he knows if you've been good or bad...

"If you're bad, you get a black rock for Christmas," Ella said.

She was sitting at the dinner table at my parents' house last night and informing some of my siblings of the consequences of the season. Coal, for some reason, has emerged as a topic of discussion around here. My children are quite curious about it.

"But that's okay," she continued in her typical philosophical vein. "If I get a black rock, I'll just put it in my rock collection."

Madeleine chimed in. "And if I get a black rock, I'll just give it to Ella for her rock collection!"

There's always a silver lining.