Holiday Spirit

We were at this fabulous outdoor mall because it was a glorious, albeit chilly (a crisp sixty five) day. I picked Jam up from school and decided to run a few errands while the little ones slept soundly at home with the sitter. I knew I was feeding into Jam's Christmas spirit, but I figured with Hanukkah over, more holiday fun couldn't hurt anyone. I told him before we parked that we were going to run errands and we weren't picking up any toys. He was a real sport about it. After eight days of gifts, even he knew that he was completely oversaturated with the "I want it, I need it, I love it" toys of the moment (or minute, or worse even!) He wanted to play at Pottery Barn. They've got a clever little table of firehouses and dollhouses to wrangle all the kiddos and then let them know that "all this could be yours!" Jam was inching over to a kiddy table and chairs that was partially occupied by a bossy girl in Juicy and her equally subservient friend. "Put this here, do this, like this." I knew that Jam was in for some trouble. He brought a blender (wooden, no noise) over to the empty part of the table and very quietly began playing. This little chick grabbed the blender and said "no, no, no, this doesn't belong here." I hate intervening because it is important for children to learn lessons on their own, but Jam looked so forlorn. "Excuse me," I said to Juicy "but we can make room at the table for the blender because you need a blender to cook, don't you?" She paused and then said "I guess so." So, Jam sat back down and was happy as a clam. Where was Juicy's mom? Right next to me watching the entire thing. Figures.....