christmas list

The girl is just like her mom, a list maker, an organizer, a throw things when they don't go right, kinda gal. I love this mini-me of a girl. Over the weekend, I suggested to the boy and the girl that they ask their dad to take them Christmas shopping to buy their lovely mother some gifts.

I find it helpful to drop these little hints mid month.

I asked them if they would like for me to make a list for them like they do for Santa. The boy loved this. He ran to get his paper and pencil and sat with me while I recited the Mom Christmas list. You know the one, candles and bath stuff that require one stop at the drugstore and no sizes to remember.

The boy carefully wrote all of my requests.

The girl went into the other room with her paper and marker to make my list for me. You see, the girl has it right. She's not really intersted in what I'm asking for. She already knows what she wants to buy me!

So, the happy family - boy, girl, dad - go on their shopping trip.

It begins to rain.

They return home, not all that accomplished in their shopping but happy to have spent the day together. The dad says to me, "Her coat might be ruined." What would a day out with dad be without a ruined article of clothing or some other mishap. Here's how it happened.

While gripping her list and running to the car in the rain, her list, made lovingly in marker, began to run and fade down her paper and onto her coat.

I found her little list all folded up in the bathroom. I won't tell her I read it. It would break her heart. One thing is for sure, I love sweaters, tennis shoes and pony tails. The girl is good.

I'm not sure what I'll get for Christmas from the girl but the thought of her running through that parking lot, gripping her list and trying to protect it from the rain is a real gift I want to remember.