You know your "open door" policy is effective when you pull out all the Christmas decorations and discover your stack of stockings has grown to about twenty. I learned my lesson last year about putting names on them. It seems every year there is a new "family" member added to the mix or one that no longer needs a home for the holidays.
Shopping for so many different people becomes a challenge. Not only do the adults in our house buy for the kids, but the kids always pick out presents for each other and the adults. Getting them to settle on a present for the adults is a miracle. You either end up with something completely random (but still cherish it) or they can't decide. When asking my son what he wanted to buy for Geezer, (yes this is what my kids call my dad...his choice!) I got a resounding, "something warm!" I'm not sure why they think he needs to be bundled up like an infant or he will die of hypothermia, but they do.
There is always this undercurrent of the kids talking to each other about what they got each other. No matter what you say or how you ask..they are going to do it. Conveniently, this year, they all wanted to buy each other Visa gift cards.....I'm SURE there was no planning behind closed doors. Snooping runs rampant, and I've had to take tips from the military's covert ops groups to keep their mitts off the presents. This year I announced that if any of the tape, paper, or any wrapping was disturbed..that I would be donating that present to charity. I also had to get smart about ordering things from their wish lists on Amazon. Stupid me didn't consider this last year. This year I took the time to copy and past the item and buy it without their knowledge.
My husband and I are both quite festive. We have our own traditions for holidays. They used to involve the kids. Now, getting them to sit through a holiday movie or craft is nothing short of a Christmas miracle. No one wants to decorate except for my husband and I. He and the cat are both allergic to trees..so this year we decided to have a fake tree. My son, who did NOT want to help decorate the tree, magically showed up after it was all said and done and said, "fake?!" Nothing about the sparkling, glittering beauty of it..just..fake. After his assessment, he walked away shaking his head.
My daughter has always been anti Santa. At three years old she came to me, concerned. Her exact words were, "I do NOT want a strange man coming into our house while we are asleep! YOU can buy presents, but that man is not allowed." Any attempt at derailing her opinion was thwarted. She was adamant about it. There was none of the childhood magic and mystery. No staying up late to try to hear the jingle of the sleigh bells. At least at that age she still enjoyed watching the classics and spending time together as a family..doing Christmas things. Last night she said she would watch 'Charlie Brown's Christmas' with us, then proceeded to put on her headphones.
Waking up teens on Christmas day is no longer acceptable. In fact, it's nothings short of disastrous. My daughter still hasn't let me live down waking her up at 6 am last year... one would think that I had asked her to get up and shovel snow rather than get up and open gifts.
I know what you are thinking, it's sad that my kids lack holiday spirit. And, I would agree to some extent. But I think there comes a time when your kids grow up and the parents revert back to being giddy children. And I am OK with that.
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