Iowa

Iowa

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Morning

Everywhere children awake with great anticipation. They scream with delight as they rip paper and open gifts. Parents sit in bleary eyed exhaustion, smiling, doing whatever is necessary to wake themselves from a long, pre-Christmas flurry of activity. Mippy just called and said that Monkeyboy woke up at 3:30 AM. Bean came in their room at 4:11 AM because they were bored and wanted to color. Those of us without little ones awake, have a leisurely breakfast, read the paper and enjoy the peace and quiet of the morning. I remember the first year I didn't get toys for Christmas, but rather, clothes. Clothes that my parents had picked for me. And we all know what that means. I don't remember how old I was. In our home, presents weren't wrapped, they were set out on card tables in our dining room, which was very large. The tree was always in the bay window, tied to the ceiling, because it would fall if not tied. I remember one tree that actually did fall over...on my mother as she was sitting there watching us trying to tie it to the ceiling. As we were older, we were allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve. The rest had to wait until Christmas morning. My father would go down and light the tree and run the trains, which had been set up in the den. The layout of the trains took up the entire room. More relatives, what few we had, would come in the afternoon, bearing more gifts. As a teenager I would go to Midnight Mass at St. Andrew's. I liked that, because it was always a peaceful way to celebrate the season. One was usually done with the hustle and bustle by then and it was a time to reflect on those things for which we were thankful. I am blessed to have a healthy family and to have wonderful friends with whom I can share the holidays. To everyone, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a healthy New Year.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our kids were up at 5:30. Is it time for bed yet? Dinner is going to be a joy, all the relatives and a bunch of very tired kids. To say nothing of the adults. Merry Christmas, Mia, and everyone.

Anonymous said...

Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas. Keep up the posts, Mia, they are most enjoyable.

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Anonymous said...

Merry Christmas to all. Hope everyone's day was wonderful. Time to rest before I hit the malls tomorrow. Thank you, Mia, for your blog and your wonderful sense of humor.

Another Original by Tamara said...

Can't wait to hear, Mia, about the brand new waffle maker. When are you going to have US ALL over for a sunrise breakfast?

Here's a link that I received from a great friend. I hope folks will take a few moments during this very busy and stressful season to watch it. Incredible. Pass it along as a wonderful holiday gift to share with friends. I think it will work if you paste it in your search engine, if you can't click on it directly. Peace to all.

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/popup-frame.html

Anonymous said...

It is time to turn around three times and plop into bed. Way too much food and too much awake time. Boy, how does anyone with kids do this? Merry Christmas all, and Mia, a special one to you for keeping us all laughing. I am off to bed to sleep off all this food. I know, to go to bed on a full stomach is the worst thing you can do, but I'll run it off over the weekend.

Anonymous said...

OK, Christmas is almost over, thank goodness! Can we just get back to a normal life now? Hope everyone had a great day.

Anonymous said...

It's nice to have a time now to just kick back after all the running around. Sassy, I admire your stamina in going to the mall today. Good luck! Happy Holidays to everyone.

Anonymous said...

We had a great Christmas and we are still celebrating because my son from VA surprised us with a visit. He called on the phone and said there should be a package on the front stoop so while I hung on the phone, Skipper went to the front door and there he was with his wife and son. What a great Christmas gift.
Hope you all had as good a Christmas as we did. Happy New Year to all.