I have an Avon advent calendar that my ex mil gave me in 1987. It looks exactly like the one in this picture except right now it has a tiny Starbucks reindeer in it instead of the mouse. The mouse is missing. Again. It does that and has always done that. Missing for years much to the dismay of my children only to reappear again a few years later for one trip through the calendar and then back it goes into hiding. We had the mouse last year. This year, no mouse. It’s ok. We make do. But we still say “move the mouse” when we discuss whose turn it is, whose turn it isn’t and whose turn it is never going to be again if you don’t stop whining about that darn mouse.
Did you detect some frustration there? This advent calendar has a history of causing angst amongst my oldest three children and for the last three years it has caused angst among the youngest three.
His highness, Prince J, only causes a stink over it when he wants to annoy another sibling (preferably Princess E or Princess M). He really doesn’t care about the mouse at all. Moving it is like work. Someone else can do it and if they don’t, Christmas still comes. Work for no reason. No thanks.
RJ really doesn’t have advent calendar issues because she is perfect and always bows to the will of any sibling in the room. (she does this because later she can play the martyr role. I know this because it’s a trait often shared by those with October birthdays. Not me of course, but others. Born in October…)
That leaves Princess E. The baby in the family. Those of you who have experience with “the baby in the family” probably understand exactly what has been going on. But there is a twist to the story…
The twist is that Princess E is not the only “baby in the family”. Princess M, generally referred to as Michelle (the 16 year old with the hair), is also the “baby in the family”. These two girls have been having “move the mouse issues” virtually non-stop since the calendar went up. If E moves it to the proper pocket, Michelle will move it back a day and then move it forward – and then tell E she did it later on. E will do the same thing to Michelle. What’s even better is when Michelle comes home at midnight and says “ohhhh it’s tomorrow, I can move the mouse” when she knows it is E’s turn to do it. When E is not here and not going to be here for a few days, and it’s just Michelle, I have to actually REMIND Michelle to move the mouse. She can go days and not think of it but as soon as E is home or coming home, she goes into move the mouse first, last and only mode!
Advent calendars are a pain if you have more than one child. But they are a real nightmare if you have two “baby in the family” children to deal with!
Edited on 12/24/05 – The mouse came out of hiding! And I’m the one who put him in the FINAL little pouch! hahahahahaha! That’ll teach those princesses!
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