Dear_Sis@the_end_of_my_day.calm©
Two sisters and their friends, share the joys of Larchmont motherhood through E-mail.

by Val Estabrook

Date: 1/3/03
Send To: Ann
Cc: Kim
From: Val
Subject: When you’re 15, Santa can really suck sometimes

Kyle was fully into the Christmas spirit. Earned & saved to buy presents…discovered what each person might like…bought & wrapped each gift. To top it all off, he carefully double folded the ends w/double sided tape…just the way his Mom loves a package to be wrapped.

And how did Joe and I repay Kyle’s thoughtfulness? Didn’t buy him a single present from his wish list. Spent quite a bit on private lessons that will be good for him and a couple of those pajama bottoms the kids like to wear to school and warm sweaters and non-violent movies and paper clips and other useful stocking stuffer stuff. But not a single toy.

Of course, Kyle never complains. Just searches quietly through four foot deep paper muddle surrounding Christmas tree till he finds little hand-held road race game…obviously not a gift from his parents. Inexpensive, battery operated game that occupies most of his day.

That evening find him curled up in a ball under twinkling lights. Kyle says, “Couldn’t you find the things I’d asked for?” My heart sinks. Suddenly thrown back to a similar Christmas past………..

I must have been about Kyle’s age. Spent all my money & carefully chose presents for each sibling & parent. The wrapping was especially well done if I did say so myself. On Christmas morn, I’d not received a single gift hoped for. Feeling miserable… unloved…promised never to forget how that felt. Hmmmmmmm. I could just kick myself.

Kyle’s pushing away so hard that we forget he really doesn’t want us to let go. We feel out of step with his growing maturity, finding it harder to know what he wants…even when he literally spells it out…cause it just isn’t what we envisioned for him. I want to say something. But what?

XO Val

__________________________________________________________________

Date: 1/03/03
To: Val
Cc: Kim
From: Ann
Subject: Who Knew?

Geez.

But you never know whether to treat them as though they are older, or younger. With Evie this year, we shopped together and then wrapped some of it up for under the tree. Shopping is the only time we have closeness. Sad.

I asked her if she wanted to play Santa and help with the Christmas Eve prep for Corrie and Charlie…and she said no…she wanted to be surprised like when she was little.

Who knew?

Happy New Year, Ann

Happy New Year to all my readers! With the holidays behind us, we’ll be looking forward to funny new stories in Dear Sis about how my friends and I spent our New Year’s Eve. If anything sounds familiar, you were probably at the same party. (although I know you weren’t at Barbara’s cause nobody showed up there and certainly hope you weren’t at Kim’s mopping up the flooding waters…more to come on that. ) Write to me about any interesting holiday party sightings by clicking on val@larchmontgazette.com for an easy e-mail form.

XO Val

Contributing writer in today’s column: Ann Pitts is an art director, writer, certified soccer coach and a mother of three wonderful kids.

Val and Kim Illustrations by Larchmont artist Sue Girardi. "Ann" courtesy of Snobhollow.net

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