Needed a visit from Ruprecht last night

Tim and I are barely functional after spending WAY too many hours awake with our naughty baby. She is the most stubborn child, and she's always got to be pushing the envelope. Singing the ABC song at the top of her lungs at 3 a.m. just to challenge the family power structure! Where did she come from? And how is it that she still looks cute to us in the morning?

I read this note from Maggie's school this a.m., and had a good laugh:

We will emphasize to the children here in school that Nikolaustag happens in German-speaking countries. If you choose to add this practice to your own family tradtions, the shoes should be set out on the eveing of Dec.5, so the children find their small presents-usually fruit, nuts, chocolate and other sweets or smalltoys or books on Tues. morning, Dec. 6. If you do not wish to do this, no problem, Nikolaus and his companion Ruprecht will visit the classes in school. Ruprecht, his assistant, was tradtionally a scary figure who beat naughty children and stuffed them in a sack to carry them away. Obviously this is NOT the version we will be portraying here at school...