Rob and I woke up to the sight of a beach ball being tossed at us at about 7am. Kristine opened our bedroom door, tossed the ball towards my head and ran away. That was her way of letting us know they were ready to open presents. We had told them they couldn’t open any presents before we got up. They had permission to go through their stockings without us but we were surprised that they didn’t even touch those before we got up.
They seemed to enjoy their presents, although they were quick to point out that they preferred Gameboys to the handheld games we got them. They were a lot more grateful for things in the Summer but this time they seem to expect more, just like American kids. Our new response to them when they complain about something is “Too bad, so sad!” Obviously, we couldn’t get them anything too expensive because they can’t take everything back with them. They were also quick to point out that we forgot to get them Heelys (those shoes with the wheels on the heel that all the kids have these days). I’m sorry, but I’m not spending $60-$70 on shoes that will most likely get stolen when they take them back. It’s a challenge to instill in them to be thankful for what they have gotten. They, like many of the other Latvian kids, seem to think all Americans are rich and will buy children whatever they want. Sorry, but that’s not gonna be life in our household so they’d better get used to it. Once they really looked at their presents, they were happy. We got them some plug ‘n play games that they could play on the TV. Olegs also liked his walkie talkies and cars that he got and Kristine was happy with her Barbies. The big hit was the perfume and cologne though. Olegs would practically bathe in his Drakkar everyday. We called it his “man perfume.” LOL!
Kristine was quick to tell us that she didn’t believe in Santa Claus. When we told her some of her gifts were from Santa, she immediately replied “I not idiot,” which was her way of saying she doesn’t believe in Santa. So we had to explain that we weren’t implying she was an idiot, etc. Talk about being a “Debbie Downer!”
We fixed the traditional American Christmas meal of turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, apple pie, etc. Olegs & Kristine made faces at much of it but they did like the turkey. We’re making them try lots of different foods before declaring they don’t like something. We also watched one of our favorite classic movies, “A Christmas Story,” which airs on TBS for 24 hours beginning Christmas Eve. They got a kick out of Ralphie’s adventures.
Overall it was a good day. We are so thankful we could spend Christmas as a family.
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