Christmas Decorations

Alison was over for dinner last night and was helping me with getting Salem settled down to eat. While she and I waited for Chuk to come home and join us, we mixed some festive cocktails and sat down with Salem at the dinner table while she ate her meal. Salem was distracted as usual and I had a difficult time getting her to eat, this routine is pretty much status quo—the kid just does not eat.

While Salem was “eating” Alison and I chatted it up with our usual banter; what’s happening at work, how her boyfriend is and whatever gossip we had in common. Somewhere along the line, Salem grew upset that she was not the center of attention and kept interrupting. We gently reminded her that it’s not polite to interrupt. She then held up her hand, palm toward my face and yelled: “Girls, girls! Be quiet! QUIET! I’ve got something to show you.” She reached below the table and quickly fired her hand into the air while screaming “TA DA!”

We looked at the object in her hand not quite knowing what it could be. Alison started laughing as I plucked it out of Salem’s paw. It was a disembodied head of a stork clutching baby Dumbo in its beak (one of our Christmas ornaments from the tree.) It used to be cute before the stork’s head was ripped off its body. Salem squealed, “It’s my Jumbo!”

I guess I need to start looking around the house for mutilated and repurposed Christmas decorations.