christmas morning.


true story:

as children, we never went into see what santa left for us under the tree until our parents came in and gave us the OK. we would sit in our bed, yelling for them to wake up and "COME GET US!"-- not getting a sneak peek at the goods was a small price to pay for the delicious anticipation we'd experience snuggled together in bed in matching homemade pj's. it's a tradition that i carry on to this day with my own children. seeing their faces as they run into the living room for the first glimpse is always my favorite part of christmas morning.

one year when i was 7 and loni was 10, my parents finally came in and told us to get ready to line up (always youngest to oldest, which worked just FINE for me until my younger brother ryan was born. FUNSUCKER.)

i was trying to be adult-nonchalant-cool about the whole christmas thing: i didn't want loni to smell my desperation and sense my pathetic, shameless desire for STUFF. so while putting on our robes and slippers, i casually threw out, "i wonder if santa ate our cookies and drank our milk? do you think he enjoyed them?"

i was pleased. this sounded very appropriate and had just the right amount of concern for santa's well-being without sounding overly-caring about the presents underneath the tree.

she looked at me, rolled her eyes and said, "like i CARE. i just want to see how much money he spent on my toys. DUH!"


and that, my friends, is how it should be done.


8 comments:

Tiffany said...

That scene is right out of "A Christmas Story Part 2."

PRICELESS!

I love the pictures, and we have the same rule with our kids--I have to see their faces!

heidi said...

that is how we always did it and that is how it should be done. it's gospel. our neighbors never had to do it like that and it was over so quickly for them. they could get up any time after midnight and go see the presents. then they would call our house super early, when we weren't anywhere near being done with our presents and their jealousy would ensue. and that's how we knew we were doing it the "right" way.
ps- could you please resurrect the grandma nighties for your girls? that would be classic. how do you sleep with a lace collar?

tiburon said...

Those nighties are FIERCE!!!

kami @ nobiggie.net said...

I love the excitement in all the faces of these two pictures! I grew up doing it the same way. What a special morning to be a kid and a mom. I can't wait!

alex dumas said...

Those 1977 nightgowns would sell for a mint today. Do you still have them?

Creative Juice by Loni said...

To the Fans of Mindi's Blog: That story is COMPLETELY untrue...and if it was true, I would still deny it. But in the accompanying photo, I did work those pajamas like nobody's business...

Hildie said...

My mom's family did it that way too. I always thought it was kind of strange. In our family we just got up and sat by the tree just staring at the presents dying with anticipation, waiting for those lazy parents to get up.

We were also allowed to do our stockings by ourselves when we got up. So I'd sit by the tree starting at about 5 am, eating candy, enjoying the silence.

My husband and I are still fighting about the stocking issue. After 17 years we still can't decide whether the kids have to do them in front of everyone, or if they can open them in private.

I guess whichever way people do things seems "right". At this point I don't really care that much.

Omgirl said...

OMG, you look SO much like Mia in that picure! or she looks like you. I sure hope you kept those awesome nightgowns.