EARLY CHRISTMAS!
One of
benefits of having your birthday on December 22nd is that you get,
in essence, 2 Christmases! Our maternal grandparents would visit the evening of
our birthday and bring some swell presents for Tim and me! She also always made
my favorite birthday cake, chocolate with fluffy white frosting. To top it all
off, that was always the last day of school before Christmas vacation! Hey, it
just didn’t get any better than that! By getting some presents 3 days before
Christmas, it gave us a great “Preview of Coming Attractions”! One year we
actually managed to get to open a Christmas present on our birthday! To obtain
this high privilege we probably promised to behave for at least an hour, which
would have been an all-time record for us! I don’t recall if we ever succeeded
for a WHOLE hour! Our sister, Sue, would always get a “token” present from our
grandparents so she wouldn’t feel left out, resulting in her also reaping
benefits from our “early Christmas”. Tim and I were always bothered by Sue
getting a present on our birthday, no matter how small it was, such were
the workings of “kid dynamics.” Once and a while one of our birthday presents
would be “clothes” instead of toys! Boy, that would sure be a disappointment
from a “kid perspective”! Now as an “adult,”
I actually prefer clothes for presents (but a “toy” every now and then is nice too). (Pssst…hint, hint, Mindy & Tess)! By an amazing
coincidence, my clothes sizes are “classified information” to most of my family
members, just an oversight, I’m sure. I mean it’s certainly not intentional,
since they are all welcome at any time to go through my dirty laundry basket
and take measurements (as long as they file the proper paperwork with the EPA).
Even now, I am still pleased by the date of my birthday, since the benefits are
still very much enjoyed!
