Christmas cards

We have a Christmas "sleigh" with rings on top of the piano to display Christmas cards. When we put it up in late November, we had no cards to add. I told Megan "I'm not sure how many cards we'll get... sometimes people just send them out to those who send them one." A couple days later, she said "Mom, can we send some? Because I want to get some."

So I bought 4 packs of cards at the dollar store. I asked her a few times if she wanted to help me decide who we should send them to. She was always busy with the various activities that tend to absorb a 5-year-old. This Sunday she asked me if I could send her some cards. We made a mailbox for her from a shoebox, and I started addressing the cards. She loved the game, and I figured it was good reading practice for her.

Eventually she started getting cards from various Disney princesses and cartoon characters. The envelope went from "Megan" to "Meg-pie" to "Jennifer's daughter" and other variations. I found some Christmas stickers to decorate the envelopes. This game occupied most of our Sunday afternoon.

At one point, while she was waiting for cards ("This time you have to send me SEVEN, Mom"), she got out some simple jigsaw puzzles and showed Cameron how to put them together. They were in her "house" (the basement closet) and the soft chatter of two children getting along behind closed doors inspired me to slow down my progress.

After we ran out of Christmas cards, she started writing her own on construction paper. They were similar to some of the messages I'd written ("Come on the magic carpet with us. Love, Aladdin and Jasmine"), but with enough variation to show creativity. While I was spelling words for her, Cameron would too. "A" I would say, and "A" he would repeat. "Then L"... "den L"

How do you spell "Hickory Dickory Dock" anyway?