She just wants her front tooth
Marshall first graders share thoughts on Christmas
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MARSHALL -- Families celebrate Christmas in a variety of ways, whether it's getting together with family, going to church, waiting for Santa, giving gifts or whatever the case may be. When there are children present, the season seems extra special, in part because of their excitement and because they remind us to stop and appreciate every little detail.
Several first-grade students recently shared their thoughts about the upcoming holiday. When asked what they were most looking forward to this Christmas, the children came up with a lot of different answers.
"To celebrate Jesus' birthday and to have good food," Kyla Sprik said. "(I'm also excited to see) my baby cousin Frankie. He will be at least 1 this year."
With a toothless grin, Adelyn Ewald shared what she most wanted.
"My front tooth," she said.
While she already has one front tooth starting to grow back in, Ewald's response reminds us of the song "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth," a novelty Christmas song written in 1944 by Donald Yetter Gardner while he was teaching music at a public school in New York. He'd asked his second-grade class what they wanted to Christmas and noticed that almost all the students had at least one tooth missing as they answered in a lisp.
Along with Ewald, Parkside first graders who shared their comments were: Thomas Maxwell, Lylah Brockberg, Aaron Nielsen, Mallory Wendorff, Zander Webskowski and Tessa Ramirez. Their teacher is Kelly Konietzko.
"I'm most looking forward to going to Grandma's like we do every year," Nielsen said. "We get to open presents and play there. We also eat."
In addition to Sprik, True Light Christian School students offering their thoughts were: Jonathan Sternke, Viola Hoekman, Noah Bottelberghe, Otto Meulebroeck, Roman Pflaum, Christian VanLerberghe, Ora Knochenmus, Finn Rund and Reese Livingston. Their teacher is Angie Kesteloot.
"I'm most looking forward to going to my Grandma's house and seeing my cousins," Livingston said. "I think it's two hours away."
While Sternke was most excited for "Jesus' birthday," Hoekman was most looking forward to "seeing my great-grandpa. It takes 24 hours and a half hour. My great-grandma has to take care of him because he has a problem with his back. He has to have a special chair."
Knochenmus was most looking forward to "just having time with my family."
When asked if she could have one wish for Christmas, Knochenmus said, 'Maybe like a baby sister or something."
Rund's wish was that "we'll have a good Christmas."
Hoekman said her wish was to see her dad more.
"I'd lose any of my toys for it," she said.
Pflaum's wish was "love for other people," while Sternke hoped that more people would know Jesus.
Meulebroeck also had a heartfelt wish.
"I would wish that everybody in the world would be happy," Meulebroeck said.
Answered varied quite a bit when the students were asked what present they most wanted this year.
"For more Barbies," Ramirez said.
The Barbie doll was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler, who is the co-founder of Mattel. She named the doll after her daughter, Barbara. Handler said through Barbie, little girls could inspire to be anything they wanted to be.
Nielsen said he really wanted a telescope.
"I want to look at the planets," he said.
Wendorff hoped for a guinea pig.
"I have two at home now," she said. "Their names are Donut and Sprinkles."
Webskowski wanted Santa to bring "a full-size Pac-Man machine."
Sternke's favorite gift would be "a toy dragon" that is about 10 inches high. Hoekman wanted "a toy horsy."
"I'm missing one that I really, really want," Hoekman said. "It disappeared. I can't find the black one. It looks like it's jumping. And it even has its name on the package."
Brockberg hoped for L.O.L. Surprise! dolls.
"L.O.L.s are little mini-dolls," she said. "I want to play with them."
Meulebroeck most wanted a Lego set, "one that has a boat in it maybe." Bottelberghe said he would like a watch.
"That's all I want mostly," Bottelberghe said.
VanLerberghe said he'd really like "a dinosaur set" and a "really big tractor" that is blue.
"I've been good this year," he said.
Rund asked for a tractor that is about 2 feet tall.
"It's a tractor that makes noise," he said. "It's a toy tractor but big. I want a green one."
Knochenmus would love to have a sledding accessory.
"(I'd like) a sled or a snowboard," she said. "I have this practice snowboard."
Livingston hoped for "a camera," while Sprik wished for the same thing as last year.
"A new set of butterfly wings that I can color," Sprik said. "I'd also like this thing that is a puzzle, but it tells you how to put it together. It shows you on the paper."
A few of the children were asked what gift they thought their parents would like. Pflaum said his mom might like "a new coffee cup."
"She likes coffee," he said.
Wendorff thought her mom would like "a Google," while her dad might appreciate "pieces to help him work on the basement."
Answered revealed that families prepare for Christmas in different ways as well.
"We go to my Grandma's and celebrate Christmas with my cousins," Maxwell said. "It's a lot of fun."
Ewald said "we decorate and we put cookies and milk out for Santa."
"This year, we're decorating some for him to eat," she said.
Brockberg said her family decorates.
"(My favorite is) the picture of me in the 3-year-old preschool," she said.
Webskowski said they "decorate the tree with lights and ornaments."
Livingston said they also decorate the tree, and if she had her choice, most of the ornaments would be her favorite color.
"Purple," she said.
Rund said the tree gets decorated after the couch gets moved.
"First, we put up the Christmas tree and then we hang ornaments up and then my mom wraps the presents at night," he said.
Knochenmus said they "set up our house and decorate."
"We have fake flowers and ornaments on our tree," she said.
Decorating the tree is also special at VanLerberghe's house.
"We put the lights on the Christmas tree," he said. "When my sister gets and ornament off, I put it back on. We only do the Christmas tree inside our house and then in the garage, we put a silver thing with a tree thing and we put ornaments on it. It has a big bow on it."
Bottelberghe said they "decorate the tree and put presents" but that they don't put the presents under the tree.
"We put the presents in our window and in our stockings," he said. "Last year, we put a whole bunch of books under our tree. We have like 2,000 books."
Hoekman said her family usually "decorate a tree and go to my grandparent's house. I get to play with all my cousins."
Hoekman has special ornaments, which she puts on a low branch.
"So if it falls, it won't break," she said. "I have one from when I was a baby and one from when I was 4. It's fun to decorate. I also have my own tree with ornaments and blue tinsel."
Meulebroeck said he goes to his grandma's every Christmas.
"The whole family goes there and the Christmas tree has a bunch of presents under it," he said. "She puts names on them, so she takes them out and gives them to us and then we can open them whenever we want."
VanLerberghe said Christmas morning is special at his house.
"When I wake up, I go upstairs and look under the Christmas tree," he said. "When I see presents, I go open the door in my mom and dad's room and then tell them presents are here. They're going to say, 'What? Christmas presents are here?' Then I'll show and then we get to open them."
Knochenmus celebrates on both sides of the family.
"So my mom's side, the cousins on that side will come and we'll eat and then play Bingo," she said. "We go to church on Christmas Day and then we'll go to Grandma's house on my dad's side and we'll have supper and play and stuff. Then we'll open presents."
Ramirez said her family will "celebrate and eat cake." If she could decorate the whole tree herself, it would be covered with "Barbies."
"That's all," she said.
Maxwell said he'd prefer to decorate the tree with "a bunch of snowmen."
The kids were also excited to talk about Christmas goodies.
"Buckeyes are my favorite," Nielsen said. "It's a peanut butter ball and it's dipped in chocolate and there's a circle of it that's not covered, so it looks like an eye."
Cupcakes are Sprik's favorite.
"I like the chocolate ones with the white frosting and green and white sprinkles," she said.
Livingston said her family makes cookies.
"I help make chocolate chip cookies," she said. "I get to help stir them."
Pflaum likes frosted sugar cookies.
"Snowmen, snowflakes, with frosting, and Christmas trees and bells," he said. "I like them all."
Hoekman admits she gets a little crazy with the sprinkles on the cookies.
"I use a full bottle of star sprinkles," she said. "I use four on each of them. My mom uses five for 10 trees. But even when other people make them, I'm secretly putting more on them."
When asked what animals were probably in the stable when Jesus was born, Sternke said "sheep, a donkey, camels and maybe some cows."
Bottelberghe said "cows, sheep, goats, shepherds and three wise men.
"The wise men brought baby Jesus myrrh, frankincense and gold," he said.
Meulebroeck said "a donkey, a cow, a sheep and a goat" would have been there. If he had been present there at the birth, he said it would've been "like exciting and super cool."
VanLerberghe said he thought baby Jesus would've been surrounded by "donkeys, cows and lambs. He said it was a "good" thing that happened.
Rund said Christmas is special because of "family" and "that Jesus died on the cross."
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and was published under the title of "One Horse Open Sleigh" in 1857. Brockberg, Webskowski and Ramirez said the song was their favorite Christmas melody.
Nielsen said "Rudolph" was his favorite Christmas movie and that "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was his favorite song.
"Christmas magic makes his nose glow," he said.
Ramirez also liked the Rudolph movie the best.
"I think the reindeer can fly because they have bells on their neck," she said.
Maxwell said his favorite was "The Grinch" (with Jim Carrey).
"I like the real one," he said.
Ewald enjoys the movie "Christmas with the Kranks."
"We haven't got to finish it yet, though," she said.
Webskowski likes the "Polar Express" movie. He believes the reindeer can fly because of "magic."
When asked how old he thought Santa was, Webskowski said "88."
When asked how many toys he thought an elf could make in a day, Nielsen said: "I think 40."
In pondering what Mrs. Claus might do the rest of the year besides Christmas, Maxwell said, "I think she helps the elves make toys."