"Happy" Holidays.

Yesterday we took over a "treat" to our neighbors.
It's become a yearly tradition.
I'm not a very good neighbor.
I don't "chit-chat."
And in my experience, good neighbors will "chit-chat."
So every Christmas I take treats to my neighbors to say,
"Merry Christmas...
and sorry my kids leave their bikes in front of your house everyday."
This year I was feeling especially domestic,
so I whipped up a bottle of Sprite and stuck a tag on that said,
"May your days be Merry and 'Sprite.'"
(It's always been a favorite of my family- especially my dad-
but yes, I do realize it's lame.)
***
So the girls were in charge of taking the Sprite to the door-
my way of avoiding the "chit-chat."
But then they started arguing over who got to hold the Sprite and who was the "knocker."
I told them they were ruining the FUN with all the bickering.
They didn't care.
Brock, on the other hand, was fed up with how long it was taking them to get in and out of the car.
So to speed them up he said, "First one out gets to carry the Sprite."
Annie was out before Kate's protest had begun.
Annie proudly carried the Sprite to the door, as I yelled at her to wait for her sister.
Kate was still protesting and Brock told her to go knock on the door.
Kate proceeded to stomp up to our neighbor's door.
We couldn't see the front door, so I told Brock to back up.
As the girls came into view, they were huddled together.
I was confused.
Were they making a plan?
Huddling together for warmth?
No.
They were fighting.
Fighting over the Sprite.
And it was intense.
Kate, fairly easily, wrestled the Sprite away from Annie.
I don't think she saw it coming.
But Annie proceeded to use her strength and size to wrestle it back from Kate.
Kate started boxing her out while she hunched over the Sprite bottle.
I was stunned.
I didn't know how to respond.
I was expecting the door to open any second.
Nothing spreads holiday cheer like a good cat fight on your porch, right?
But at the same time, it might have been the funniest thing I had ever seen.
Brock was with me on the funny thing.
He was laughing. A lot.
Finally Annie yanked the Sprite out of Kate's hands.
Kate came crying to the car in defeat.
The neighbor opened his door.
Annie said, "Merry Christmas," and handed him the Sprite.
We said, "Merry Christmas," and waved from the car.
Kate just cried at the top of her lungs as she made her way to the car.
Our neighbor was confused.
I hope he didn't open the Sprite right away.
Dear Neighbor,
Merry Christmas!
And sorry my kids leave their bikes in your yard.
And sorry they were fighting over a bottle of Sprite on your porch.
And I'm really sorry if the Sprite exploded.
Love, The Reichner Family