Don't be fooled by his smile. He is the real life Mr. Scrooge.
It all started over Thanksgiving when I told him I'd really like to have my tree up by December 1st. His first response was "Why so early?" I ignored him and went on to ask him where we should put it. He suggested our dining room since it wouldn't require us rearranging anything. Plus, if Bradley was overly drawn to it we could just close off the room. I suggested a spot and he suggested another one. My spot was ready to go. His spot required rewiring and creating an outlet. I told him I honestly didn't care either way. I just wanted my tree up by December 1st.
Well... December 1st came and went. No tree. No outlet.
Then, December 2nd and 3rd came and went.
Finally, on December 4th, I told him that it seemed like a lot of hard work for a tree that isn't really working anyways. He said he had a couple other ideas on how to get to where he needed to be in order to pull the wire or something through. I then begged him to just put the tree in the other spot and let's be done with it. He obliged. My tree is up!
Our next run in with Mr. Scrooge came over my wanting to listen to Christmas Carols in the car. Jeremy wanted to listen to Indie Christmas which I get is all cool and modern sounding, but it is clearly NOT Christmas sounding.
A few days later, I took Mr. Scrooge to Wal-Mart with me. We were buying a toy for a child in foster care and I thought it would be a great opportunity to buy B one or more presents for Christmas since we'd only bought him one toy so far. So we are in the toy section discussing the gift for the foster child and then I tell Mr. Scrooge he should also look in the younger section for a possible toy or two for B. To which he once again replies, "Why??". BECAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS!! I didn't say it quite that loudly. but I'm pretty sure it was loud and I may have sent daggers through my eyes his way. One cannot be sure how they react when they are around Mr. Scrooge. Needless to say, we left Wal-Mart with a toy for the foster child and no toys for B. The reason Jeremy gave me was that, "You need to think about it a little more."
I should also mention that while all this was going on I was also buying all of my own Christmas presents... Yes, because every year inevitably they sell out of what I want or Jeremy doesn't order it online in time to arrive by Christmas. And let me tell you. It's not fun buying yourself your Christmas gifts. It's much more fun opening them with a slight surprise.
Then, the next week, he came to me and asked if I would start thinking about possibly not having Santa Claus visit our house.... ever....
Now, let me be straight with you. This is the moment I almost lost it on Mr. Scrooge. Like full on lost it. But since B came along, I have become a much more patient person. So instead I took approximately 1.0 seconds to "think" about it and then told him after "much" thought my answer was that Santa was coming to our house. He then went on to tell me just how serious he was. And how he could never imagine lying to his child. And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
I was so upset at the end of his "discussion" that I excused myself and went to our room and refused to talk to him the rest of the day. I mean, I had only been talking about being Santa Claus for the last two months! I had made sure that all the family knew what a big deal it was for us to do our own stockings this year. I had even spent MONTHS researching the perfect Santa gift. But oh no... 2 weeks before Christmas, Jeremy decides he doesn't want Santa coming anymore.
Now, the next morning, after I calmed down quite a bit, I informed him that if he wanted to be Mr. Scrooge that was great, but he had to do it elsewhere. This is Christmas and during Christmas we are happy, we celebrate Christ, we sing Christmas carols, and we have Santa Claus and there would be no further discussion about it. I then asked him if he wanted to watch a Christmas movie with me. His response, "Isn't it too soon for Christmas movies?" The date was December 17.
Now, Internet Friends, this is the moment I lost it on Mr. Scrooge.
I could take no more. He was destroying every little ounce of Christmas spirit he could. And for what???
I grew up in a home where Christmas was seriously amazing. Every inch of our house was covered in Christmas. I kid you not. It looked like Santa and his elves had moved in and brought their Christmas wonderland with them. We had two Christmas trees. We had never ending sugar treats throughout the house. And my mom played Christmas carols 24/7.
On Christmas Eve, we always fed the reindeer. And my dad would go outside our windows and make noises around midnight so that we knew Santa was there! Then, on Christmas morning, we ate beignets and opened up a mountain worth of presents. For a child, it was so much fun!
I want that for Bradley. I want him to look back and think of all the fun and joys he had celebrating this season. I want him to love the traditions and enjoy our time as a family.
Now, I understand Mr. Scrooge wanting to manage our focus and making sure it is on Christ and not mainly on the gifts and Santa and all the other stuff. But come on... We don't manage it by taking it all away. We manage it by teaching B balance and making sure we are reminded daily of the importance of this season which is why I think it is great that we have started to implement celebrating Advent.
So Mr. Scrooge and I had a "Come to Jesus" moment. I explained my upbringing. I explained my thoughts on the whole Santa thing. I also explained ways I'd like to make sure the focus stayed on Christ.
So after two weeks of pain and agony and struggling to keep the Christmas spirit alive in our house, Mr. Scrooge found his first bit of joy in the season. And to celebrate his big come around, we watched A Christmas Carol. I wanted to make sure he saw how ugly and horrible Mr. Scrooge is.
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