The Last Noel (of this winter)

My dad, step-mom, Little Sis and (maybe?) Very Little Bro (who for the record is a good bit older than Little Sis, it’s just that he’s the third of three boys, younger than my Little Bro, and Little Sis is the only girl) are coming to visit this weekend, which will officially close out the 2012 Christmas Season. My dad failed to get much Christmas shopping done on time, let alone put anything in the mail from Connecticut to Virginia (extenuating circumstances, but all the same this is far from unusual for him), but with spirits lifted by the actual high holy day he wanted to make this up to my family by coming to visit the weekend before New Years. Which would have been well and good if we hadn’t all been flu-stricken or in varying stages of recovery right around that time, so the visit got delayed, had to be rescheduled around other obligations, and finally wound up on the far side of mid-January. But the end of the tunnel is in sight!

As we were trying to coordinate this grand event I was apprehensive about the effects on the little guy and little girl of a brand new influx of presents (mostly toys I’m sure) from their third set of grandparents. I still am, slightly, but it’s definitely abated. The few days immediately after Christmas were clearly the worst, when both children were at maximum levels of curiosity about each other’s new swag and possessiveness about their own. And this was no doubt exacerbated by both of their parents being ill and not at the top of our games, refereeing-wise. Things have settled down remarkably since then, though, and in fact the little guy especially has been on a good streak of exhibiting entirely good behavior. I’m sure the visit from extended family (and attendant loot) will make both children a little hyper again, but at least I’m no longer fearing a bad situation taking a turn for the worse.

And honestly, we’re in the home stretch here with about eight weeks (or maybe less) to go before Baby #3 arrives on the scene, which is going to upend both of the older sibling’s lives in big, small and unpredictable ways. The little guy is excited, and has told us in no uncertain terms that my wife and I need to hurry up and get a new crib and put it in his room because the new baby is going to stay with him. We assured him that such a sleeping arrangement was likely to come about, but not for a while (read: many months if not years). And I’ve mentioned that the little girl loves playing caregiver, carrying around her doll (new from Christmas) and settling teddy bears down for naps. But all the enthusiasm for a same-gender sibling or keen interest in babies and baby stuff won’t, I know, completely offset the inevitable jealousy, hurt feelings, acting out, possible regression, &c. My point being that the little guy and little girl should enjoy things as they are while they still can and get while the getting’s good, and if that means getting spoiled rotten at Christmas III or IV (whatever we’re up to) an entire month off-schedule, I can’t really bring myself to begrudge them that.