What Comes Next....

True Conversation:

Setting:  the car, of course
Baby Belle:  "Stop touching me, no touching me, stop, no, no, no, no...." Amidst screams of exaggerated agony.
Naturally, this continues.  And continues.  
Mom:  "ClaraBelle stop touching her right now" (of course this is AFTER I've used my nice, calm voice.  Many times.)
Clara Belle:  (without missing so much as a beat)  "I just want to feel how soft her skin is".

So, we've been discussing Santa for a while now.  Definitely since Thanksgiving, we may have even brought up his name a little before.  We've even seen him several times, and the Belles have sat on his lap twice.  The other night there was an older gentleman with a long beard, wearing an elf hat with ears.  Baby Belle's eyes just about popped out of her head when she saw him and whispered "It's Santa Mommy".  The girls didn't want to believe that there was an elf...a real elf in their midst.  They tried to deny it, Big Belle tried to rationalize, but in the end realized it must be real.  He even made his hat do a dance and jingle while on his head.  It was just a regular old citizen getting in the spirit, which made it even more 'magical' for the girls.  No line to wait in, no gimmick or promotion...just an elf.  I think that bought us about an hour or more of pretty darn good behavior.

We've discussed the naughty and nice list.  Until we're blue in the face.  SOME Belles around here just don't seem to care.  And by some, I mean mostly, one.  Actually Big Belle has had a mini-epiphany of her own, that being good has more merits than getting into trouble.  It's not to say she doesn't cause a small amount of issues around here, but no where near what she was capable of even a few weeks ago. Whether or not this has anything to do with acquiring the maximum amount of presents possible, I do not know.  Frankly, at this point, I don't care.

Baby Belle has definitely turned into Toddler-Belle, in that she has turned to the dark side.  Her sweet innocent side has tasted the delight of causing trouble, and she seems to enjoy it.  Right now it is fairly manageable, and a reminder about being "naughty" is enough to get her mildly upset enough to stop whatever it was she was doing.  Unless of course, it means extracting her from the race car shopping cart of a grocery store on a day she did not take a nap.  Then, it's all over.  But really, shouldn't we know better....

So, once again, this year I ask.  What comes next?  What about when the threat of Santa is gone, when the soon-to-arrive Elf on the Shelf has worked his magic and headed back?  December 26th is far too early to even think about the Easter Bunny.  Perhaps the ghost of Martin Luther King Jr. could watch over them.... After all, wasn't he for peace?  And that's what we all want out of this.  Just a little peace.  And quiet.