Amalia did when she got there was to play with the Santa’s village that Yiayia Nene had set up in the kitchen window. 

The next thing was to bake pies with Yiayia.  Amalia had specified that she wanted to make an orange pie and a pink pie.  Yiayia interpreted that as a Pumpkin pie and a Cheesecake Raspberry Swirl pie.  Amalia decorated with candy corn. 

On Thanksgiving Day Amalia helped make whipped cream and kept a critical eye on the cooking of the bird.  It looked pretty big to her—but this year, unlike last year, she weighed more than the turkey.

When it was time for Thanksgiving dinner, Amalia ate the grapes that garnished the bird as she posed for family photos.

When Papi handed her a drumstick, she attacked it with the gusto of Henry the Eighth, to the surprise of Yiayia Nene.

When she saw how fetching Tia Marina looked wearing the Turkey hat, Amalia elected to try it on herself.

After dinner she was reunited with the Christmas Mouse that sings “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”.

She made a new friend—the Elf on the Shelf.  She named him David. 

Later Papi read her the book about the Elf.  First rule is you can’t touch him or he’ll lose his magic.  And if he squeals to Santa about your bad behavior, you may get banished to the naughty list.

Saturday was faux Christmas.  Papi brought home a tree and Mommy and Tia Marina put the lights on. 

Meanwhile Amalia read “The Night Before Christmas” to the Christmas mouse.

And she opened a whole lot of presents.  Here she's asking "What's next?"

That day everybody got a piece of the (faux) New Year’s pita to find who had the lucky coin in their piece --to insure a year of good luck.   It was in Papou’s piece but he gave the coin to Amalia.

That night Amalia made gingerbread cookies with Yiayia for decorating the next day.  Amalia absolutely loves baking and shrieks with joy when the pies or cookies come out of the oven.

The next day, Sunday, Mommy’s friends came over and Amalia got to play and decorate cookies with their daughters, Natasha and Sophie.

She admired the decorated tree with Tia Marina.

Then she said good-bye and got in the car to drive back to her casita in Manhattan.  The traffic was terrible and the trip took five hours.  Amalia said she “wanted to go back to their house where there are people.”  Then she threw up all over her car seat.

She can hardly wait for her Christmas in Nicaragua, where Santa will find her, thanks to Google maps and information from David the Elf.