I cannot believe it has been such a long time since I last posted to my blog. The holidays sure do keep us busy ... I was thinking this morning how right my parents were/are. It is better to give than to receive. I have had the most fun preparing for Christmas at the Monahan-Austin household this year. The shopping, the planning, building the excitement amongst the kids, their cousins, and ourselves. We haven't had a lot of cookies, or big events, just time with our family and with our kids. We've shared stories, and laughed, and even learned a Minnesota version of the 12 days of Christmas. It has been about family and closeness. For the most part being together and having each other has been the best present ever; however, it has pushed me one giant step towards becoming my mother ....
While watching TV last Friday my son T said, "Mommy I want (fill in the blank with any toy imaginable)". I sang back to him "Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat, please do put a penny in the old mans hat. If you haven't got a penny a hay penny will do. If you haven't got a hay penny then God bless you!". This is the response my mother would give us starting around November 1st ending around 8:30p.m. December 24th, when my sister and I would ask for something or tell her we wanted something. Although I'm sure it came out more like this, "MOOOOooooom I NEED (fill in the blank)". Despite the fact that the response was the same every year, even to date, we never gave up and continued to ask. My mother is a steel door ... unwavering in her strength. She wouldn't budge but would always sing, "Christmas is coming ..." We would follow it by an eye roll, a huff, and try again later. My son is very literal and analytical. So when I sang this song to him he looked at me with a furrowed brow and said, "Mommy pennies are NOT made of hay and we DON'T have a goose so how do you know if it is fat or not?" .... Out smarted by a 5 year old again.
I was reminded on Monday, by our oldest daughter, just how magical Christmas can be. BB said to me, "Have you ever seen Santa?" I said, "No but I know he exists". She replied, "I am going to see him this Christmas. I am going to sleep by the tree and be the first one to see him". I told her to make sure she had her camera with her and ready because he is quick. Watching her excitement and delight I couldn't help but remember being her age. Do you remember counting how many presents were labeled with your name? Did you ever stack them up and see if your equaled to that of your siblings? Did you try to sneak a peak and see what Santa was going to bring? Perhaps I am alone in this, but these are the antics I used to pull every year as a child.
When I was about 10 we lived in a house where the bedrooms opened up onto a landing that overlooked where the dining room table was. After my parents would send us off to bed the torture would start. First came the rustle of the shopping bags. Then the wrinkle of the wrapping paper, which was soon followed by the slicing sound the scissors made as they cut across the paper. The final straw was always the screech of the scotch tape holder. That single sound would send us over the edge. When I finally couldn't stand it anymore, I would "sneak" into my sisters room and try to keep her from giggling from excitement. Honestly, this was the hardest part of our whole venture as she was, and still is, a giggle monster. Beans and I would quietly sneak out of her room, making sure to step over the squeeky spots on the floor, and sit at the top of the landing to try to sneak a peak. Just as we would start to get comfortable and think we had "pulled it off" we would hear Mom yell up the stairs, "Girls GO TO BED". We would squeal and laugh and go back to bed yelling back "I can't sleep Mom. I'm too excited". My mom's response .... "Santa can't come if you're still awake". OH DRAT .... foiled again! Darn that Santa, he has so many requirements. So off to bed we would go.
I couldn't tell you what we actually got for gifts, or what was in our stockings, but the memory of trying to "pull one over" on my Mom and Santa to sneak a peak will forever be something I carry with me. It is the gift I receive every year from my parents. The gift of a happy childhood.
