December is a happy, sassy, magical time for Happy Boy and Sassy Girl. It starts with Advent. The first Sunday in December, Mom takes out the Advent wreath, decorated with pine boughs, purple berries, and golden apples and pears. Both Happy Boy and Sassy Girl are transfixed as the candles are lit—one the first week, two the second, three the third, and four the fourth. Happily, they listen to stories about Jesus, sing Danish Christmas songs, and enjoy delicious treats. When it’s time to blow out the candles, the whole family works together, blowing and blowing until they finally go out.
Sassy Girl’s birthday comes in the middle of the month. She admires the cat cake that Aunt Kissa made. Cats are Sassy Girl’s favorite animal. This birthday turns out to be a superhero birthday, with a Batgirl doll from Aunt Kissa, and Batgirl and Supergirl shirts from Mom and Dad.
Her super powers and sassy attitude help Sassy Girl to protect herself. One day, as Dad is getting ready to leave for an appointment, Sassy Girl climbs the wrong side of the stairs to get closer to him and say goodbye, holding the posts of the bannister as she walks on the three-inch ledge. Suddenly, she loses her footing, knocking over the kid-sized basketball hoop as she slips, then dangles as each hand clings to a post. She hears Mom gasp, but Sassy Girl doesn’t panic. Experimentally, she loosens her grip and slides down a couple of inches. She realizes she can safely reach the floor, so she lets go and softly lands on her feet. Sassily, she runs off to play.
The happiest part of the month for Happy Boy and Sassy Girl is decorating for Christmas. Mom and Dad let them help to hang ornaments on the Christmas tree and place Danish nisser on a shelf. Every few minutes, Happy Boy takes a break to excitedly run around the room. Every night, he happily plugs in the Christmas lights. Every morning, he and Sassy Girl happily and sassily play with the ornaments on the tree—until Mom shouts to stop.
The month ends with potty training for Happy Boy. He’s unsure at first, since Mom and Dad have tried to teach him many times before. He has always managed to resist their attempts. But this time they don’t let him wear his pull-ups, leaving him with no excuse but to use the potty. Each time he does, he gets a sticker and happily puts it on his potty chart. For every five stickers, he gets a sucker—his favorite treat. He soon learns that if he only pees a little at a time, he can use the potty more often and get more stickers. Soon, the chart is full of stickers and Happy Boy enjoys his suckers. He’s very happy when Mom and Dad give him Batman and The Avengers underwear. He feels very grown up now.
December is unlike any other month of the year and Happy Boy and Sassy Girl love its many delights and wonders. As soon as Christmas is over, they ask the Google Assistant how many days are left until next Christmas. When the Christmas tree and decorations come down, they ask the Assistant when they can put them up again. They can hardly wait for next December.
