Drew and were watching t.v. with Riley the other night, and a show was on about Christmas traditions… or something… I don’t really remember, to be perfectly honest, but there were a few Christmas traditions highlighted on whatever it was. Anyhoo… Riley thought it was pretty funny that someone would buy a cake that looks like a log, so he was getting a kick out of it. Drew and I tried to explain about the Yule Log, and realized that we weren’t really sure of the details of that tradition. I just filed it in my brain under “Wiki that later”.
It reminded me of another tradition that I thought he would find funny, and halfway through explaining it, I realized I didn’t really know the details of that one, either. I used to work with a man from Germany, and he told me about the tradition that his family had on Christmas morning of hiding a pickle ornament on the Christmas tree. He told me this story about 10 years ago, and I don’t remember the significance of the pickle, if the person who found it got to open their gifts first, if the whole family had to wait until it was found to start opening gifts, or if you got an extra prize for finding the pickle. All I remembered was that there was a hidden pickle ornament on Christmas morning. I didn’t feel like looking it up right then, so I just told Riley I’d get back to him on the details. I really am curious about it, but I still haven’t bothered to look it up, yet (obviously).
The other day I got a phone call from Riley’s teacher. She said “Mrs. Johnson, I just thought you should know that Riley asked me what it means when parents play ‘Hide the Pickle’, and I wasn’t really sure how to answer him, so I sent him to the guidance counselor.”
Okay, that last part didn’t really happen… yet. Except in my mind. Over and over, and also with variations of other topics we’ve talked about. That’s the type of thing that haunts me every day. Riley is a very curious child, and is always asking questions about everything he sees and hears. It’s great that he loves to learn, but he doesn’t know yet that Drew and I don’t know everything (don’t you give us away, either!), so I worry that sometimes when we don’t fill in ALL of the blanks for him, he’ll ask questions like that. And questions like THAT may sound a little strange to other people. If he asked that at home, we would know what he was talking about. In Sunday School… another story.
a watcher Said:
on November 25, 2008 at 5:21 am
Are you sure you want your full name online and fully searchable via google? I wouldn’t if I were you. You might want to reconsider having your full name at the top. Just a thought.
Angel Said:
on November 25, 2008 at 9:43 am
I just want to make sure it’s easy for my family and friends to find my site… and even if I didn’t put it here, it wouldn’t be too hard for anyone to figure it out with just a few clicks on my blogroll links.
Also, surprisingly enough, there are a LOT of people with the same first and last name in this area, and close to my age… so only people who actually know me would really know if they’ve found me or someone else, if they’ve just done a Google search.
Thanks for your concern, though.
Bill Brown Said:
on February 13, 2009 at 8:56 am
Oh, about a hundred thousand years ago, I sat in a Spanish class in a high school in Orlando next to this girl who used to entertain me with the myriad of interesting tidbits that would periodically bubble up to the surface of her mind.
Some fifteen years, a couple trips to Africa and other odd locations and a veritable plethora of unusual adventures later, I find myself reading the blog of AEJ, formerly AEB and marvel at how little the world has changed.
I’m sure you won’t remember me, Angel; I was only in Orlando for a short while, but I just wanted to say thanks for giving me some reading to distract me from the work I *should* be doing this morning.
Cheers!
–Bill Brown