Christmas is Spoken Here!

Stephen doing an A+ job of watching
the kids.

Today was Christmas is Spoken Here at the Botanical Gardens. I LOVE this event. You go, pay to get in, find parking - which if you have ever been to the Botanical Gardens during this event, is almost as fun as the event. It's like a big game of chicken and hide n seek all rolled into one!  Then as you walk around, you see everyone you know and only cover a few feet per minute if you are lucky.  The vendors are there with home made goodies, from soap, food, perfume, wooden bowls, pottery, Coquito (YUMMY), food, FRACOs, clothing, jewelry, and more food.  There are also decorated Christmas trees, and choirs singing.  For me, one of the best parts of this day was dragging Stephen along and being together as a family. We definely made memories today that will stay with us forever.   

Aislin has her own money for the eggs she sells from her hens, so she asked if she could bring some and buy something.  At 8, the power to spend your own money with little to no input from Mom and Dad is intoxicating! Of course we said yes.  Maybe then she will realize why we don't let her buy junk? Nah, probably not.  I will say, she was very specific about what she wanted to buy and doggedly looked around until she found it.  

Her big purchases were Christmas Tree earrings, and lip balm.  The first lady she saw, had some earring that caught her eye but they were $20 which would of used up all her available funds, so she tried to bargain, but the lady wouldn't budge from $15 to even $12.  Aislin sadly passed and then EUREKA! Found another lady who sold her a pair for $10. She was thrilled, I think the lady got a kick out of hearing all about Aislin's chickens who enabled her to drop some cash, and I totally enjoyed seeing Aislin bargain her way into what she wanted.  she also scored her organic lip balm at $3 a tube.  So proud of my daughter that she was able to figure out how much cash she had left from the earrings, and exactly how many lip balms she could buy with what was left.  

During most of this time, Stephen was watching Christopher and doing a GREAT job of keeping him from running off with merchandise, running amok, and staying near us. Of course at some point, my poor husband had to go heed the call of nature, and left me IN charge of the boy.  At this point it all went downhill… I heard a few gasps and ignored them until someone politely tapped me on the shoulder.  SIGH! This is what I saw:     

Mad Mom skills huh? 

About half the people who saw him said something to the effect of, "boys will be boys" and the other half reacted in horror.  I ended up taking the "it'll all come out in the wash" stance.  Finished my purchases and told him to bring a handful of lodo (mud) and walked back towards the food area. Everyone was happy and there wasn't a tantrum, which was great seeing as we hadn't had a nap yet.

It was fantastic day.  We walked around as family, Aislin explored consumerism, we spent some money on goodies, saw friends, and then went home, put up the tree, and decorated it.  Now to wrap gifts, and bake cookies!

Season's Greetings All!  

At least he knows how to share.