The Night Before Christmas

There are moments in parenting when I say something to the girls and immediately want to take it back, this is the story of one of those moments. !Christmas Eve we spent the night at Colin and Robynn's house so that Santa could make one stop for all the grand kids and they could all wake up together to check out the loot. By the time we got to their house Addy and Jax were already in bed. I put Parker to bed and got started with Robynn and Payton setting out cookies and milk for Santa. Robynn offered to read "The Night Before Christmas" to Payton to help her get into the mood for bed. That was lovely, but not convincing. So we sat for a bit chatting and trying to get Payton convinced. A few minutes in Colin innocently mentioned that he thought he heard something outside, maybe Santa?? Thinking I was going to help, I said, "OH NO, I hope he doesn't skip us since we're still awake!" WELL, that was more than Payton could take. She flipped, started stomping her feet, crying and begging to go to bed right NOW. I felt about 1 inch tall. I thought I'd peak her interest and that she'd want to go to bed, not loose her poor little mind. From there I tried to take her up to bed in the room she was to share with Parker. That too was somewhat of a disaster. When we walked into the room Parker was still up. I tried to put Payton down, asking her to try to be quiet and not talk to Parker. I gave Parker a hug and kiss and put her back down in her pack-n-play, and left the room. Within minutes Payton came back out frustrated and still a bit scared that Santa wasn't going to stop. "Parker's talking to me" she said. So, plan B. I decided that I'd put her down in C & R's bed to fall asleep. That would have been fine if she'd have stayed in bed, but she didn't. She tried to come out, but instead we heard her bawling at the door, since she couldn't get the bedroom door open she thought I'd locked her in. When I finally got to her she was crying more, and once again begging to go to bed in her bed. Thankfully by this time Parker had given up and fallen asleep, and Payton was able to go into her own bed and crash. Poor kid, Christmas Eve shouldn't be so tough on anyone

Darnedest Things

Here's our current list of kid phrases in the house:

HOLY MOLY - Payton's exclamation phrase, we assume she learned this from someone at school since Charly is saying it as well

Openmeal - Oatmeal Payton style

Peez - Parker saying please, impossible to say no to this regardless of what she's asking for

key key and or gee gee - thank you or kitty , depending on the situation - but both cuter than cute and always said with enthusiasm!

ta te? - Santa, always said with a big smile and a waving finger in the direction of any picture of Santa

appy - happy (we think)

MMMMMMAAAAAAA! - You've just been sent a BIG kiss from Parker

ank you - Payton's thank you