Christmas Confession

Today our kids each received an individually wrapped Christmas present from my wonderful grandparents in Colorado. Now, at our house, we don't put any presents under the tree until the kids are fast asleep on Christmas Eve. There's a reason for this.

Anyways, I watched Daniel study this present from his great-grandparents. He shook it, smelled it and held it up to the light to try and see through the wrapping paper. That's when I so intuitively said, "If I so much as see a scratch on that wrapping paper, the present belongs to me. No accidental rips or tears, no peeling of the tape. Any tampering whatsoever, and it's gone. You understand? Good."

Why would I assume my son would try to peek at his present before Christmas? Simple, he's MY son! As I said those words to him, I was grinning on the inside, thinking, "if he only knew!"

This reminded me of something I haven't thought about in a long, long time. So in the spirit of the season, I will share with you:

When I was a teenager (I remember I started in the 7th grade), I opened every single one of my presents before Christmas. Yup, that's right. I would wait for a night when everyone was gone and I would slit the tape ever so carefully. I'd gently unwrap each and every present, look at it, and then wrap it back up exactly the way it was before. Then on Christmas morning I would open all of my presents in front of my parents and act so surprised and excited. I did this every year and they never knew. Horrible, I know!

I think I already regret revealing this little dark secret of my past. Ah well, you can't change the past, but you can learn from it...Learn to make sure your kids don't pull the wool over your eyes like you did to your parents. :-)

Sorry Mom & Dad if you're reading this. I really did appreciate all the wonderful gifts you bought for me growing up - from my yellow Coca-Cola sweatshirt to my Casio double casette player. You always made each Christmas special.

There, I've come clean.