7 Quick Takes about Krumkakke, Lessons in Digital Citizenship, and Three Things My Kindergartner Wants for Christmas

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?

—1—

Someone gave this bucket of Christmas cookies to my daughter, which was perfect timing because we had to bring cookies to a party the next night.

We set them on the counter for 24 hours, and thank goodness Phillip noticed this as we were bringing the cookies out the door:

Either some small child helped themselves and then suffered a sudden attack of conscience, or maybe just banked on the hope that no one would notice one missing bite if s/he put the cookie back afterward. 

We almost didn't, so it was a good gamble.

—2—

We dropped off cookie plates for our neighbors this week and at the same time, invited them to our church's post-Christmas service on the 26th.

Sighing because we're always late, I told Phillip "I guess this means we need to be on time this Sunday."

"Or maybe even early," he agreed.

Woah, woah, woah. Let's not get crazy, here.

—3—

One of our neighbor families is Norwegian, and I don't hesitate to say that we look forward to exchanging cookies with them every year. They make these wonderful traditional waffle cookie cones called krumkakke.

Usually we fill them with whipped cream and fruit, but this year we couldn't wait and just ate them straight off the plate.

This year they also brought us a handmade felted Christmas gnome, and since our tree topper is out of commission this year I think you can guess where the 15-year-old chose to put it.

Tree looked better before we forgot to water it for a week.

—4—

My 7-year-old came home from school with a picture he drew during the "digital citizenship" portion of class. 

(FYI for school administrators: most 7-year-olds don't know what "digital citizenship" means, neither can they pronounce it correctly on their first, second, or even third try.)

"Ask your mom for help if you see something inoproprate."

We talked about this rule during a family home evening about pornography, and I'm glad it sunk in. The next thing we need to work on his how to spell "inappropriate."

—5—

With a start, I realized I never received any emails about basketball for my 4th grader, and the season started three weeks ago. So that was great. 

While I contacted the league to figure out what was going on, I also called another mom whose daughter plays basketball, explained my latest mom fail, and asked her if she could forward me the emails.

Once upon a time I would've been embarrassed to do that, but now I see it as my little public service. As a parent, it's helpful to know that other people drop the ball harder than you do sometimes. Why should I keep that to myself?

—6—

Our family jokes a lot about our two pet rats Scout and Piper being "old ladies," but on Wednesday we seriously thought it was the end of the line for Scout.

In the morning Phillip found her looking terrible. She had a mucusy drool running down her chest, an unusual noise to her breathing, and she just wasn't acting like herself. As the day continued, she wasn't interested in food and seemed very lethargic. All signs were that her body was shutting down. 

I even took this picture so if Scout (the gray one on top) died before the kids got home from school, I could show them she spent her last moments cuddling with Piper.

You know what's not fun? Breaking the news to a new kid every half hour as they come home from school that their beloved pet is dying. The kids understood, but spent the rest of the day holding her, and she just sat in her blanket with her eyes half-open, not interested in moving or even eating food. But miraculously, she held on through the night.

By Thursday morning she'd rallied. No more drool and fewer breathing noises, and we even got her to eat some. This morning she was spastiscally crawling on the bars of the cage waiting to be fed like her piggy old self. How's that for a Christmas miracle?

I won't say we're out of the woods yet, but I'm starting to agree with this visual representation of Scout on Death's doorstep:

Drawn by my kid who likes to doodle.

—7—

Here's what my 5 year old brought home from kindergarten on his last day of school before Christmas break:

His three wishes from Santa are: a surprise, a clean house, and a better family.

Okay, so my immediate reaction to #3 was slight shock and disappointment, but I actually think I should see it as a positive thing. 

To explain: at home we've been talking a lot about being nicer since the kids have been snippy with each other lately, so this is evidence that he's conscious of what we're striving for and sees it as an attainable goal.

But #2? Come on, dude. BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

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