“What are you doing with all that lettuce?” I asked my small son Kevin one Christmas Eve.
“Mixing it with carrot sticks, celery, and little bits of turnip peel.” He couldn't have been more straightforward if he’d been asked to state his name, address, and phone number.
“Obviously!” I exclaimed. The child had already heaped eight cereal bowls with stuff from our vegetable bin, and now he was filling up my cold-pack canner, as well.
“Because, Rudolf has to have a dish, too,” he explained.
“Rudolf? Dish?”
“This big pot is for Rudolf. I’m making a midnight snack for Santa and his eight tiny reindeer and Rudolf!”
“Oh, no you’re not!” I must have sounded like Ebenezer Scrooge. “Hot cocoa for Santa is one thing—I’ll even help you make him a sandwich. But there’s no way under this rooftop we’re gonna provide fodder for eight black-nosed caribou and their red-nosed leader just because they happen to be pulling a toy-filled sleigh.”
“Why not?” my husband interjected. He had popped his head out from behind the evening newspaper just in time to see our little boy bolt from the room to hide his tears. “If he wants to feed the reindeer, then let him feed the reindeer. Who can it possibly hurt?”
Now I was rushing from the room.
“Heading out?” he wanted to know.
“Yes,” I said in a voice cold as the North Pole.” I’m heading out to Wal-Mart. If those reindeer are going to eat all that lettuce, you’re going to need an awful lot of vinegar and oil!”
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| Kevin (right) and his little buddy Jake mugging in front of the Christmas Tree |
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| Even the smallest child can help create these cute reindeer. |
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| My friend Phyllis and her grand kids make these cute little mice every Christmas. For directions, visit http://www.partytipz.com/recipes/view/44 |
