Children are Funny

Asher

Asher cracks us up! Some time soon I hope I’m going to write an update on him and try to capture with words what makes him so darned irresistibly cute. It won’t be easy, but in the mean time, here’s an Asherism.

Not every night, but occasionally – and more often lately – Asher will sneak out of his room at night. I usually hear something suspicious, like an extra loud sneeze, and know that he’s out, but I generally leave it alone. He usually goes back into his room when he’s ready to sleep, and while he’s in the hall he just plays or hangs out near silently. He has a special spot, you see. In our small hallway we keep a communal laundry hamper which sits very close to the boy’s bedroom door, about a foot or less away. This is Asher’s nook. When he is being sneaky, it’s where he hangs out. Brian and I have always gotten a big kick out of it.

Twice in the last week though, Asher has fallen asleep there. The first time was a night when Brian was at work, and he asked me if he could be the one to move him after he got home. Asher woke up too soon though and I helped him to bed. The other night, Asher did it again and this time Brian and I didn’t know it until we walked upstairs to go to bed ourselves and heard soft snoring amidst our conversation. That kid is just too fun. For some reason, we love finding a little boy sleeping in the hallway, tucked into his nook and blocking his door. It just makes us smile.

Brennan

Brennan has been making this Christmas season… interesting. The child is trying SO hard to reconcile the idea of Santa with his understanding of the gospel. He constantly asks questions that make me have to think way too hard to make it all fit together for him. “Will Santa ever die? Then how can he be resurrected?” “Why did Heavenly Father make just Santa’s reindeer able to fly?” “Did Santa visit Adam and Eve?” “Who were Santa’s parents?” Don’t even get him started on elves! I mean, where do they fit into the plan of salvation?!? In general, he’s always been a worrier about “what ifs” too, so I get a lot of questions about possible scenerios that Santa might encounter (and not just your usual, “what if there’s no chimney?”) I don’t think he knows anything about the concept of “global warming,” but on his own he seems concerned about things like “what if the North Pole melts?” Brian and I both don’t remember having such a problem with the existence of Santa, especially without a tip-off, which Brennan hasn’t had. I never thought including Santa in our Christmas celebrations would confuse a child or make my brain hurt so much!