Reading: A Christmas Carol, of course. I have an edition with wonderfully intricate illustrations by Roberto Innocenti, which I reread every year.

Laughing at: Matthew's version of the third line of "Deck the Halls." Instead of "Don we now our gay apparel," he sings, "Don we now our pterodactyl!"

Calling the North Pole

I woke up this morning in the throes of disquieting dreams. The centerpiece of a triptych of dreams, the one I want to remember, was this:

I was living in a house with two roommates, an Asian man and a beautiful, tall blond woman. It was a large, older house, three stories, with doors on two levels and lots of big windows. I was nervous about the possibility that someone would break in, and I was sure that I would be killed. I kept going around checking the windows and door locks. I was angry with my roommates because neither of them took my fears seriously.

I went to check outside and saw a sport utility vehicle that belonged to my male roommate. A black panther was inside the SUV. I realized I'd have to take it back to a zoo. When I turned the key in the ignition, water poured out of the dashboard from several places, soaking the inside of the SUV. I worried about how I was going to explain this to my roommate.

The panther got out of the car. It was purring like a housecat and seemed happy to see me. It was hungry and it seemed to think I had brought it food. I realized I didn't have any meat to give it. While I was trying to deal with the water problem, the panther got into a bag of groceries that had been in the car. It opened a box of Frosted Flakes cereal and was eating them.*

Then the panther got behind the wheel of the SUV and started driving it. Before I could stop it, it crashed into a parked car. I decided to take it inside with me before it could do any more damage. As I was leading it inside the house, the panther talked to me in a little girl's voice. I felt very protective of her.

This dream stayed with me all day. I don't know what to make of the house and the roommates, but I think the panther represents a part of myself that I'm ashamed of: the wild, untamed, mindlessly destructive aspect of my personality. The revelation for me was the childlike quality of the panther and the evolution in my feelings toward it: from worry to annoyance to protectiveness.

*When I was telling Tab about this dream, he commented: "Why not? As Tony the Tiger says, `They're GRRRREAT!' "

The boys have been bouncing off the walls today. They are so excited about the imminent arrival of Christmas. Today as we were sitting down for dinner, they were bickering and roughhousing and wouldn't settle down after repeated warnings.

"That's it! I'm calling the North Pole," Tab declared.

The boys sat in stunned silence as Tab dialed the phone. "May I speak to Santa please...OK, I'll hold...."

Daniel and Matthew started eating their macaroni and cheese quietly, but Stephen wouldn't even pick up his fork. Tears were welling up in his eyes.

"Hi, there, Santa. I'm calling to report that we're having a little problem with Daniel, Matthew, and Stephen...That's right, they're haven't been behaving...No, I'm not sure whether you should come tomorrow night...OK, thanks...Uh huh...OK, I'll do that. You have a safe flight, now."

Hanging up the phone, he returned to the table. "OK, boys, here's the deal: Santa wants me to call him if you guys don't shape up. He gave me his cell phone number so even if he's already in the air, I can still call him. So are you guys going to behave now?"

"We will, Daddy," they said in unison.

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