Career Aspirations

"When I grow up I want to be Santa Claus.  And I will give presents to all the boys and girls.  And my bedtime on Christmas Eve will be at 6am in the morning.  And I will not die, because Santa does not die."

2014 Santa photo with the family. An oldie pic, but a goodie

That is a lofty career aspiration from my eight year old.  But if he wants to be Santa, I have no doubt that he will be Santa.

He has also wanted to be a yoga instructor, a Doctor, and now most recently, a Dentist.

This past week, he had a dental check up.  He has been going to a Dentist since he was two years old. We have made concessions for him in order to be a positive experience.  In therapy we played Dentist for a month straight before an appointment.  At his appointments, he would cry, scream, and kick.  But of recent he has really gotten the hang of it.

This last visit, he was a rockstar.  A dental patient rockstar.  (there has to be such a thing, right?)

We arrived at 4.  He knew the office closed at 4:30.  When he was called back, he said to the Hygienist, "I'm your last customer of the day!"  He chatted it up with the her.  Talking about the blue cupcake he ate at school for his friend's birthday.  He asked her about her work schedule and if she worked everyday.  At one point she said, "OK Jonathan.  You need to stop talking so I can brush your teeth."

During his check up, he said, "Um Nurse.  There is something I should tell you.  I need pictures of my teeth." The kid was ASKING for x-rays.  So she obliged.  She suggested we do a panoramic x-ray.  And he did great listening and staying still while they did the x-ray.  When the results came back to the computer, he asked me if we could take a picture of it.  He also was really into all the notes she took.  He even got to give me an "exam."

His X-ray.  Kinda freaky

Learning the documentation program early 

So while he was making the Hygienist laugh with his inquisitive and funny dialog, the big man arrived.  The Dentist.

"Dr. T!  I'm so happy to see you.  How was your Christmas?  I got a Lego Fire Transporter!"
Dr T. laughed.  He has been seeing Jonathan for a while  I think he likes the kid.

When Jonathan asked his birthday and license plate number, it was no problem.  They even went to a window to take a picture of his car.  When Jonathan mentioned it was after 4:30, and the office was closed, the Dentist laughed and told Jonathan that sometimes they need to work a little bit over.  And that was OK.  Lastly, Jonathan wanted to make sure he got a picture with his favorite Dentist.  Jonathan said "I want to be like you."

Two Rockstars in one picture!

It was one of the most positive dental experiences.  And the kid was so excited all day to go there.  This was a perfect appointment; years in the making.

I am so proud.  I'm sure this is how Santa's mother feels too.

  

Christmas, we've been waiting all year for you.

I feel like it began the day after we put away last year's holiday decor.

"Elmo Christmas!"  "Caillou Holiday Movie!"

We watched these beloved holiday movies in January, the heat of the July sun and now again in December.  The menorah was carried to school of WEEKS, and remains a prominent lovey to this day (currently sitting on my coffee table).  

The other day, we had a dusting of snow on the car, to which Jonathan exclaimed (per scripting from the Caillou movie,) "Snow!  It's Christmas time!"

That it is, Jonathan.  That it is.  And this year is the first year that I feel like he may have some semblance of "getting it."  He knows who Santa is.  He knows the Christmas tree.  He knows the dreidels, the menorah and the lights.  And recently, he's been talking about "Kwanzaa and the kinara."  Hey, I guess if we're celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah, we really shouldn't leave out Kwanzaa.

I'm thankful that we will be doing a low-key holiday season.  While we will miss our family and friends dearly, I'm glad that, after this especially challenging year, our little Farley Family can hibernate and do the holidays on our own terms.  No expectations...almost just like we've been doing things all along.

Oh, I have to mention Jonathan's preschool holiday program.  It was HILARIOUS.  The kids had learned three holiday poems.  And I was warned that Jonathan would probably not recite them with the class.  I didn't think he would.  During the presentation, while the quiet, calm children lined up perfectly in a line, my little hell-ion ran back and forth like a crazy man behind them.  He was smiling and flapping and looking for Mike and me.  For those who don't know him, he probably looked like a kid that had too much sugar, in the vein of Stewart from MadTV ("Look what I can do!").  But to Mike and me, we knew the running, flapping, smile combo meant one thing...he was super happy.  And that made us super happy in return. 

When it was all over, and I was buckling him up in the car, he looked at me, and started reciting one of the poems, with hand movements and all.  He couldn't do the words exactly, because that is not how he hears it.  It came out "I sabba sabba snowball.  It sabba sabba sab."  But he did the vocal inflections perfectly, and I knew what he was doing.  So I had my own, private performance.  I think MY show was the best.

So while Jonathan might not understand the difference between naughty and nice, and while he might break his record of taking three hours to open gifts, I know he is excited and happy for the upcoming holidays.   

And now he's singing "Jingle Bells" and waving at the TV along with the Elmo movie. 
Happy Holidays to all.