Christmas Memories

Here are some of my random Christmas memories that may be familiar to many:

1. As a small child, I remember waking up in the middle of the night and sneaking downstairs to see what Santa brought. Sometimes the gifts were unwrapped, like bikes, baby doll high chairs and sleds. I could hardly contain myself as I eyed those exciting toys and couldn't wait to play with them in the morning - only to find that the favorite gifts I had anticipated were for my brother or sister.

2. As a teenager I still couldn't sleep and still couldn't wait to see what I was getting. Even though we often picked clothes out of a catalog that my parents would purchase and wrap, I just HAD to see them ahead of time. I found all of the secret hiding places in my parents room and sometimes even got a few of the gifts open and re-wrapped without notice. I think I had to do that since the anticipation was so high I had to release some of the tension or I probably would have died of a stress attack on Christmas Eve. Thankfully I was able to use the gift search to keep my health in check and because of that, I never succumbed to a near death experience prior to Christmas.

3. I could never sleep on Christmas Eve. It didn't matter if I was 5 or 15 or 25, the excitement and thoughts of seeing the gifts on Christmas morning under the tree (maybe for the second time that night) kept me awake. As soon as it was morning - which had to start no later than 5:30 am in my life, I ran downstairs, turned on Christmas music to wake everyone else up - and sat near my pile of presents. My parents were always up at that time. After I had left home, I continued to call my parents on Christmas morning at about 6 am (to give them a chance to get their coffee). After mulitple years of doing this, they finally told me that they quit getting up that early after the kids left - and they rolled over and went back to sleep after my call. Who knew?

4. My sister and I ended up having different traditions related to Christmas morning. When we were grown (and probably past the age when this should matter) We used to take turns going to each other's houses for Christmas morning. When we were at my house, we got up early, turned on Christmas music, started the coffee and tore into the Christmas gifts. We took time to see what each person received but spent the most time excitedly opening our gifts. When we went to my sister's house, we would get up pretty early, start the coffee, possibly remember to put on the Christmas music and then start the tedious chore of passing out one gift each, and watching each person open and then ooohh and ahhhh over their gifts. It was often lunch time by the time all of the gifts had been open. If my sister had full control over the gift exchanges, she would have been even happier if the process lasted until dinner. We are the Patience and "Power-thru-the-Gifts" sisters - and it's not hard to know which is which.

No matter how old I get and how many different Christmas traditions I've lived through, I still feel that wonder and anticipation of Christmas morning. This year I'll be spending Christmas morning with my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. But before I go there, I know I'll be up very early, will turn on my Christmas music, make my coffee and open my first Christmas gift while Seymour opens his. I'm keeping that tradition - and those memories - ongoing. I can't wait!