There was always a tin of hard candy or cookies to go with the tree. Heaven forbid you grabbed the wrong tin. You might end up with a box or buttons or sewing supplies- although I would love that now.
Christmas as a child was wonderful and guaranteed a houseful
of relatives with quilt pallets on floors, three and four kids in a bed and pulling
out that terrible sofa sleeper. We had a large family, so there were lots of
kids near my age to play with.
I told the boys that if anyone got into that closet, I would
know and there would be no Christmas presents. When I got home, I learned that
they had spent most of their time trying to figure out how to get past the
string to see what was in the closet.
What was in the closet? Nothing- all the gifts were out in
the storage building, but they were so busy trying to get into the closet, they
looked nowhere else.
During those years, I had the Santa thing down to a science.
I wrapped all the gifts in special Santa paper and used a silver or gold
sharpie to write their name in special penmanship. I then put all the gifts in
trash bags and hid them.
On Christmas eve, we would go look at Christmas lights. When
everyone was in the car, I would always find a reason to go back in the house….
I left the oven on… I think I heard the phone ring… any excuse would do. Once I
was in the house, I would go to the hiding spot for that year, grab the trash bags
and dump the wrapped gifts under the tree. After about 6 years, I was pretty quick
and could get outside before the kids got restless waiting for me.
I would then go to the car, trying not to be out of breath
from my Santa spree, and we would drive on to look at lights. After about 30
minutes or an hour, we walked back in the house and Wa! La! Santa came while we
were away.
Not to brag, but this deception... uh process... was so smooth
that my daughter believed in Santa until she was nearly 12.
My daughter still carries on part of this tradition with her
children now, wrapping in special Santa paper.
May you all have a blessed and peaceful Christmas!
I would love to hear your favorite Christmas stories.
Wonderful post. Nice way of tricking the children. We always had that particular tin of candy, and mom always used the container to collect small items. I know it was harder and more expensive for most parents when we were small, but there was so much more togetherness and bonding in families that is missing today. Merry Christmas to you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading Judy Ann- as much of an introvert and homebody as I am- I do miss the closeness of relatives - My cousins were like siblings.
DeleteWonderful post, Sherri. I remember those trees, although we didn't have one. I also remember the tin of hard candy and of buttons. I have the tin my mother-in-law used for buttons. She saved so many she also had a couple of plastic containers of them as well. I have several favorite Christmas stories. Too long to post here, but thanks for reminding me of them. Merry Christmas to you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading Caroline- I would love to hear your stories. Maybe this group needs to make a "Christmas Stories to Warm Your Heart" with a compilation of stories ;)
DeleteI so enjoyed your memories! When I was in 4th grade, our teacher bought an aluminum tree complete with blue glass bulbs and the revolving colored light that sat at its base. We were fascinated!
ReplyDeleteNot saying I was easily entertained, but I could watch that tree turn colors for hours :)
DeleteSherri - I just read this blog and I wanted to let you know that it brought back many fond memories of Christmases past for me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading! Merry Christmas!
DeleteI really enjoyed your post, it made me laugh and brought back fond memories of Christmases past.
ReplyDeleteGlad it made you laugh- ;)
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