"What do they say, Mommy?"

I bought the boys some of the Little People Christmas collections.  Well, I say I bought the boys, but I really mean I bought it for all of us.   I chose to purchase the Christmas Tree Lighting in Discovery Park, Santa and his Reindeer and the Nativity.  These are collections that I have seen and wanted since Patrick was a toddler.  I never purchased it for many reasons, #1 we never had much extra money, #2 we didn't have a house, so space was always limited, but probably the biggest reason was #3 I was too much of a "green" mother to understand how to use such a collection properly.  I used to think it was just another toy for the kids to play with and therefore was easy for me to pass on.  However, my thinking changed  when I was recalling my favorite Christmas memories.   I remember, how exciting it was when my mother took down the decorations.  We were very excited, because of course it meant Christmas was on its way, but it was also so exciting to rediscover the treasures that were in those boxes.  They had that distinct attic dusty smell and we were so young that it seemed like so much time had past since we'd last seen what was inside.  One of  my absolute favorites was, an ice-skating rink that we placed under the Christmas tree.  It was a plastic decoration with silver, shiny paper placed on top to make for the rink.  There were the figures that we had to take from their boxes and set some up at the rink and some sitting on the benches.  I loved playing under the tree with this decoration and was only slightly frustrated by the constant pine needles falling on the rink, distorting the fantasy. Another favorite was a plastic decoration of Santa driving his reindeer on the sled.  My sister and I would fly the red and white sleigh, with the reindeer around the house and reenact Santa's process of loading the sleigh and taking flight.  Finally, my other absolute favorite was the Nativity.  My mother painstakingly wrapped each figurine the Christmas before back in its designated newspaper to protect each piece in storage.  Amazingly, I think only Joseph ever became fragmented and glued back together.  (Which; I am only able to admire now that I am the keeper of my own Christmas decorations and will admit to dozens of fragments and mutilations of all kinds to my decorations and I have only had this job 9 years. )   My mother let us play with all of these decorations, but they were, after all meant to be decorations and not toys, so things would fall off, or not stand up the way I wanted to play with it, etc. etc.  So that leads me to my newest acquisition.  What I hope will become my family heirloom.  Yes it is Fisher Price and yes it is Little People.  But I hope my boys will enjoy playing with these "decorations" that I will take out every Christmas.  And, of course, when they are too old to "play", I will continue to take them out and be reminded of their Childhood Christmas pasts.  If the universe is really good to me, my boys will go on to have their own children and then I can pass one down to each of their first-borns.  It was not until I was a mother who traveled enough "maternal distance" (I will call it)  that I could imagine  such a future.  Now that I foresee a different and greater potential for these items, they became worth so much more and seemed priceless.   I quickly purchased those 3 different sets that remind me so much of my own childhood Christmas.  

I took out two of the collections today and Tristan quickly took to the Santa with his reindeer.  After playing with it most of the day he asks me, "What do they say?"  

"What does who say," I asked?  

"Reindeer.  What sound do they make?"

"Well, they uh...

I don't know..."

I guess my maternal distance has not traveled far enough to have seen that coming and been prepared.  I'm sure I will have a well thought out answer for when Colin asks such a question.