sort-of failure

We watched TV last night.  We had an ice-day and were home from work and school all day.  We played Mouse-Mart [Wal-Mart for mice run by Gman as Mr. Jenkins and staffed by Tutter Mouse, Kerchemal Mouse, Harry the hunter mouse, Ollie the Opera Mouse, Charlie the Church mouse, Dr. Conio, Coonie, and a whole cast of others who show up to buy things – Mr. Jenkins always knows what aisle they are in].  We talked to N before she left for work, when she returned because she forgot something, and when she returned again because she had fallen on the ice and her hair needed to be refixed before she could go to work.  We talked to J who called to tell us that she too had fallen on the ice – glasses and coffee flying – thankfully no broken bones in either case, just a few sore tailbones.  We went Shark hunting.  We figured out which pictures we wanted to hang downstairs and carried them down and cleaned them.  Mom and Dad hung pictures [bare walls since we returned from the 2009 flood] while Gman listened to audio CDs in the cuddle spot.  We ate soup [mom], stew [Dad], and peanut butter and crackers [Gman].  We wrapped presents.  We cuddled in the cuddle spot [walk-in hall closet, behind some boxes we made a tent with a blanket, pillows, a cuddle blankey, a pillow pet, mom and boy, turned out all the lights – except the Christmas nightlight] while listening to audio CDs.  We listened to several kids books on CD [PETER PAN, SAMSON AND DELILAH – which includes lots of 1960s sing-along hymns – thankfully I fell asleep during it].  We baked homemade bread to go with the homemade soup we made on Wednesday [Gman made his own soup – picked out all the ingredients – I advised or said no depending on what he wanted to put in.  He ended up with chicken, potatoes, onions, parsley, tomatoes and onions – and then put the whole thing through a blender.  I put in too much water – should have used chicken stock - so it was bland, but once I surreptitiously put in some spices and barley, it was quite yummy.  My French Onion was AWESOME].  Gman played with the flour on the counter making castles and rubbing the bread with flour.  Gman played in the sink, pretending to wash dishes and asking for “ingredients” to add to his “sink soup” – since I generally have to take a bite, I didn’t give him any ingredients – ick!  Gman continued to play in the water, went upstairs, retrieved his shampoo and proceeded to wash his hair in the sink [this counted for his bath/shower this evening as we hadn’t done anything strenuous and therefore didn’t require the full deal – I would have let him go without anything, but he was enjoying dunking his head into the full sink so much, how could I say no?  We ate dinner – salami [Gman] and soup [homemade French Onion topped with homemade bread and Mozzarella cheese, MMMmmm].  Mom worked on writing out Christmas cards.  By 7PM I was exhausted, despite the nap.  So I caved and let him watch a movie [HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON – which is the superdy-duperest movie ever] while I continued to work on Christmas cards.  Then we got the bad news about our friend’s son right before bedtime.  Teeth were brushed, prayers were said, a book was read, cuddling ensued – more cuddling than usual as Mom was reminded of how fragile life is.  So all in all, I don’t think it was a complete failure.  I could have caved earlier in the day and let him sit there and rot his brain the whole day.  One movie after a long day of fun and productivity doesn’t seem out of line.  Or am I just trying to justify myself?