Stockings First
Have you ever watched a Christmas movie where everyone tears into their gifts simultaneously and paper is flying everywhere? Christmas at our house is nothing at all like that. At our house, Christmas morning is very organized and begins in a really funny way.
For as long as she's been able to persuade people, my sister Maggie has convinced our Mama Dar to come over on Christmas morning before the sun is anywhere near rising. Dar usually gets to our house around 5:30 and for the next hour and a half to two hours, the two of them hang out in the living room chatting while the rest of us sleep. The rest of us girls would slowly get up and make our way down the stairs to join them, waiting only for my dad to wake up, shower, and finally come downstairs for Christmas morning.
The next thing that would happen was the only bit of chaos we have on Christmas. Rather than opening our Santa presents, or exchanging gifts, we begin by opening our Christmas stockings. They are usually filled with sweets, practical items like socks, hand sanitizer, and an orange. After the mayhem of stocking has been completed and all of the gift wrap is in a garbage sack with the stock stuffers stuffed carefully back into our name embroidered stockings, then the gift giving begins.
Each year we designate someone (usually me) to be the Christmas elf and pass out the gifts. We take turns opening one gift at a time. The other fun part, is that this process always proceeds in age order.
Some years we have deviated from our stocking first rule, allowing the little kids to enjoy Santa gifts first, but traditionally, this is how we open gifts Raymond Christmas celebrations.
Look forward to An Ornament a Year tomorrow.
For as long as she's been able to persuade people, my sister Maggie has convinced our Mama Dar to come over on Christmas morning before the sun is anywhere near rising. Dar usually gets to our house around 5:30 and for the next hour and a half to two hours, the two of them hang out in the living room chatting while the rest of us sleep. The rest of us girls would slowly get up and make our way down the stairs to join them, waiting only for my dad to wake up, shower, and finally come downstairs for Christmas morning.
The next thing that would happen was the only bit of chaos we have on Christmas. Rather than opening our Santa presents, or exchanging gifts, we begin by opening our Christmas stockings. They are usually filled with sweets, practical items like socks, hand sanitizer, and an orange. After the mayhem of stocking has been completed and all of the gift wrap is in a garbage sack with the stock stuffers stuffed carefully back into our name embroidered stockings, then the gift giving begins.
Each year we designate someone (usually me) to be the Christmas elf and pass out the gifts. We take turns opening one gift at a time. The other fun part, is that this process always proceeds in age order.
Some years we have deviated from our stocking first rule, allowing the little kids to enjoy Santa gifts first, but traditionally, this is how we open gifts Raymond Christmas celebrations.
Look forward to An Ornament a Year tomorrow.
1 comment:
we do this one too. daniel = christmas elf ( :
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