My Favorite Christmas Movies are Totally More Awesome than Yours

Christmas music may be one of the first signs of the season, but movies aren't far behind at my house. By Thanksgiving of this year, we had already watched The Grinch (with Jim Carrey) and A Muppet Christmas Carol... more than once. As soon as we got home from Chicago (where we usually spend Thanksgiving) I busted out the old claymation movies. You know (and you do), Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Little Drummer Boy, and my personal favorite, The Year Without a Santa Claus. My mom has them all on DVD. Score. Chaela has already started bringing those movies to me and saying, "Wacha Wudu? Wacha Ginch? Wacha fraggles?" Which, roughly translated, mean Rudolph, Grinch, and Muppets. And how could I forget Frosty the Snowman and A Muppet Family Christmas. <3

Yes, I love passing on my Christmas addictions to my progeny. I have a few other favorites that Chaela isn't really into yet because they're not cartoons or very cartoon-like. Elf is topping my list right now, as well as The Santa Clause (only the first one), and White Christmas.

You know what I'd really like? A soundtrack of all of the awesome songs on these movies, like (and I'm guessing at these titles)"I'm Mr. White Christmas/I'm Mr. Green Christmas," (The Year Without a Santa Claus) "Where ever you find love it feels like Christmas," (A Muppet Christmas Carol) "Silver and Gold" (Rudolph)... ok, just basically all of them.

So what are some of your favorite movies (or songs from the movies)?

Jocelyn Eve

Well, most of you know by now that it's a girl! We're planning on naming her Jocelyn Eve, even though I'm not quite positive how we're going to spell it. I'll post a poll. I personally plan on calling her Jossi (up in the air how we'll spell the nickname, too, this is what I like, but Will likes Joci... cast your vote). I think my mom and a few others have said they like Joss, I don't really care. Whatever works!

I'll admit, even though I swore to everyone, even myself, that I didn't know or care what this new baby was, I was surprised when I found out it was another girl! A little sad? Maybe, but not because I didn't want another girl. I'm over the moon that Chaela will have a sister. I think I was just sure in my head it was a boy, so I had to re-orient myself. Two girls! Weird! I honestly never expected it.

But once I thought about it a little more, I got really excited. If I've got two girls, they can share a room! And they will, because I think sharing a room is good for kids. If they decide they want to have their own rooms when they're teenagers (and I'm sure they will) and we have a house big enough, they can. I shared a room with my sisters until I was eleven or twelve, and I think it helped make us close. I really, really want that for my girls.

Speaking of sharing a room, thank you Jana for the most awesome inspiration ever! Jana made this amazing name sign for Chaela, and the colors are so cute, these are the colors I'm going to use when we get a place and can set up a room for the girls! My parents have also agreed to let me have Lindsay's old bedroom set. Everything is made of some kind of white wood with white metal bunk beds. I'm so excited!!! I think a purple and green room with white furniture will be super cute!! I just hope I can convince Jana to make one of these for Jossi/Joci once we figure out how we're going to spell her name!

Creative Control

Will is taking a class this semester where he has to "design" a video game. He has to come up with a concept, story, title, decide if it's going to be FPS (first person shooter, like Halo or Call of Duty), RPG, MMO (massive multi-player online, like World of Warcraft), etc. Since Will is an awesome husband and knows I get excited about coming up with stories and worlds, he asked me to help him out.
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Oh yeah, I was happy. I've been looking forward to helping him conceptualize a video game since he decided to study video game design, and I think we both always knew we'd work together when it got to this point.
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What I didn't realize was that I'd have such a problem giving up one of my stories (and this is one of the ones that I've had brewing for a long, long time). Not that I'm giving it up, per se, but kind of letting Will see it and giving him licence to *gulp* take it in a different direction.
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It just never occurred to me that he might try and actually do it.
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We were sitting on the couch, talking. Or I was talking, telling him about what I had planned for this story and why I thought it might make an interesting video game, when suddenly he looked at me and said, "Yeah! Or we could do it like this! For a second, all I could do was stare, mouth slightly agape. Finally I said, "No. I don't think that would work," and continued on with my own thoughts.
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But what I really wanted to do was jump up and down, Rumpelstiltskin-esque, and shout, "MY BABY! MINE! MINE! MY IDEA!"
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That's when I found out... I am a control freak.

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Some of you are probably saying, "Ha ha ha! You didn't know? I knew a LONG time ago! Denial much?" Ok family and close friends, you may know, but in general I think I have a reputation as a pretty laid back person. In general.

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So after just ignoring all of his ideas that weren't compatible with "my vision" for about 45 minutes, I realized something. 1) This is a school assignment, so it's not like it really matters. 2) This is his school assignment, and he knows way more about video games and their appeal than I do, so I should probably listen to him. And 3) the odds that this idea will ever make it to actual video game are about zero, and the odds of me maintaining control if it does are less than that. So calm down, Caitlyn.

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So I stopped arguing with him and started listening. The man had some good ideas.

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In the end, we (and thank you Will for letting me deluding myself into thinking I have a say) decided the game would have single-player story-driven campaign and an awesome online multi-player. I get to have my story, and he gets to have his customization and leveling up and and all that. Most video games these days seem to have this kind of system; even Halo and Call of Duty have a campaign on top of their uber-popular online multi-player modes.

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I ended up having an awesome time planning this imaginary game with Will, and I'm glad it's my husband (who is stuck with me anyway) who helped me discover and tame the control-freak within. I feel better now about my ability to share creative power with other people in the future.

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I have decided, however, that I could never co-author a book. My co-author would probably turn up missing at a critical time, like the House where House gave Wilson drugged grape soda then stole his pants while he was unconscious so he couldn't leave the hotel room. I'd probably pull something like that.

How Teachers Know You're Up to Something

After lunch I'm in a much better mood than I was for my previous post. I have learned a lot in my few weeks as a sub, one of which is how to tell when kids are doing something they're not supposed to be doing. To my students, all of the following have alerted me that something is not quite right:

1. Furtive glances. This is especially obvious when a group of 3-5 of you is doing it at at the same time.

2. Sudden silence.

3. The room is dark and you are bouncing a light-up bouncy ball. It lights up.

4. Someone is yelling in pain/annoyance.

5. Something is stuck to the ceiling.

6. Abrupt laughter.

7. Some kind of projectile emerges from your general area.

8. Other students are whispering/telling/yelling at you to stop it.

9. You are not in your seat.

10. I can clearly see and/or hear you, because I sit in the front of the room.

Welcome to class.

Today I don't know if I can do this.

Today sucks, I'll be honest. I'm at school right now, babysitting a bunch of kids who don't understand anything. Here is a list.

1. The difference between themselves and adults. Here it is: having and upholding responsibilities greater than whether or not they're going to do their homework or smoke pot instead.

2. Teachers are people, not objects you attempt to break down with repeated and blatant disrespect.

3. The fact that swearing makes them look ignorant.

4. The idea of life beyond high school, including making a living and supporting yourself and your family.

5. I. Can. See (and hear). You.

Of course, there are good kids. And for the most part, they're good at heart. I'm just too tired to deal with some kid saying to me, "It's not my fault you took this job." No, but it's your fault that it sucks.
Anyway, I just needed to complain a little bit. Sorry I don't have any clever/funny stories today. I was thinking of getting a job as a full-time teacher someday, but now I don't think I want to. I just don't like stupid people.

Chaela used the big girl potty!

I was going to post this as my facebook status, but I don't think everyone would have appreciated it, ha ha. I just wanted to announce that Chaela used the big girl potty for the first time today (#2). She's currently wearing Daisy Duck big girl undies, so we'll see how it goes the rest of today.
I'll be honest, I didn't expect to start this for another few months!

Happy Second Birthday to Me!

Well, today was my birthday again. I'm really getting into this whole thing, the presents, the cake (even though mommy hasn't made mine yet, she said I get it tomorrow)... the only thing I'm not really sure about is that all of these people keep singing to me. Let's just say none of them are Laurie Berkner.

Anyway, the day went well. It started out with Grandma Katie giving me some presents that she and Grandpa Doug got for me. I got a doll house that makes noises, like the phone ringing and the toilet flushing, and a shopping cart that's just my size! It came with plastic food. I like to pretend that the maple syrup is chocolate milk and the salt is ice cream, ha ha. I'm so creative!

Next, mommy made blueberry muffins. They were yummy. Grandma especially liked them. Then I watched a movie until daddy came upstairs. We hung out for a while, then I took a nap. When I woke up, mommy and daddy had presents for me, too!

They weren't as good as grandma and grandpa's, except for the stuffed puppy named Violet that they gave to me. She sings songs and calls me "Bug" like mommy and daddy do. Other than that, though, mommy dropped the ball a little. She got me two pairs of shoes. Silly mommy. Daddy got me pajamas that say "Daddy loves me." I liked those a lot. I'm actually wearing them right now. Oh, and mommy did get me a cool new kind of clothes. She says they're called "panties," so I put them on over my pants. Everyone thought that was funny, but I don't know why. Mommy says the pictures of that are on grandma's camera, and she'll put them on facebook later.

After that mommy cooked some stinky fish and I ate a bunch of cucumber. I LOVE cucumber! Then mommy, grandma, and grandpa went to church to watch some people sing. Mommy was supposed to sing, but she lost her voice somewhere. I hope she finds it soon, I'm kind of tired of her snapping and whispering at me all the time. Maybe I'll help her look for it after church tomorrow, as long as she still has time to make my cake.

I spent the evening with daddy watching movies, which was cool. I've been spending a lot of time with daddy lately, because mommy goes and babysits idiots all day long. I don't know what "idiots" are, but they all live in a huge building and throw things at each other. She says I listen WAY better than they do. I know. I'm pretty great.

Well, me and my new friend Violet are going to bed now. Birthdays are fun. I'll have to see if I can have one again soon.

Unexpected Things Happen at School

I've been subbing for almost two weeks now, and most days have been what you would expect, but today something kind of weird happened.

Alright, so I was in for a teacher in the Work and Family Life department (new name for Home Ec) and she must be strict, because her students were really, really good. The best I've had so far, in fact, and most of the day passed uneventfully.

So the last class of the day rolls around and the first students come in, a pair of girls. As I observed these girls in the five or so minutes I had before class started, I noticed that they seemed a little less socially aware than their peers. Actually, they sounded (and even looked) a lot like girls who were 10 years old or less. One was a freshman and the other was a sophomore, and you could really tell that they were... well, not at the top of the social pyramid. Here is the conversation I overheard:

Girl 1, "He talked to me yesterday!"
Girl 2, "Na-UH!!"
Girl 1, "Yeah, he totally did. I bet he'll talk to me again today. I'm going to go over there and sit by his seat and he'll talk to me again."
Girl 2, "Do it! I'm going to talk to him to!"
Girl 1, "Yeah! I'm going to sit in front of him and STARE at him the WHOLE period!" (This made no sense, since he was going to be sitting behind her.)

So Girl 1 took all of her stuff and moved it over to a desk on the far side of the room, and it's about this time I realize that whomever "he" is, "he" is in my class this period, too. And who does "he" turn out to be? No less than THE star of the football team. Of course, I didn't know that until I got home and talked to my mom, but I could tell after watching him for about 30 seconds that he was very popular. Partly because the first thing he said was (about Girl 1 without even looking at her), "Can you make her move? She annoys me."
So I smiled at Girl 1 and said, "You do need to sit in your assigned seat."

Girl 1 moves back to her seat by Girl 2, and they continue to talk loudly about Football Star, who is now in the room. I don't think they realized he could hear them, this is how child-like these girls really were.

Football Star's buddies arrive, and they start making fun of these two girls in a way that completely went over their heads. In fact, they thought this boy was flirting with them. Needless to say, for the greater part of the hour I had these kids, I was fuming at Football Star for being a jerk.

the period went on, Football Star and I had a few interactions, and he was very polite to me in a genuine way (it doesn't take long to spot the fake ones). I started to think he was ok, but towards the end of the period when the kids had finished the worksheet I gave them, things started happening again.

Girl 1, "I'm going to go over there and talk to him right now!"
Girl 2, "I'm going to talk to him, too!"

So they went over, but apparently lost their nerve about halfway there and started talking to a girl who was also probably very popular, but who was extremely nice to them. Meanwhile, Football Star has moved out of his seat with all of his stuff and is across the room. I don't know if Girl 2 thought she was flirting or not, but she asked FS if she could sit in his seat (yelling across the room). He said no, so she retorted with, "Well I'm going to sit in it anyway!" and stuck her tongue out at him. FS and his buddies wander back in that direction and the over-the-head taunting starts again. By this time, I felt like FS and I had a slight rapport, so I motioned him over and very quietly whispered, "Be nice." As in, "Listen, you're FS and all that entails, and she's obviously got some problems, so you need to be a good person." He whispers back, "I am nice," like he didn't quite get my message, so I look him in the eye and say, "I know you are, but be nice."

He kind of paused, then nodded, and I feel like he understood what I was saying. So he went back over by his desk where all of his friends were, and Girls 1 and 2 are still hanging out. I don't know exactly what happened next, but Girl 2 must have been saying that she could beat FS up, which is something I've heard very young girls threaten teen aged guys with when they think they're flirting. So FS kind of laughs it off, but Girl 2 keeps it up. Finally FS goes, "Yeah, ok, hit me."

This might be an ok thing to say to someone with fully developed social skills, but Girl 2 lacks these. Girl 2 pretended like she was going to hit him once, then twice, and FS and his buddies started laughing. I guess Girl 2 didn't like that, because she winds up and actually punched him on the shoulder.

And then she clocked him on the jaw.

Ok, maybe not "clocked him," but it was definitely her best shot. All of the students around her got really quiet, but she was completely oblivious of having crossed a big, fat line. She just kept saying, "Yeah. And I could hit you harder. You bet I could. I could hit you WAY harder than that!" all the while shaking her hand, because she probably hurt herself.

I'll be honest, I just sat there in shock. I had no idea what to do. Finally she went to walk back to her desk, and to do that she had to walk by me, and I pulled her aside and kind of whispered, "[Girl 2], that was NOT ok. You JUST CAN'T hit people!" She kind of looked surprised and scared, whispered, "I'm sorry!" and hustled it back to her seat. I think she really was sorry and actually didn't realize that what she did was totally out of line. She went back to her desk, and I walked over to FS, still really, really unsure as of what to do.

Me, "Are you ok?"
FS, "Yeah, that didn't hurt." (Girl 2 probably weighs about 30 pounds.)
Me, "Do you want me to leave a note for the teacher or take her to the office?"
FS, "No, it's cool. That girl has issues, and I don't want her to get in trouble or anything."

That's what I get for judging. If I could go back, I would have reacted sooner, called Girl 2 over in front of the class and had her apologize, but I just wasn't thinking. That is not a situation I was prepared for. Either way, FS turned out to be a really good guy.

It was a weird way to end the day, and I still wish I would have done more. What would you have done?