Dwayne and I set our alarm for 7 a.m. Christmas morning. Now, when I was a kid my mom didn’t need to set an alarm – I’d be up at 5:00 or 5:30 begging her to get up so I could open my presents. The answer was invariably no, but I still tried every year. Our girls are not such early risers. Last year at Christmas, we woke them up, because WE couldn’t wait any longer. We almost did the same this year, but refused temptation. We wanted them to think that they were the first ones up, the first to see what Santa brought, etc.
While we didn’t exactly wake them, we did try to make noise. We rang some jingle bells really loudly from our bedroom (which is right across the hall from theirs). Didn’t work. We coerced the dog into barking. Didn’t work. We banged on the walls. Didn’t work. These kids are heavy sleepers.
They finally stirred themselves a bit after 8:00. They came in our room and I said, “I’ll be up in a minute. Go on in there and see what Santa brought.” I expected them to run back in, breathless with excitement, and tell me what they found (several of their gifts were unwrapped and sitting out in plain view). Instead, they started playing with things and didn’t come back to tell me anything. So, we went ahead and got up.
They got lots of fun things from Santa, including: a Lego building table; some new Lego blocks; a huge container of Tinkertoys; an easel and all kinds of paints, brushes and sponges; a keyboard with mic and stool for Bridget and a drum kit for Tessa; and several assorted Barbies and Doras and Little Mermaid dolls who swim in water. They had a very exciting day.
Since Dwayne and I had agreed not to spend much on each other, I got him a couple of DVDs and a credit card wallet. He got me a retro-design stereo; a nice hardcover copy of “The Haunting of Hill House”; a pricey box set DVD containing every episode of “The Prisoner” (a very cool 60s TV show); “Talledega Nights” on DVD; the latest Belle and Sebastian CD; and a pretty floating heart necklace. See anything wrong with this picture? I felt kinda bad that he bought me that much stuff, but didn’t anguish over it for too long (hee, hee).
The photo is the girls paiting a picture together on their easel. They really love getting messy with the paints and I really love the fact that washable paint really is washable. Woo hoo!!
1 comment:
Men have a way of being uneven with agreed upon gifts. Dave and I "agreed" on about $100; we usually do bigger gifts for each other for Valentine's and let Christmas be about our extended family. So, I got him a fishing pack, some cuff links, and socks; I stayed inside my budget. But did he? Nope; he bought me a Jim Shore Christmas angel and a gold bracelet. The bracelet was too small so we had to return it; it alone was over his budget.
Now it is the eve of our departure for his birthday fishing trip. As I drove home this evening, I started feeling bad that I haven't bought him a gift--even though the trip is the gift. During dinner, he looked at me with puppy-dog eyes wondering if he was going to have anything to open for his birthday. I know he won't have a wrapped gift from his parents or mine. So, I'll be leaving work early tomorrow to pick up something. If only I knew what to get.
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