We had Christmas today with our two sons and their kids. The daughter comes next week. With adult children who don’t live nearby, it’s sometimes hard to get everybody’s schedules arranged to have them all home at once. That’s what this mama would like best. That’s the way it was when they were little. All together. But kids grow up and have their own families. Their spouses have family to celebrate with too. I’m just glad I get to see the grandkids and my kids and my in-law kids too.
That’s one of the best things about Christmas for me. Family. And I had plenty of family today even if all the kids didn’t get to be there. My house was Santa Claus avenue today. Lots of presents for the little ones and the big kids too. Now boxes are stacked everywhere. Empty boxes waiting to be recycled and stored for another gift or ready for the trash bin along with those tough plastic ties they use to imprison toys in impossible plastic packaging. They must be afraid those toys are going to come to life like in Toy Story and revolt or something. Then there are the remnants of ribbons and torn bits of paper that look like confetti rained down on the floor not to mention the crumbs of cake and sticky spots of spilled drinks here and there. In other words it looks like we’ve had a family Christmas party.
And since we’re talking about boxes – we sort of were, anyway – I want to share with you another of my favorite gift answers for my giveaway. In the giveaway the reader is entered in an extra drawing just by naming a favorite gift or Christmas memory. I shared one story last Thursday about a family who lost all their presents on Christmas Eve but still managed to have a good Christmas. This week’s story is different. A smiling fun memory about a grandmother.
My reader says her grandmother always made her grandchildren nightgowns or night shirts every year and she had plenty of grandkids. Then to make the gift more fun she used various and sundry boxes to wrap them in. Like a cracker box or an oatmeal box. My reader said they always had fun comparing boxes and wondering what Grandma would come up with new each year.
I wonder today what my grandkids will remember about coming home for Christmas. That it was noisy. That there were a lot of presents. That the punch was good. (I remember that from when I was a kid. One of my favorite things.) That grandma always, always gave them a book along with some other stuff. That grammy loved them beyond measure. I hope they have good memories the way my reader did about her grandma’s present in the funny boxes. Sometimes it’s not the present or even the box that’s most important. It’s the love behind the gift.
Merry Christmas!! You are a gift to me.