Suppress your usual cynicism if you will and venture back with me to a more innocent time, to yesterday, actually. Yesterday was kind of a throw back to a more innocent time.

We awoke early, the children and I. After a quick breakfast, and under the gimlet eye of the Viking Bride, baker par excellence, the Girl Child and I prepared a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. We carefully measured, mixed, smelled, and placed spoonfuls of batter onto cookie sheets. We baked them and wrapped the results in tin foil clad paper plates – two of them – and placed bows on the packages.

Then we got dressed up and went off, the whole family, to deliver the cookies – one package to the local fire house and one to the local police station. Both to wish our public servants a happy new year and to thank them for protecting us and keeping us safe. The Girl Child presented both packages. It was a great success.

The firemen were quite happy to see us and the cookies and the Girl Child presented the package with her thanks and best wishes. The Boy Child immediately began agitating for the Fire Chief to open the package, to the ChiefÂ’s delight. The fireman then gave us all a 45 minute tour of the firehouse. The kids got to sit in the driverÂ’s seats of all the trucks, got to ring bells, and mess up the computers in the trucks. They showed us the equipment they keep on the rescue trucks and talked generally about some of the rescues they had been at. The kids got plastic fire hats they had to wear in the garage and on the trucks. It was just lovely.

Then, off we went to the police station. The Boy Child has kind of a thing about policemen. He sort of fears them. They have been involved in nightmares in the past (“Policeman come up in my bed and bite meg (pronounced my and means me in Norwegian)”). So, knowing this, the Girl Child issued the appropriate caution as we drove up: “Ok, Boy Child, when we get to the police station, you are not allowed to say, “Policeman dumb dumb”. The Boy Child promised. The police station was a bit more buttoned down than the fire station, more security, etc. But they still let us in and seemed really pleased to get the cookies. They asked for our name and address so, I hope, to send the kids a thank you note. The kids got badge stickers and life savers and we all got to see the communications room and say hi to the other policemen.

I think the kids really enjoyed everything. They had fun meeting people and learned, I hope, that saying thank you can be rewarding in and of itself.

Then we went off to the Gap. The kids got gift cards from the parents of our first nanny. The Girl Child referred to it as her credit card. We told them that the money was theirs and they could pick out whatever they wanted to buy with it. As you may imagine, the excitement level was high. The Girl Child chose a pick fluffy bathrobe (“Now we’re twins, Pappa!” (although I note that my bathrobe is blue)) and the Boy Child picked out some pj’s with cars on them. Both were very pleased with their choices. Very.

Then we took them off to lunch at a mediocre barbeque joint. The Girl Child and I colored on the paper tablecloth together.

Then, home for naps (mine and theirs!). Post nap, a clean up of the play room and incorporation of the new toys into the existing toys and dinner.

All in all, a genuinely lovely day, even if it was so wholesome as to make you gag!

Posted by: Random Penseur at 01:08 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
Post contains 646 words, total size 4 kb.

1 Gag, no. Teared up, yes. Such a sweet way to start the year.

Posted by: Jocelyn at January 03, 2006 02:00 PM (jkRb/)

2 So sweet complete with new cavities! May I send my dental bill to the kids? Or to your attention? And right RP, your robe is blue...... ;-)

Posted by: Wicked H at January 03, 2006 02:30 PM (iqFar)

3 Too wholesome by far! Puke! (Has nothing to do with my raging nausea). Seriously, though, I'm sure the police & firefolks loved getting your thanks & treats. That's lovely.

Posted by: grammarqueen at January 03, 2006 03:26 PM (XzHwx)

4 RP, I just adore your children. What a wonderful memory this is going to be for all of you! And isn't that maybe the greatest thing about blogging? Being able to go back and re-read your thoughts and feelings and experiences whenever you want to. Bless you and your family and thank you for sharing this.

Posted by: Amber at January 03, 2006 03:52 PM (zQE5D)

5 I can't get the image of your fuzzy blue bathrobe out of my head. Gah! Must concentrate on the cookies!!

Posted by: Jim at January 03, 2006 04:10 PM (tyQ8y)

6 Fabulous day...and now I'm feeling this sudden urge to bake. I really want to teach Maya to do things for others as she gets older, so I'll file this away for future reference.

Posted by: Allison at January 03, 2006 04:31 PM (Bgxii)

7 You are one seriously lucky man. Of course, I'm sure you're aware of that. Now I have to go make cookies.

Posted by: Primal at January 03, 2006 04:34 PM (1a+hi)

8 Just so you all know, and especially you Allison if you are thinking of filing this away, I got the idea to do this out of starting to teach the Girl Child about the 911 emergency system, about what to do if there is an emergency and what to say. Then I realized that there was a good teaching moment here, a chance to show her who keeps her safe, who answers the 911 calls. And a chance to do something nice for those people. It was a combination of fun and learning. And Jim, stop picking on my bathrobe! It was a gift from my wife. Don't make me tell her that you were making fun of her gift. You don't want that.

Posted by: RP at January 03, 2006 04:42 PM (LlPKh)

9 You're raising them to be fine, upstanding citizens. They're awfully lucky to have you as a Papa, hon. And I know you feel you're the lucky one. So don't protest. {{ hugs }}

Posted by: Margi at January 03, 2006 07:41 PM (nwEQH)

10 Aah, I remember that plastic fireman's helmet. Sitting in the driver's seat -- Oh, what magic, what a dream come true! What wonderful memories you are giving to your children. So, when do they get to graduate from thanking their protectors to shooting off some .22 rounds of their own? I'd say about 8 years for the boy child. 2 more years for the Girl. Just commenting is all...

Posted by: Tuning Spork at January 05, 2006 11:30 PM (kaxtS)

11 That is the sweetest thing. There is a little three truck firehouse just at the entrance to my neighborhood, complete with resident Dalmation named Sparky. The guys love to see the kids from our 'hood coming up the back path through the woods, because they are always bearing goodies. I'm amazed those guys are able to stay so thin and trim sometimes. :-)

Posted by: Jennifer at January 06, 2006 02:09 PM (jl9h0)

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