Polite Dissent

In the Polite household we always open the stockings before the big presents. Over the years, these smaller stocking gifts have become light-hearted and humorous presents — and one of the best parts of Christmas morning. Everybody seems to have a theme. The Polite-Wife always gets cat tchotchkes such as magnets, notepads, pencils and picture frames. My mother always gets purple gifts. The Polite-Sister, a marine biologist, always gets gifts with clownfish on them (this has more to do with the tattoo on her ankle than her choice of preofession). I, on the other hand, always seem to get super-hero themed gifts. In addition to the Spider-Man pens, sticky wall crawler and temporary tattoos, there were a couple of gifts that stood out this year.

There was the Spider-Man Make-A-Cookie-Face kit. With this gift, I can make twelve cookies with Spider-Man’s face on them. I may be in trouble though, the first line of instructions on the back of the package states: First, ask a grown-up to help you.
Wonder where I could find one?

Towards the bottom of the stocking, I found a small Spider-Man ornament, followed by a Captain America ornament, an Iron Man ornament and a Wolverine ornament. Suddenly, it dawned on me: I had the New Avengers, only in ornament form. Now if I could just find a Spider-Woman and Luke Cage ornament…