It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
- Prof C
- Dec 21, 2024
- 6 min read
by Ashley
December has found us doing well, but in good need of a restful holiday break, which for us, officially started as of 12:00 p.m. yesterday. Every year, I find myself wishing the school year took a nice long break from Thanksgiving to New Year's. I'd happily go a few extra weeks into summer, just to be able to enjoy all things Christmas, without interruption. Of course, the last few weeks of school haven't slowed us much in enjoying our holiday traditions in our downtime.
Jadyn arrived back home last Friday. We were all counting the hours until the plane arrived, and of course, we all rode down to the airstrip to welcome her off the plane. The day she arrived, the weather was hovering around 15 degrees, and she only had on her semi-warm attire that's attuned to the more mild climate of Juneau. Fortunately, we had her coat waiting for her. Of course, I didn't take any pictures of Philip's big bear hug, or the sibling's excited faces, or Jadyn's smiling, chattering teeth...either because we were unloading things off the plane, or I was too immersed in the moment of family reunification. I also didn't get any footage of Emily being flung out of the truck bed when Philip decided to do donuts in the snow...something she took like a champ. Thankfully, we had a thick layer of fresh snow on the ground. (It also gave her the opportunity to remind me about when I accidentally ran over her foot in the truck at the airport this past summer. I seriously hope she can survive the antics of her parents...) But after getting back home, and after the unloading and unpacking, we settled in for the evening with pizza, hot chocolate, and finally sat down to watch "Die Hard", one of our favorite holiday movies, which we had been waiting for Jadyn to watch. All of the sudden, with the crew back together, it really felt like Christmas.
I had actually thought about Jadyn's time back at home quite a bit, wondering how the readjustment period would go for both her and the rest of us. Remembering what it was like when I was a college student, having had a semester of independence, and then returning home where everyone else was still in the same stage of life, I was curious how our family would fare. As a parent, I aimed to strike a balance of recognizing Jadyn's adult-ish status, but also maintaining household standards. That's right, she's back in the chore rotation. :) I also expected that Jadyn would want more time to herself, possibly finding all the typical family noise a bit overbearing after having her own space for the last few months. And yet, that has not been the case. Jadyn even said how nice it's been, having the regular din surrounding her once more.
We flew through the last two weeks of school, wrapping up school work, hosting a few Christmas events, and enjoying Christmas activities. We had a Christmas Bazaar, where anyone in the village could come sell their homemade wares, including students. Emily and Avery set up a table and Avery sold some of her homemade soaps, and Ems her nail sets that she painted. Other tables had clothing, and a lot of handmade earrings and crafts, made mostly from beads. Beading is very popular out here. A lot of the slippers, fur hats and gloves usually have Native beadwork designs on them. Emily is learning how to bead from a couple of the paras who work at our school, and they are really impressed with her. She's got a knack for it, as well as the immense amount of patience it requires.
We also hosted a Polar Express night, with homemade hot chocolate, made by Philip, punch made by our principal, popcorn and snacks. We had a fairly good turnout, and at the end, we passed out gifts that had been sent to the village from Toys for Tots. A former student dressed as Santa, and only a few brave souls were willing to sit on her lap.
The last week of school was very laid back, with almost all of my class coming every single day. They are by far, the crew that loves school the most. Several of them have commented how they love being at school, and would rather be there than staying at home. We, of course, suspect that the older students feel the same, but they won't say it out loud. We spent most of the week learning about how Christmas is celebrated around the world, making a lot of Christmas crafts, and reading Christmas stories.
We didn't do a Secret Santa exchange with the students, because the odds of every one coming through with a gift weren't great. So instead, with my class, we did a Secret Santa letter exchange, where in class, they wrote a letter to a classmate, and put it in their classroom stocking. I wasn't sure how it would go over, because saying kind things still isn't natural for a lot of them. Plus, I was asking them to write, which has sometimes resulted in moans and groans. Yet, they were all so excited to write their letters, and keep them secret. Speaking of writing...something I observed not long after getting here last year, is that the younger students here don't know how to write their thoughts down independently. There was always either the, "I don't know what to write," or they would ask me how to spell every single word they wanted to use. With my class this year, since most of them are 3rd grade or younger, I've focused on getting them to just write the sounds they hear in the words, not worrying so much about conventions until after they get their thoughts down. Usually, that's a process that starts in kindergarten, and continues to be refined each year. But with many of them, they're just now getting comfortable with writing independently. So when it came to writing their letters, when they didn't ask me for much help, other than the occasional big word they wanted to say, I was extremely proud. They all took it very seriously, and when we finally opened up the stockings on the last day, they all went to their own little corners of the room, and read their letters with smiles on their faces.
As I've mentioned before, the K-5 class here is an amazing class. Yes, I've noticed gaps in skills that are easily explained by COVID and teacher turnover. And yet, they are a hardworking group. They do everything I ask them to do, and take correction well. We have philosophical conversations about daily happenings, and I hear them often repeating the phrases I have used in class, with each other. They are reflecting more on their thinking and behaviors. The gains they have made this year have been remarkable, and I've joked with them that they are going to surpass some of the older students if they keep up their pace. This year has been exhausting in other ways compared to last year, but it has also been more rewarding.
So with that, I'm going to go enjoy the rest of today doing the Christmas activities we've been waiting to do for the break. Right now, the kids are making an Oreo Gingerbread village that their Mama Sue sent. I'll be surprised if most of the pieces actually make it to the building stage...
Other December happenings: (photos below)
The usual traditions of the Advent House and our Harry Potter Advent for 2024
Fancy Christmas table linens, sent by Mama Sue, for our fancy Christmas Eve dinner
The "Holiday Pterodactyl" has returned for morning awakenings, a tradition started by Philip years ago
For the second year in a row, Emily won the district's Christmas card design contest. Her winning design was a king salmon, a culturally important food source here in the Yukon (sadly, they are in decline now)
The filters from our R.O. system in our house- the well water for the village is extremely high in iron oxide. Not bad for your health, but definitely not tasty or pleasant looking.
Philip skinned the marten he and Josh caught from their trap line.
Forrest is still trying to win Philip's affection. His attempts and pathetic facial expressions are hilarious.
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