READY! SET! RIP!

A friend wrote to say that their house burned down on this day twenty eight years ago. All the gifts were wrapped and under the tree. She went on to say since her kids were snoopers, she numbered the gifts although they had figured out who got what. The fire destroyed everything, including the family pet.

She reminded Old Trunks that one year, we too, did the number system. Like her children, ours were detectives, first grade. By the time 7 PM on Christmas Eve arrived, they needed no direction or my carefully guarded index card.



One year at Christmas time, the kids had been arranging, rearranging, shaking, smelling, and feeling to the point it was just nuts. At supper that night, at least a week before the gift opening time, we told them we did not wish them mental anguish and since all the presents were bought and no more would be bought, they could, if they wished, open every one of them. On Christmas Eve, we would have a quiet dinner and read the Bible story.


They sprang from the table and began to sort and rip. Rachel tore one piece off her gift of "Little House on the Prairie" book set and started to cry. Bud opened one and stopped. They both re wrapped their gift. They had the option of early opening and chose not to do it.


The next year, we decided to celebrate Christmas in some little way each week of December. If, for example, Christmas fell on Monday, then each Monday previously, we would do a gift exchange. The gift could not be more than 50 cents. We drew names after our Monday night dinner and gift exchange. Did it help to reduce their anxiety? Perhaps, not. It did, however, make the celebration of gift opening last longer than 25 minutes!


Today's blog would have no significance if I didn't tell you about the grandma box. Ella did not wrap gifts. She packed them all in a box, each gift was labeled with a little hand cut piece of paper and attached to the gift with a stick pin. There was no snooping. The box was not opened until Christmas. It was for our family, the golden egg, we never knew what was in that box. One picture shows us with all of our hands on it, as if to say, "Ready, set, tear." Once the seal was opened with a knife, we proceeded with caution because of the pins. There may have even been a note telling us to be careful. Some years, we opened it first, others it was the dessert of the gifts.

Do you have ready, set, rip memories? How quickly those years pass.

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