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Monday, October 16, 2017

Christmas Gifts: Stored, Lost, and Found (sometimes)

When my children were little, sometimes I could buy a gift right under their noses,  store it  practically in sight, and wrap it on a table they could  not see over. Plus, they slept a lot.

Then, they grew up and were getting curious about everything. You know how toddlers become. Nothing escaped them. Things had to be hidden high and behind things and in a bag.

My children were about five and seven and volunteered to stay home while I shopped. Of course not! They confessed a few years later that they did a Christmas hunt when I was out of sight. Apparently, I did not have to leave the house.

One Christmas when son was nine-years-old, I bought a Boy Scout knife for Santa to leave in his stocking. Well, I brought it home from the store and never saw it again. I had to go out and buy another. I had hidden the original one so well and in the bottom of a large bag with other things that I obvious threw it out.

One year, they were old enough to leave home and very nosy. So, I hid all the presents in the trunk of the car. We had a two-door car. The three of them had to get in the back seat with a dozen bags of groceries. They were very unhappy having to ride so cramped. I told them the trunk was full of lawn chairs because their daddy had not gotten them out yet.

They harassed him to get stuff out of the trunk. Finally, my son said to just give him the keys and he would take everything out himself. Then, I had to guard my keys...for over a month!

Years later, when my daughter was an adult, she asked me where all the toys were that year because she and her brother had searched the whole house. That was the moment she told me they always hunted for their gifts.

The year they were getting rink skates, the older two did not know they were getting cases, too. I had to wrap those and say they were for my family. Finally, I told them I got them something extra but they did not know their skates were in the boxes.. Into each skate case I put a Tupperware tumbler with pecans and bells inside. So, they amused me and kept themselves entertained shaking those two boxes with skates and a case. The little one got plastic Superman skates that worked well on the carpet.

When I was about eight-years-old, Santa forgot to put some things out. My mother and father "discovered" something up about a foot from the floor in the limbs of our Christmas tree and near the trunk. Later, I remembered one of my parents disrupting our Christmas with something so the other could hide the gifts in the tree. They wondered aloud why Santa put gifts there.

For many years I used several drawers in a 7 ft. dresser to save gifts for any occasion. No one was looking for anything, so just sticking them in worked well. Now, I have things all over and often go though a feverish search for something I know I have stashed somewhere.

Your turn
Can you share a few stories of nosy children, gifts lost never to be found, or gifts misplaced and found? Any gift story will work.

12 comments:

  1. When I was 7 and my sister 5 Santa left us a pink kitchen set. It was one of those metal sets that included a sink, stove and refrigerator. All three pieces were separate and sold flat to be put together by the buyer. Evidently Santa waited until Christmas Eve to begin the assembly and bit off more then he could chew, because Christmas morning only the stove was put together. Santa also brought us a puppet theater that same year with a removable chalkboard covering the stage. Santa left us a very nice chalk written note telling us that as much as he wanted to put our set together he had to deliver toys to children all over the world and he was sure our dad would put the remaining two pieces together a few days after Christmas, but not Christmas day because he thought we should all take a nap in the afternoon. Years later we found that the first piece was finally finished right as the sun was rising.

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    Replies
    1. Anne,
      Santa's suggestion that you should all take a nap in the afternoon is hilarious! I am still laughing so hard! Santa was thinking ahead! Thanks so much for sharing that.

      Delete
  2. My kids didn't get many gifts, so you would think forgetting them wouldn't be an issue. Nonetheless, I managed one year. I just surreptitiously put it under the tree for the kids to discover later.
    Now they are getting older, I suppose I could place gifts under the tree as they are wrapped, but I can't bring myself to do that. That would detract from enjoying the tree, and emphasize the gifts. I detest the focus on gifts. Besides, it's not a gift if it's expected, is it?

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    Replies
    1. Meg,
      Since Santa never wrapped gifts, that would never have worked for me. Good save, though.

      Delete
  3. I had more problems with my DH snooping than the kids LOL. One of the first years we were married I had bought him a book he wanted and hid it in a spare closet. After Christmas he wasn't working due to weather and kept saying he was bored, while his book sat there unread. I kept saying, well read the book you wanted. Finally he confessed he had snooped and found it on one of his days off before Christmas and read it that day! After that I hid his presents at my parents house. For the past several years I often hide stuff in the bottom of my clothes hamper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One,
      Naughty husband. If I had done that, I would have pretended to read it, maybe while you were gone or asleep. At least you cured that problem.

      Delete
  4. Let's see...the year I was 10 I snooped to find all my presents and ruined Christmas for myself.
    The year my daughter was three my husband had left and I was determined to get her a toy kitchen set from Sears. Even though my parents offered to buy it, I knew she would love it and paid for it myself. It was a big hit.

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    Replies
    1. carol,
      Too bad you ruined Christmas. What a nice memory of the toy kitchen. I am sure that is precious to her, too.

      Delete
  5. when I was about 9 I just knew I was going to get a bike so I stayed up and I could hear my father in living room about 3 a.m. (probably a little tipsy) cussing and carrying on while he put the bike together... After he finished and I could hear him snoring I snuck in the living room and tried to ride the bike in the living room, knocking over a lamp and breaking it..I dropped the bike and ran and jumped back in bed and faked sleep...mother came in and said are you awake? I said yawwwn nooo but I did get woke up by some noise...it must have been santa ...she thought I still believed in santa claus so I had her..haha

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    Replies
    1. jackiesue,
      You were a sharp little kid. Great story. thanks.

      Delete
  6. I recently found a stocking stuffer from last year. Oh the embarrassment.

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    Replies
    1. urspo,
      Just count yourself one ahead for this Christmas.

      Delete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.