Weekend Hangover

Kettle Comedy -- It's better to give than receive, unless you're 4.

We were walking into Hy-Vee in Marion Saturday, on a trip to cookie supplies, when I saw the Salvation Army bell-ringer ringing away. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a couple of coins and handed them to Tess, 7 and Ella, 4, to drop in the kettle.

This was new to Ella. "Just put the coin in the bucket," her mom said.

"Ooh. What do we get?" Ella asked, loudly.

"Oh Ella," Tess said, eyes rolling.

OK, usually, when you put a coin into a slot, you do get something. In this case it's a warm feeling of holiday generosity, which is, admittedly, less tangible to Ella than a, say, bottle of orange soda.

We started to explain this to her. She spied race car shopping carts. An educational moment passed as fast as it arrived. She'll get it eventually.

FYI -- If you've missed the kettle you can give online.

Santa Shoots, Santa Scores -- If Tess' Santa skepticism was growing, it shrank a little Saturday.

During the same trip to the store, Tess and Ella took turns sitting on Santa's lap. The old elf recruited them straight from the checkout line, saving us from the begging-for-candy ritual.

Santa wowed Tess when he correctly listed her three favorite subjects in school: "Math, lunch and recess." My wife reports that her eyes grew very wide. Way to do your homework, Kringle.

Santa also reported that his favorite kind of cookie is chocolate chip. Sorry Santa, no dice. It's sugar cookies for you... again.

Have a fine week.