I write at the close of a perfect Christmas day. A fresh carpet of snow fell over night so that when the sun rose the sky was brilliant blue and the world sparkled. We were, of course, awake before the sun rose. Gleek climbed into bed with us at 5 am claiming it was morning. I snuggled her close and she fell back asleep until around 6:30 when Kiki came in and announced that all the kids were awake and would we please get up now? It made me think back to all those years when I was the child waiting in the hallway with a row of siblings waiting anxiously for 6 am so we could wake our parents. I went downstairs to take the photos as the kids entered the room. Howard lined them all up so that they could march in youngest first. The array of Christmas morning surprises was small. A new wii controller and game, a couple of board games, some books. These are the gifts that are for everyone to share. Individual gifts are wrapped under the tree.
As soon as the new things were examined and the stockings emptied, the kids began angling for present opening. Howard and I began the time-honored parental tradition of stalling and dawdling. We know that once the presents are opened the excitement of possibility is over. We made them all eat a good breakfast. Then everyone had to get dressed. Then we had to clean up the mess from the surprises. Then the stack of presents had to be moved from under the tree to the family room. The presents must be sorted according to who is giving the present. This way the giver can carefully hand the gift to the recipient. We take turns opening gifts to slow the process down and savor it. As it was, we were still completely done by 9 am. Once again the vigor of the children wins over the dawdling of the parents.
I’m not going to complain though. The kids were all just as happy to give as they were to receive. Each of us got gifts we were excited to have. And the gift exchange lasted long enough that it didn’t feel too short, but ended long before gift receiving burnout. The rest of the day went to happy play. There have been upsets here and there, but mostly we’ve all been enjoying our new things and enjoying being together outside our daily routine.
We had a Christmas dinner. It wasn’t a feast, just a meal, but I did pullout the tablecloth and napkins. We all sat down together at the table and I realized that we need to sit down that way more often. Sunday dinner would be a good thing to put back into our lives for 2008. Next on the agenda is curling up with the kids to watch Rattatoie and then bed.
Quote of the day:
At breakfast Howard was attempting to get Gleek to eat a few more bites of breakfast. He began to tell her that she would be a much happier girl if she had enough breakfast. He got as far as “You’ll be much happier today if you have–” when Patches interrupted “Presents!” We all laughed and admitted that presents would indeed make today happy.
On behalf of the Fans of the Wonder that is Schlock Mercenary:
Merry Christmas, and here’s to a Happy New Year!!
Yeah, Sunday lunch is a Good Thing. It can be a hassle fitting it in, especially if you do church on Sunday morning, but there are ways, and sitting down around the table makes a special “family” feeling. Even now, at age 41, I feel guilty if I’ve said I’ll be there for Sunday lunch but yet I’m late.
I like the “present” joke. Kids have a wonderful ability to do that kind of thing. I recall an occasion when a friend’s youngster (might’ve been a bit older than your Patches, depending on how old he is now) had been caught in the act of eating someone else’s sweets. His mother explained to him that these sweets weren’t just any sweets, they were G_____’s special sweets that were a present form someone else, and that he shouldn’t just have been scoffing them. Everyone looked serious. “Now,” she said, “don’t you think there’s something you should say to G_____?. There was a pause, and then the young man solemnly said “sweets”. We all found this most amusing, which rather spoiled the lesson.