Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Christmas Tree Loses to Hanukkah Present

We were all still feeling the great about the Hanukkah party when we awoke on Sunday morning. My wife and I were still aglow about Kai’s interactions, while Kai was excited about his presents.

He wanted to get started on one of his new Lego sets right away.


Usually I want him to have breakfast before he starts in on a project, but on this morning, we let him play for a good long while before we had breakfast together.

But after that, it was time to turn our attention to Christmas.

When I was a kid, putting up the Christmas tree was a highly anticipated occasion. Not only did I enjoy decorating the tree, the occasion signified that Christmas would soon be here.

In recent years, Kai had the same excitement. He would play with the ornaments before helping to put them on the tree. It seemed like every year he got more and more excited. Last year he even climbed up the ladder to put the lights and ornaments high up on the tree.

But not this year.

He was mildly interested when I took out the boxes of decorations and started to string the lights. But soon he wanted to do something else.

“Mom, I’m going to work on my Legos.”

“Hey, what about the Christmas tree?” I asked.

“Dad, you can do that yourself.”

Sigh. Hanukkah 1. Christmas 0.

He worked on his new Lego diligently with only a short break for lunch.


He finished the first model early that afternoon.

That was quick. I was thinking that all of the new Lego sets he would get for Hanukkah and Christmas would keep him occupied for many months. But I can already see that he will be pleading for new sets much sooner than we thought.

In fact, he was already thinking ahead.

When we had our usual Skype call with his grandparents in Japan that evening, he told them which Lego sets he received for Hanukkah. He was very concerned that Jiji and Baba were going to get the same ones for him for Christmas. “You have to get a different one,” he told them.

My wife translated Kai’s concerns, though we already know that he will be receiving different sets.

But such are the worries of an eight year old.

My worries are about what will happen when he finishes all of his Lego sets.

Ah, but those thoughts can wait, I suppose. Only one week until Christmas. Time to enjoy the moment.

6 comments:

  1. haha...maybe it was really

    Playing 1, Working 0

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    Replies
    1. Haha, that's probably more like it, though I never thought of decorating the tree as work when I was a kid. :)

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  2. Maybe you could get Kai a Lego book. My son has both the "Lego Book" and the "Lego Ideas Book" which he loves. Both are large almost coffee table sized books full of photos. "The Lego Book" gives the history of Legos, the different kinds of sets they've offered through the years and some panels on how to make your own Lego creations.

    The "Lego Ideas Book" focuses mainly on using bricks that you already have to make something new. My son likes building a Lego model he gets as a gift but after a few days he gets more of a kick out of modifying the model into his own creation. The Lego Ideas Book is what really inspired him to make his own creations.

    Happy Holidays!

    -Myra

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    Replies
    1. Myra,

      Funny you should mention this. Kai recently got the "Legos Ideas Book" from an aunt and uncle and he really enjoys reading it. My wife and I will have to help him get started on making his own creations, though, as he has yet to really do that. He is great at following the directions for each set, but I don't think he is comfortable with coming up with his own ideas yet. Soon, though!

      Happy holidays to you, too!

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  3. One thing that you and Kai might enjoy (if you don't already) is taking the Lego creations and making a movie. We use an IPad app called Lego Movie Maker and we spend hours making sets, adding movies and finding other creations to add. They require a great deal of patience but on good days they provide enjoyment!
    Kelly
    http:/:mytwicebakedpotato.com

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    Replies
    1. Kelly, I did not know about that app. It sounds great! Though, I don't know that I have the patience for it. And I probably will be the one to do most of the work for now. But it sounds like a wonderful opportunity for parent and child interaction... I will definitely check it out. Thanks!

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