Traditioooon, tradition!

There is a book that all persons with small children should have at this time of year. It's The Sweet Smell of Christmas and it's wonderful. I have many fond memories of my mom reading it to my siblings and I, and scratching & sniffing our little hearts out. Now that I have kids, my mom thought that I needed my own copy to share. She was correct. It turns out that this book is something Stephanie has previously shared with the kids, but Adam got their copy in the divorce (it was beat up and falling apart apparently) so the household was sadly lacking this classic tome of Holiday Cheer.

Since getting it last week I've read it at least 4 times, maybe more. The pine smells just like I remember, the cocoa is the same not-quite-chocolatey smell of every 'chocolate' scratch'n'sniff patch ever made. It's one of the things I really remember looking forward to every year at Christmas. (The other was my dad's annual reading of A Christmas Carol, but we may have a year or two before the attention span for that is present :-) ) Even though the kids already know this book it still feels like I'm getting to share a piece of my special memories with them and that's an indescribable feeling.

The other thing that I never realized until my mom pointed it out last week...Little Bear has had a cold through every reading of this book I can remember. It was never intended as such, but the voice my mom used for Little Bear sounds completely congested. Was this an ironic commentary by my mother on the inability to sniff what you've scratched when allergies are flaring? I don't know, and neither does she any more. But it's tradition, and as long as I'm reading this book to the kids, Little Bear will be searching for a decongestant.