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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The 12 Deeds of Christmas

Okay, so I'm a bit of a mean mom...kind of. We have this thing at the Thomas house call The 12 Deeds of Christmas wherein the three Thomas children must complete 12 good deeds amongst themselves before Christmas. (12 total, usually works out to 4 a piece.)

The rules are loose:

1. It must be a selfless act.

2. It must not rely too heavily on The Bank of Mom.

Individual deeds have included picking up all the dog poop in the backyard without being asked (thank you Cali), or chaperoning a 10 year old's gingerbread party for 4 hours (Thanks Noel and Issy).

Anyway, the girls decided one of the deeds they would do would be to make a cookie plate and deliver it to an elderly neighbor. Nice, huh? I thought I would help their deed out by buying a lovely paperwhite narcissus to go with the cookie plate. I have always loved these flowers at Christmas, far better than poinsettias, and thought it would be nice.



Youngest child: (upon getting in the car) What stinks?

Me: It's probably the flower I bought for (insert elderly neighbor's name) to go with the cookie plate. It's a paperwhite narcissus. And it doesn't stink.

YC: (Leans over to smell) It smells like baked pee.

Me: (first response) No it doesn't. (second response) Ewwwww. (third response) How do you know what baked pee smells like?

YC: It just smells like pee would....if you baked it. Or maybe it smells like one of those white board markers before you are about to throw it away because it stinks so bad...or maybe a toilet.

Me: It does NOT smell like a toilet.

YC: (Grumbles from the back seat under her breath, something about the fact that the smell of the flower is going to ruin the whole cookie plate.)



So, there you have it. Good deeds abound! Cali saves the elderly neighbor from having a foul smelling plant (which now resides on front porch.)

And that, my friends, is what Christmas is all about.


hrh

(4 more deeds to go!)

13 comments:

lisa and laura said...

I love the 12 deeds of Christmas! And your daughter is right about the paperwhites, they STINK. My son brought some home from school for me and I kept thinking something was rotting in our kitchen. Oh no, just the flowers.

Merry Christmas!

MG Higgins said...

Yep, I have to agree that paperwhites are stinky. Your daughter's description of baked pee is right on (and no, I've never smelled baked pee either). But they are pretty! Cool idea about the 12 deeds. What a valuable lesson you're teaching your kids. I have a feeling they'll carry on the tradition with their own children.

Renee Collins said...

lol, funny story. :)

Merry Christmas, Shelly!

Sarah said...

Too funny :D

Merry Christmas!

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Here is a question: Why did Nature make paperwhites so pretty and so foul? I can noodle on that all day. But won't.
Thanks for the laugh and I love hearing about the good deeds!

Corey Schwartz said...

Oh, I smell a picture book in the making!!!

Kim said...

What a great tradition! I agree. Paperwhites smell like cat pee. I love looking at them, but I can't sit next to them. They just really smell awful.

Shannon Messenger said...

Okay, for some reason I have survived the last 28 years without ever smelling a paperwhite narcissus and now I think I have to smell one--if for no other reason than to know what baked pee smells like. :)

Thanks for the laugh. Great way to start the day. :)

Myrna Foster said...

Thanks for the laugh! Is this the daughter who writes about rubber chickens? She has a way with words.

And I may have to adopt your 12 deeds of Christmas for our family next year!

Catherine Denton said...

Baked pee? You gotta use that!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

Myrna Foster said...

Shelley, I wrote a little something about three of your picture books and gave you an award over on my blog.

Sherrie Petersen said...

What a great idea! I'm going to steal that. Well, the good deeds part, not the flowers that smell like baked pee :)

Paige Keiser said...

Hahahahahaha "baked pee" hahahahahahaha!