And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day!
Christmas can be a magical time of year, and when you have children you want to make it as special as you can. It can be a stressful time of year too, as Santa can’t bring everything.
The older you get the more you realise that Christmas isn’t all about the gifts that you receive. It’s about the magic that Christmas brings. The memories that you make and joy and pleasure that you can bring to others. But I still get as excited as anybody when Christmas is approaching.
Presents are good, don’t get me wrong. But, seeing other people open their gifts is a gift in itself.
When my two lads were young, there was nothing quite like seeing their faces on Christmas morning when they ran excitedly into the living room to see the pile of gifts that sat under and around the tree. I, too, was excited. But, at least I could sleep.
Like most kids, ours would be up at the crack of dawn, eager to see whether the big man had arrived and left a massive haul of presents. One year, to try and keep them (especially Jack) in bed a little longer we may have told a story about how if they got out of bed too early, and spotted the gifts underneath the tree before Father Christmas had completed his rounds…
…the presents would all disappear and head back to the North Pole.
Of course, it wasn’t strictly true. The logistics would be a nightmare for Santa and the North Pole staff. We just needed some sleep, that’s all.
If that was the end of the story, it wouldn’t be quite so bad. Jack has asked us how he would know if it was the right time to get out of bed. He didn’t want to wake up too early and inadvertently ship the presents off back north. Heather gave Jack her mobile phone and told him that when he woke up he should check the time. If it was after seven he could get out of bed and come and give us a nudge.
You see, the thing is, Heather didn’t turn her alarm off on the phone. And at that time, her alarm was set at 4AM so that she could get up for work. When the alarm went off, Jack woke up and turned it off. Well, he snoozed the alarm. And for the next couple of hours, the alarm went off every twelve minutes…until we heard it from our room and rushed through to stop it.
Jack was too worried that he would lose his presents to come through and tell us what was happening. We felt bad, obviously. But it was funny. Jack didn’t necessarily see the funny side; in fact, still to this day it barely raises a smile from him.
Luckily though, the gifts all stayed underneath the Christmas tree and Jack was so tired he even had an early night.
We would love to hear your Christmas memories., family traditions, anything at all.
You can even send an email to goldstitch@agoldstitchchristmas.com.
And, don’t forget to check back tomorrow for day three…
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