Sunday, December 24, 2006

Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve

I'm not quite sure Jim The Small Child Nephew is on board with this whole Santa Claus bit yet. We know he's not a true Small Child yet, as his mother and I hustled armfulls of packages past him the other day and he batted not an eye, except to voice his displeasure at the fact we were momentarily blocking his view of Clifford's Puppy Days. As a dedicated godmother, I've been carefully encouraging his materialism: "Ask Daddy for one in every color," I suggested when his attention was last arrested by a BMW commercial.

It's starting to work. "Presents!" he said yesterday, pointing at a small stack.

"Those aren't for you," said Julie The NephewsMama. "Santa Claus has yours, at the North Pole." This was met with a blank stare and a great deal of contemplative thumb-sucking, because I totally think he has X-ray vision and was possibly wondering why his mother was redefining "in the plastic bins normally containing the ornaments and Christmas tree parts" as "the North Pole."

This is probably the last Christmas Eve he'll get any sleep for at least five to seven years. I think some of my fondest Christmas memories, outside of running and skidding into paper in cowboy boots, are those glowing with anticipation-- curling into a small trembling blonde ball in my bed, holding whispered conferences with my sister in the bed next door: Did she hear that? What was that? Had he arrived yet?

One year we set carrots next to Santa's cookies and awoke to not only cookie crumbs, but half-gnawed veggies, one abandoned on the snowy lawn. We were transported, and hysterical: Rudolph didn't get to finish his snack! Rudolph was probably hungry! Santa was a slave driver! Somebody call the ACLU on Claus!

This was also the year, I believe, that we received little Mary Lou Retton replica uniforms and gymnastics mats, so our outrage was scrapped in favor of pretending we had any athletic skill outside of smacking each other. Man, those were the days.

If I don't get a chance to type tomorrow, a very merry Christmas and a double shot of gratefulness to all my beloved The Readers. I'll pound one for you this sacred holiday season.

round and round the Christmas tree at: mb@blondechampagne.com

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whoohoo and yeah, first one! Merry Christmas to you and yours, ours has been postponed due to weather and flight cancellations, we will celebrate on Tuesday night when we can all be togther. Damn blizzard!

Anonymous said...

(now not feeling so sad about the rainy brown Christmas here in Cincinnati...) Hang in, Bettylou :)

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas, MB. Enjoy this, your last Christmas as a single woman!

Anonymous said...

I said it on the other post...but Merry Christmas, MB and JtP!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, ladies. Merry Christmas to my favorite pending sister :)

Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas!

HelloBettyLou said...

Thanks, all has been set right and Christmas is tonight.

ShannJ said...

It was quite the interesting Christmas around here weather-wise, but it did make all the running to the family and the in-laws much more efficient and safe. While I was not thrilled to go back to work today, I am ok with not having to drive in the snow, so it has its advantages. :-) Hope you had a great one! Did Santa bring you everything you asked for?

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