Christmas Traditions

So when we were kids growing up, I remember mom and dad yelling at us all night long.... "Get Back into Bed!" everytime we tried to sneak a peak at what Santa had brought us. I remember one year my dad had gone outside and peered through the window with some sort of Santa face and a flashlight! He rapped on the window and I looked out as it was by my bed, and uh oh! Santa! "If you don't go to sleep I will not come! I am going to Zentera's house and if you aren't asleep by the time I am done you won't get any presents from me!" Boy that did it! I don't think we ever went to sleep quicker than that night!

Another time we tried to sneak out, they had placed the loveseat across the doorway into the living room, with stacks of boxes all up pretty high.... I wonder how long it took them to come up with that one! ha ha.... anyway I thought I was pretty smart and was trying to crawl under the loveseat, which had a bar across the bottom from one end to the other attached to the legs,..... I got stuck at first! I knew I would get a serious lickin if mom and dad got out of bed... thankfully they just did the usual.... "Get back into bed!" and I got myself unstuck.... and of course my cohorts in crime,,, Sandy, Kathy and Rick left me to unstick myself and get caught alone!

We usually would spend a couple of hours watching all the Christmas programs.... Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is coming to town, Miracle on 34th street, older version of course, and musical specials, like with Donny and Marie Osmond.... Ahhhhh the good ol days..... And then would start the ritual of the all night chorus of.... "Get Back in Bed or Santa Will NOT Come!"

When we had our kids I thought I would be smarter than my parents were, ha ha.... We WOKE OUR KIDS UP!!!! after midnight and Santa had come already.... How is THAT for a switch???? I figured they could play for a bit and then go to bed. They would be tired so we would sleep in for a bit longer, and then spend a quiet Christmas day... it was nice as it also broke up the Santa bit from the actual day and spent it as a family or visiting family when we were back in the States, or in Utah with the rest of the family. It actually worked pretty good! And when the kids got a bit older, they could stay up and play or what ever, and we could go back to bed! This was of course when we could trust them not to make a horrific mess.