“Santa Claus is anyone who loves another and seeks to make them happy; who gives himself by thought or word or deed in every gift that he bestows.”
Today is colder than yesterday. The clouds seem close. I’m glad to be inside, and I’m happy I have no plans to go out.
When Henry went out, I went on the deck for a minute or two. As I was going back inside, I noticed something at the bottom of the two steps below the back door. A closer look was a mistake. It was a flattened grey mouse. I don’t know whether it was coming or going before its demise. I kicked it off the deck. I wouldn’t have thought Henry responsible, but he was sniffing the spot where the mouse had recently been lying. Maybe it is the first mouse returned but he was dropped over a mile away so I doubt it. Maybe it was going to be the third mouse stopped by Henry before it could get into the house. Either way, it’s gone to its heavenly reward.
Cross another item off the Christmas to do list. All the gifts are sorted into individual bags for each person. I was determined to finish, and I did. Today marathon wrapping begins.
When I was a kid, the only gifts under the tree before Christmas were from my parents, and they were always wrapped. We got to open one of them on Christmas Eve, my mother’s choice. It was always new pajamas. We whined, cajoled and begged to open different gifts, but that never happened. We were stuck with the pajamas. We were ungrateful whelps.
Santa’s gifts were never wrapped. They were grouped by kid around the tree. I remember one year it was my brother on the left, then me then each of my sisters. Our stockings were hung on the bannister. I can remember going downstairs and getting my first look at the tree surrounded by presents. It was always jaw dropping and pretty much stopped us in our tracks. In my memory drawer is one of those first looks. I remember pink doll furniture in the front, the bed covered in doll clothes. They were for my Ginny doll. I can still see the game of Sorry leaning on a doll cupboard. Books were on the floor in front. I don’t know why that one Christmas is what I remember the most because every first look on Christmas morning was just as spectacular. Santa was amazing.
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December 10, 2018 at 12:55 pm
Thanks for ALWAYS brightening my day,Kat. Sparking memories of the holidays always leaves me in tears. Remembering past Christmases always leads me to the ones when my children were young. Nothing was as beautiful as seeing the wonder in their eyes when they saw the presents under the tree. As they grew older I wrapped each one and they took turns opening them so I could see their eyes. Santa always brought 1 large or 2 smaller presents and the rest were from us. It was important to know that Santa did not have an unlimited budget. Sometimes the girls would come back and say “‘So and so’ got a_____ from Santa, but we know it was from her parents, but we won’t tell. I was always glad we did that, it was much more about the wonder than the present.
December 10, 2018 at 1:23 pm
splendid,
I’m always glad when you drop by to visit. As with you, my mother wrapped every present when we were older, even the ones in our stockings. She labeled every tag to Kat, from Santa. She loved to see my excitement. I give my friends stockings, and they give me one. We take turns unwrapping. It is great fun. I look all over to find the perfect gifts for everyone so I shop all year. It is such fun.
December 10, 2018 at 1:34 pm
As a kid, gifts and stockings screeched to a very abrupt halt. Father Christmas got some cookies and a stiff drink (drilled by my Father who was very receptive) for a short period of time and we moved quickly into gifts from relatives.
The protocol was one gift from the parents and likewise from siblings and grand parents. The big issue was a new board game. I certainly remember the year that Waddington’s Spy Ring, “the international spy game” was my desired and received gift. T’was 1965. My grandmother who was such a good sport spent endless hours playing the game with us. I recall playing the Parlophone 45 of Day Tripper/We can Work It Out over and over and over on the Stereogram
Yea, we really liked Sorry and the Pop-o-Matic of Trouble.
December 10, 2018 at 2:03 pm
My Dear Hedley,
My mother always bought us gifts and filled a stocking. I filled one for her. It was fun finding just the right stuff for her.
At one point the extended family got so huge that everyone agreed not to buy gifts other than for the immediate family. I got gifts for my parents, my siblings and eventually their spouses and children.
My friends and Have game night I the winter. We play two games: Phase 10 and Sorry. I introduced Sorry to my friends, and they were hooked. Our language turns the air blue. We don’t take kindly to be sent back to start. I do get a bit annoyed with my friends because they do for themselves not the game and often don’t check the whole board. I guess my many decades of playing the game have taught me strategy.
December 10, 2018 at 3:46 pm
I don’t understand the purpose for wrapping paper. The stuff gets torn apart at the speed of light and winds up all over the floor then eventually in the trash. Why not just put presents in a nice paper bag that can be reused from year to year. I have absolutely no gift wrapping skills. To make the wrapping paper fit the gift requires the use of half a roll of scotch tape and I can’t make any other bow than the kind that ties my shoe laces. Buying premade bows solved that problem. 🙂
I was always disappointed in the gifts I got at Chanukah or birthdays. Either my parents didn’t listen to me or I wasn’t very good explaining why I wanted a BB gun or a riding size backyard train set. 🙂 I don’t understand how adults think pajamas is an appropriate gift for a kid. They are one level above underwear or socks. After ripping open the paper and bow, that my mother carefully wrapped, I had to feign excitement at the gift they bought. We never received gifts from my grandparents nor my aunts and uncles. Letters to Santa didn’t seem to get me the gift I really wanted. 🙂
Yes, it’s another beautiful sunny day with highs in the low 60s.
December 10, 2018 at 7:00 pm
Bob,
The wrapping paper heightens the surprise of the gift, and it is fun to open the paper. I’d hate getting a paper bag. I like to wrap and right now I’m taking a break from the wrapping I’ve done all afternoon. I don’t mind wrapping.
The pajamas were Christmas pajamas so we’d look good for the pictures in the morning. I don’t remember being disappointed by my gifts. Your gifts seemed a bit beyond the usual. A BB gun, maybe, but not a ride-on train. That seems just a bit much.
Really cold and cloudy all day!
December 10, 2018 at 9:56 pm
I had a vivid imagination as a kid. Did you ever get Christmas underwear? 😂
December 10, 2018 at 10:23 pm
I never got socks or underwear. My mother was a great Santa.
December 10, 2018 at 6:32 pm
Hi Kat,
Pajamas. What a downer. 🙂
Santa’s gifts were always unwrapped and placed on the living room furniture. My brothers had either end of the couch and I had the chair. Stockings were stood up amongst the Santa toys. We’d get up really early and play with the things Santa left. I suspect my parents did that so they could sleep in. When they came down, we’d open the wrapped gifts. Then it was breakfast, church, visiting relatives, dinner either at relatives’ homes or at home with relatives. Dinner with relatives at home meant an extra table extending from the dining room into the living room. That was fun. Much better than relegating the kiddie table to the kitchen.
Today was cold and not as sunny as it has been. We took one good walk early in the day and spent the rest of it inside where it was warm. I finished a knitting project except for some fiddly clean up stuff. I started another one but I think it’s too complicated for me to think about right now. Moving on to something simpler. Maybe mittens with Krampus on them.
Enjoy the evening.
December 10, 2018 at 6:52 pm
Hi Caryn,
Yup, on Christmas Eve we could only open the new pajamas. It never made us happy!
We usually woke up our parents early Christmas morning. Little did we know they had been up until the wee hours putting toys together, getting the toys hidden at our neighbors then putting everything around the tree. Almost everything was unwrapped.
A couple of years my brother and I went to the 6 or 6:30 mass. We wanted to play with our toys so we figured we’d get church over with early.
We’d have dinner and after dinner visit my grandparents. Their house was filled with my aunts, uncles and cousins. My grandmother would pass out her gifts to each of us. It was a madhouse of paper flying and kids squealing.
Today was freezing. It was an ugly day. We never had any sun.