A few scenes from the turn of the year

1. James opened his present from Auntie (a puzzle) on Christmas morning and exclaimed with vigor, "Holy smokes!" I had never heard the expression out of his mouth before, nor am I aware of anyone using it around him, but it came to his lips with perfect aptness, to everyone's delight.

2. I had this brief conversation today with Henry: He had been sulky, contumacious, and out of sorts, refusing to get dressed, exclaiming if I tried to speak to him that I was hurting him, and rolling around on the bed and handling objects in a fashion that was clearly intended to suggest mischief, whether or not mischief was actually being made. I was ready to leave the house: a snowstorm and sub-zero high temperatures are rolling in over the weekend and I wanted all the time outside we could manage today. "I'm getting really angry," I said, and I felt one of those strange little jolts of injustice that plague me so unreasonably when the children and I are having a hard time. "You need to get.... if you don't get ... " I spluttered, with a threat to throw all the Lara bars in the house away, since they had been our last but one bone of contention, on the tip of my tongue. I stopped myself and went out of the room, closing the door behind me. "I need a sec," I said. "I need a minute to calm down." Twenty minutes later, Henry had dressed himself, tidied up some toys unprompted, and was putting on his socks and boots. "Sweetheart," I said to him. "You were having a bad time earlier, feeling pretty grumpy and bad." He agreed, but looked a little wary, as if he feared a big lecture. "I'm just wondering, " I said, "what I could do to be helpful when you feel like that. Should I hug you and hold you? Leave you alone?" "Leave me alone," he said immediately. "I just have to get that feeling out of me." 

3. We spent New Year's Eve with friends, and I opened the first of my 17 bottles of Dad's wine. It was a lovely time--and Peter came too, which was a rare treat. While I was getting dressed beforehand, in a hurry, James came into the bathroom to watch me multi-task by pulling on stockings while I sat on the toilet. Like his brother, he is pleased when I dress up. He was obviously impressed by the slightly shimmery black nylon fabric pooled at my ankles, and cast about for how best to express his feelings. "Mommy," he said. "You look pretty when you go pee-pee."