Three Lost Kings

Let me begin by saying that yes, in fact, the Three Kings did remember to visit us again. If you remember, last year was our first attempt at honoring Nacho's childhood tradition and it went well. I was really hoping to take both girls to the Three Kings Parade in Harlem this year, but with so many absences already from fun stuff, I didn't want to chance Elisa's attendance record. She's missed 9 days of school already (mostly for vacations) and the lingering threat of not passing based on a less than stellar record is enough to keep us on the straight and narrow. Besides it rained all day anyway. But back to the point here...January 6th fell on a Monday this year which also happened to be the second full day of school after our big New Year's snow storm.  That weekend we went sledding and spent the rest of it indoors while Nacho worked a long, brutish day on Sunday. It should have been on my radar to get things prepped and ready, but really I expected Nacho to pick up the slack. It was, after all, his holiday. 

So when Sunday night rolled around and we had no gift, no candy and no roscon de reyes, I was beginning to worry that we might have messed up entirely. Nacho was working late and I couldn't make it out to do secret shopping with two curious girls in tow. Fortunately, Elisa had no clue any of this was going on and she left for school on Monday without asking about the Kings' visit. A quick trip to the toy store and Nacho's pitstop in Corona and we had gifts and a cake.  By the time Elisa made it off the bus and Carolina woke from her nap, the Kings had left their gifts and all was right again. Their tardiness forgiven as fast as those candy necklaces were devoured. Yes, it's hard to feel the momentum for this holiday considering it comes so quickly after the giant bubble of Christmas/Nacho's birthday/NYE. But it's now a family tradition which means I owe it to our family to help make it happen. Or at least kick Nacho into gear a little sooner than this next year. And maybe one of these days we'll see the parade in Harlem and catch a glimpse of those camels. How cool would that be?