The Great Package Rattle

There is something profound about children guessing what is in wrapped packages. I can feel Rachel's close examination of the spines on books. Books wrap great BUT are give aways, don't you think?

Did you ever shake til you break? Did your parent's ever double or triple wrap a package for the sake of surprise and suspense?

Did you ever peek? OH...I wanted to peek SOOOOOOOOO Bad!

The idea of gifts has ballooned over the years. My parents may have gotten stockings or other wearable items. My grandparents? Perhaps the same. I know Daddy never got a bike for Christmas because he never learned to ride a bike. Can you believe that? I do know that Benhard and Julia sent Severt, (Benhard's brother-in-law), a tie and a card each year. The next year, the tie would come back to Benhard with the same card. And they say re-gifting is new! Cards were written in pencil so you could recycle. :)

Ever think about what you gave your parents? Did you know them well enough to buy them something they wished for? I wonder if Daddy really wished for monogrammed handkerchiefs? We know that whatever mother got went into the rummage sale the next spring.

Did you have a budget? Mine was a couple of dollars. I would push my pencil to figure out how I could remember everyone with that amount. One year, (I only remember this because it still was on the wall after Grandma Mae died in 1968). I found this really cute little bunny head plaque at the dime store for 15 cents. I bought both grandmother's one. Grandma Mae said, "OH, I know just where I am going to hang this!" She brought it into the kitchen and hung it up. Isn't that so precious?

The year of the pink flocked tree there were no gifts under the tree for Greg and I. I still hate when people tease kids at Christmas time; it is no time to put them on a roller coaster. Daddy said we had been naughty. It was the year, as a teen, I really wished for something. REALLY WISHED. No, harder!!! I wanted an onyx ring I saw in the window of a jewelry store. When I told Daddy about it, he said I was too young and would loose it. BUT I KEPT WISHING. Mother brought them out from someplace she had hidden them. It was wonderful.

One year when Rachel and Bud were young, they remodeled the way the gifts were under the tree, what seemed like many times a day. OVER and OVER, rattle and replace. We as parents decided it was too much for them to bare and a few days before the traditional gift opening, we announced the gifts were theirs and they certainly could open them if they wished. Paper flew for a nano second. Rachel started to cry. The gifts were re-wrapped and they waited. I would think they will never forget that.

One year we bought Bud a watch for Christmas. Oh, you know what I mean, one of those with a timer alarm on it. I will tell you truthfully, I do not believe the timer was set when I wrapped it. As a mother, I tend to believe someone peeked, played with the timer and it unknowingly got set. But that isn't the story. The story is every night at suppertime or dinner to those of you with different terms, the watch would go off as we ate.

Rachel got diamond earrings for Christmas one year. Bud just kept dropping hints. He may have even told her. He just couldn't keep a secret WHEN HE WAS YOUNG. Now, I will tell you he can keep secrets, like when Hookslide was on a television show and he wouldn't tell the outcome!

But, it is different now. The packages are placed/stacked and they are only moved if there is not enough clearance for the Seth Thomas clock's chains. The memories of touching, squeezing, shaking, listen to packages is a wonderful memory for all of us.

Blink back in time, squint if you must; look for those magic moments.

You are worth it!

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