Like most parents in America, ( I’m pretty sure ) Christmas Eve was spent watching football, wrapping presents, and drinking bourbon. We also spent a lot of time reflecting, talking about how much better this year was than last, how much faster each year seems to go by, and how we probably should have picked up more bourbon.
Ten years of holidays together lead to a lot of stories. My wife’s first time drinking red wine coincided with the first time that we hosted both families at our new house together. It also may have been the last time that she ever drank red wine but everybody keeps coming back every year, so we’re able to laugh about it now.
One of my favorite Christmas stories is an inadvertent prank that we ( I ) played on Kayla one year. Something that my family always did was to disguise presents in different boxes so that smart ass kids couldn’t shake them or otherwise identify the contents ahead of time. Every child knows what a box of clothes looks like or a packet of socks. These are always the last things opened. I was determined that she would not have that option.
What I did on this particular Christmas, in my infinite cleverness, was to convince my wife to join me in wrapping all of her gifts in food boxes. CDs and DVDs hidden in empty boxes of crackers and instant rice. Books in cereal boxes. A necklace in the discarded macaroni and cheese box from earlier in the week.
Not once did it ever occur to me that she wouldn’t open these boxes and discover the contents inside. As a child I always knew that my prize would lay at the bottom of the Cracker Jack box. So surprised were we that to our shame ( and amusement ) we didn’t tell her. To her credit she opened every last gift before heading upstairs to cry and wonder why Santa hated her. Any trust issues she may have developed in the interim are strictly incidental and again, we all laugh about it now.
There are fewer years to look back on, but plenty of stories already that we were telling about Alaina. The two year old who’s parents were tired of going out into the cold to allow her to enjoy her slide, so bought her an inside one instead.
The odd little three year old with the symmetrical piles and need to organize her gifts as she was opening them. Her reluctance to move on to the next present until satisfied that the previous one was where it was supposed to be.
No matter where you were or what you were celebrating, I hope this weekend was a good one, new memories made. I hope you were surrounded by friends, family, and most importantly, laughter.
Cheers.
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This post was previously published on ThirstyDaddy and is republished here with permission from the author.
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Talk to you soon.
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Photo credit: Jeremy Barnes