Things got a bit awkward as we stood in line at Nanaimo North Town Centre the other day for the requisite picture with Santa. Our six year old was observing that Santa seemed to be in a lot of places at one time these days and isn’t that odd. As we desparately thought of a way to answer, she thankfully came up with her own explanation: these must all be Santa’s helpers. Problem solved. But then, a few moments later, in strolls our Santa and she observes that his beard isn’t nearly as full as the Santa in the promotional pictures. More silence; more desparate thinking. And again, before we have to come up with something, she notices a barber shop further down the mall – clearly he’s been for a shave. My husband and I glance at each other and smile – yes, a close shave.

Meanwhile our three year old seemed blissfully ignorant of all this – chewing ferociously on a candy cane – but I suspect those little wheels were turning and that she wasn’t buying any of her sister’s rationalizations. She’s silently biding her time, but at least we have a year to think of new explanations. For now she was happy enough to sit with our freshly-cut Santa and actually produce some faint smiles for the camera. She was almost as reluctant to show her joy as the two teenage boys who followed us. I watched with amusement while they dutifully sat with Santa; their mother holding their coats and looking very pleased with herself. Standing in line waiting for our prints, I asked the mother what it had taken to bribe her teens. She laughed and said it had taken a lot – to which the boys gave very satisfied grins – but it was worth it all because she now had a complete set of Santa pictures from new-born to sixteen. I wondered how soon we’d have to start bribing our girls.

In addition to photos with Santa, we always enjoy a good breakfast with Santa. The Rotary Club of Lantzville puts on a great event at Costin hall – tickets for the December 22 event are only $10 per family – and we’re looking forward to the pancakes and sausages again this year, but most importantly, the arrival of Santa. Each child gets a turn telling Santa what they’d like (while cameras of family members flash away below the
stage) and they all gather on the floor to play with the balloons and toys from the treat bag. The only snag this year is that our eldest daughter is able to read now and she’s discovered that Santa is having breakfast at several places at once… more awkward questions.

Happily free of awkward questions is the annual ritual of getting a Christmas tree. As we pulled into the lot, the kids don’t recognize it as our usual tree-picking spot, yet as we were paying for the tree on our way out, they were quick to remind the owner that he gave them chocolate treats last year. Oh, so you do remember! I was surprised how quickly we chose a tree this year. Usually we pour over every single one, debating the merits of each – height versus fullness, is that more blue than green – and then promptly forget the trees we first saw, and so start all over again. But this year we went, we saw, we bought (and got chocolates) in a matter of minutes.

Driving home, my husband did manage to raise one awkward question: why don’t we cut our own Christmas tree next year? Not realizing there would be no chocolate involved, the kids got very excited by the suggestion and asked me if I didn’t think that was a cool idea. Oh I was cool to the idea. My husband’s problem is that as a child he didn’t wade through knee-deep snow every year in the backwoods of Kitimat looking for the perfect tree, so he can blithely toss out these kinds of suggestions. We’ll see, I told the kids. We’ll see.

Having traditions is very important for kids – even if they don’t always recognize it until later in life – and one of our traditions is to attend a pantomime each Christmas. A pantomime is a tradition in British theatre dating back to the middle ages – something between a music hall production and Italian commedia dell’ arte – and it’s alive and well on Vancouver Island, where many theatre companies run a pantomime, usually from Boxing Day until just after New Years. What’s so special about a “panto,” as they’re called? Audience participation is not only ok, it’s mandatory. Cheering the heroes and booing the villains, among other things, is crucial to a panto – and that’s something you don’t get sitting in a movie theatre.

Here’s a quick rundown of some pantomime in the area:
The Chemainus Theatre has Rumpelstiltskin running from Dec. 20 – Jan. 3,
Ladysmith Little Theatre features A Very Sticky Christmas from Dec. 26 – Jan. 6,
Peter and the Wolf plays at the Nanaimo Theatre Group Dec. 26 – Jan. 5,
Echo Players Village Theatre in Qualicum will be putting on Puss in Boots Dec. 19 – 31st,
and Courtenay Little Theatre has Snow White at the Sid from Dec. 26 – 31st.

Do Try and catch some of these showings…

If you haven’t had a chance to introduce your children to the magic of live theatre, there’s no better time than the Christmas season. Most theatre companies have something for families at this time of year and a set of theatre tickets makes a great Christmas gift. Both of our kids attended their first live theatre having seen several big-screen movies, and there was something magical for them about actors on a stage, the costumes, the sets – it had a spectacle all its own.

Speaking of spectacles, a trip to Vancouver is definitely worth it for the kids to see Beauty and the Beast. We had a chance to go last week and this Arts Club production at the lovely Stanley Theatre is top-notch; from the excellent singing to the costumes to the amazing sets on the revolving stage, our kids were enthralled. Our three year old sat through the entire production without moving a muscle – her eyes riveted on the stage. Her favourite bit? The smooching at the end. It doesn’t matter how many times they’ve seen the movie in theatres or on DVD, the live production will impress. The show runs until January 6th.

We were at the store the other day buying yet another pack of double-A batteries. If we kept track of how many batteries we buy these days…hmmm, batteries or a Mexican vacation? It doesn’t bear thinking about. We managed to put a little dent in the battery budget recently by getting the kids a pair of those battery-less flashlights that run by hand-cranking them. We also put up hooks in the kitchen where the kids have to hang their flashlights when finished playing with them; not only do we know if a flashlight is missing, we all know where to go for a flashlight in an emergency. As you put one under the tree for the kids, think of those warm Mexican beaches…

We did a story some time back about the Via Rail train between Victoria and Courtenay. We described traveling from Nanaimo down to Victoria, but to keep it a day trip, you’ll need someone to pick you up in Victoria. That prompted a note from reader Kate Britton, who really knows her Via Rail schedule! She points out that if you head north on the line and only go part way, you can come back the same day – for example, travel from Nanaimo to Qualicum Beach in the morning and return in the afternoon. Thanks Kate!

If anyone else has any ideas or thoughts about stories we’ve done or stories you’d like to see.  We’d love to hear from you just leave us a comment and we’ll try to get to it as soon as possible.

There are two things I’m not much good at: painting pictures and cleaning up after my kids have been painting pictures. However, I am good at googling, so I set out to find an art class for the children. They’ve been having a ball at the 4 Cats Arts Academy, which holds classes in Courtenay, Nanaimo, and several locations in Victoria. While having fun doing their own art, the kids are learning about different artists, different styles, and different media, all under the direction of someone who knows what they’re doing. And working with a wide variety of proper materials – canvasses, paints, brushes, etc. – is something we couldn’t afford to do at home. We’ve already hung up a couple of their works in the living room – people get a great kick out of Grace’s Andy Warhol-esque can of soup. I highly recommend looking into arts classes at your local community centre or places like 4 Cats.

At Malaspina University College in Nanaimo, the 13th Annual Festival of Trees features over 50 Christmas trees and a 136-foot-long mural by local artist David Wick. The decorating theme this year is romance and the classic movie Dr. Zhivago. We missed Family Day, but there’s a Public Day this Saturday December 1st with Senior Day on the final day of the display – December 2nd. It all takes place in the Upper Cafeteria of the Nanaimo campus.
We are asking the readers to give us some input about where the best Christmas Trees are. We would love to hear about a special lots, farm or store where trees can be purchased.

One month until Christmas – that’s our cue that it’s time for the lights.  Not that we put up our lights on the 25^th, that takes place on… come to think of it, we never put up our Christmas lights for one simple reason:  they never come down!  My husband is one of those “I’ll get around to it soon, but by July it seems pointless with Christmas just around the corner, so best leave them up” kind of guys.  So, November 25^th is more of a “turn on the lights” day.

 

In case you missed our Christmas lights ceremony (“No no, the other plug!”) there are a few others you can take in this week.  The 20^th anniversary celebration of Ladysmith’s Festival of Lights is tomorrow, Thursday the 29^th and gets underway at 3pm with food, entertainment, the light-up at 6:30pm, and then a parade and fireworks… oh and Santa.  Over 100,000 bulbs will light up the downtown until January 13 – it’s quite a sight.  There was a good deal of oohing and aahing from our kids last year, and it made for a great evening of strolling up and down the street, with lots to see in shop windows too.

Up in Qualicum Beach, this Friday marks the first day of Milner Gardens’s annual Christmas Magic weekends. Festivities get underway at 5:30pm and feature candlelit walks through the 10 acres of gardens. There’s a Teddy Bear cottage which is supposed to be quite delightful and children can also enjoy storytelling at Milner House. And of course, Santa Claus will be on hand along with some of his elves. We haven’t had a chance to see Milner Gardens yet, so this is going to be a great introduction for us. The Lights and Music fundraisers continue on the weekends of Dec 7-9 and 14-16.

Tis also the season of watching more movies, and that means deciding what’s appropriate for your kids. I’ve been surprised to see how many films young kids (under 13) are watching that are rated PG. We’d all do well to remember that PG means Parental Guidance and if you look at www.filmratings.com you’ll see that such films can include nudity and violence. Even a G-rated film allows language that’s commonly used in everyday life, and as we know, that language is getting rougher.

We used to try and watch any movie before letting our kids see it, but as they see more and more outside the household, that becomes impossible. One useful replacement, however, is the internet. The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) for example, has a parents’ guide for each film, describing what does or does not take place based on five criteria of adult content.