Christmas, The Schedule and "Fam-a-LEEE"

We have officially reached that time of the year when there are just too many things going on for DC to "remind" me about.

Normally DC will remind me (967 times) of the closest event or holiday coming up on the calendar.
As soon as that date hits, he moves on to reminding me of the next event or holiday, sometimes even before we have attended the event that he had been "reminding" me of over the last week or more.

This time of year is exciting for him but it is also a little bit hard for him.

I worry (it has happened) because sometimes he gets himself so worked up and excited for something that by the time we reach that date, he doesn't want anything to do with it anymore.

Like everyone, DC is very excited about Christmas.

Normally our Christmas Eve is spent at my mother's with the rest of, as DC puts it: "My Fam-a-LEEE". We have been there every Christmas Eve for his entire life.

This year she decided that she was not going to do Christmas Eve anymore. I don't blame her.
It's a lot of work, her condo is small and everyone has grown up so there are no longer any little kids in the family.

So what we decided to do is to take my mother out to dinner and then come back to our house (which is also too small to hold the whole "Fam-a-LEEE") so DC can give her his gifts.

He took this much better than I imagined he would. As long as he will be seeing "Grandmother", as he calls her, everything is fine.

His reminders began on "Calendar Flip Day" (December 1st).

"Mom, I am so excited for Christmas Eve with my "Fam-a-LEE" (before we knew that Christmas Eve was cancelled)
"Mom, I am so excited for camp party"
(Repeat 437 times)

When other items were added to the calendar, it did not slow him down:

"Mom, I am so excited for Christmas Eve with "Grandmother"
"Mom, I am so excited for camp party with my friends"
"Mom, I am so excited to go to "Straw-Bridge" with my friend, BB"
"BB, DC, Mom, Doug, Donna and John going to "Straw-Bridge on Sunday"

Then there was more:

"Mom, I am so excited for Christmas Eve with "Grandmother"
"Mom, I am so excited for camp party"
"Mom, I am so excited to go to "Straw-Bridge" with my friend, BB"
"Mom, I am so excited to go to Auntie Kim's"
"Mom, I am so excited for work party."

When he wasn't reciting the whole list to me, he was pointing at the dates on the calendar so that I could recite it all back to him.

There are other tactics that he employs when he just HAS to talk about his schedule but might have the impression that I am tired of hearing it.

"Mom, I miss my Grandmother"
"Mom, I miss my Best Friend, BB"
"Mom, I miss my Autie Kim"

It will then be necessary to tell him when he will see Grandmother, BB or Auntie Kim.

He went to get a haircut this week and as you may or may not know, no matter how much of a fuss you make over his haircut (or anything that he has done), he still wants more.
After prompting to to tell him once again just how handsome he looks with his haircut, he said:

"Auntie Kim will LOVE this"
- his way of confirming, once again that he is indeed going to Auntie Kim's, but it was different because this is not his everyday manner of speaking or thinking (which is pretty cool.)
He is REALLY excited about going to Auntie Kim's.
(She has already been informed and will certainly mention his haircut when he sees her today - not that she wouldn't have mentioned it anyway)

Included in all of the excitement, there is at times a undercurrent of anxiety. I can see it in his eyes. It IS a lot of schedule for him, which leads me back to my original worry about him becoming overly excited to the point of either not caring when he gets to each event on the calendar or him just being too anxious to enjoy them.

Over the next three days, three of the items on his calendar will be moved in to the completed column.
He will get his dose of Dad's "Fam-a-LEEE" at Auntie Kim's today, fun with his best friend, BB tomorrow and fun at the camp party on Monday night. This will leave only "Work Party and Christmas Eve" to remind me about.

He is getting ready for "Auntie Kim's" right now and so far he's still anxiety free.

Hopefully the next three days will go smoothly and he has as good a time as he has imagined.

Photo: DC dressed in his Christmas sweater, ready to go to Auntie Kim's.
He informed me that he is Matthew Broderick from "A Christmas Story Live".

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