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How to Make Christmas Morning a Hit

Christmas morning is full of excitement, especially if you have young children who will be up at the crack of dawn looking for signs of Santa Claus. It can be chaos and a very early wake up call, if you don’t have a plan or a routine set out before.

My Mother always did two things which helped make our Christmas morning a little easier on the grown ups and yet still exciting and wonderful for the children. First, on Christmas Eve we were allowed to open one present. She would pick which one it would be for each of us, four siblings. It didn’t occur to me until much later in life that she knew just which presents she was giving us. For the first dozen or so years I was always surprised that the four gifts she seemed to pick randomly from the pile were always new nightgowns or pajamas.

So we would wear our new night clothes to bed and already have the fun of opening a present and having something new. I think that helped spread the excitement out a bit and take off some of the edge from the suspense and wound up feeling we all had.

The second smart thing she always did was to have a rule that the parents could not be woken up until they either go themselves up or it was at least 7:30 AM. We had to be even quieter when my Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle were visiting. My Grandmother would wake up if a pin dropped. It wasn’t so hard being quiet though.

We were allowed to open our Christmas stockings without waiting for the adults. Those would have assorted small things to keep us busy. Little toys, a new book, when we were younger and then useful things, like a new hair brush, lip balm, or nice smelling soap, as we grew older. Sometimes the stocking gifts were reminders to brush our teeth and hair while we waited for everyone else to get up.

The smartest thing she put in the stocking were edible, not candy. There would be nuts to crack, granola bars and other snacks. The best thing of all (for me) was the Christmas orange which was always at the bottom toe of the Christmas stocking. Usually there were a few of them. Christmas is still about the taste of oranges for me. I buy them for myself every Christmas holiday.

We didn’t have a television in the room with the Christmas stockings and the tree. So there would be no one watching TV on Christmas morning. But, we would have the radio and we could put the Christmas music on whichever radio stations were playing it. Most of them would be on Christmas morning of course. The radio had to be pretty quiet but we liked listening to all the same old Christmas tunes and they were just fine as background or (when a favourite came on) it could be turned up if we closed the door to keep it from waking up Grandmother.

The food and small gifts would keep us busy until parents and guests were starting to stir. We would sit in the room with the Christmas tree, still lit from Christmas Eve. But, we never opened anything. My brother and one of my sisters would be sorting out presents, getting them in piles, ready to open everything. There would be some guessing, trying to decide what everything was. Some were obvious and some a mystery.

Once the adults were up, all of us in pajamas with hair every which way (but we did wash – the hair just seemed less important), we would help get breakfast started. Four young people can get things moving along quickly when they really have the spirit of co-operation. Breakfast was not rushed. We talked, we made plans for the day. it was a good way to move things along and yet calm down the rush to open gifts. Everyone was mellow, well fed and feeling comfortable by the time we actually did go back out to the room with the Christmas tree and all the gifts, lights and shiny things.

Presents were opened in some order, decided as we went along mainly. But, there were no more than two or three being opened at once. The adults were included. I think it was a very big help that the adults had gifts from the children too. We would happily stop opening gifts of our own so we could see how the adults reacted to the gifts we had wrapped up for them. Christmas was about giving for us. I still love Christmas shopping and finding just the right gift for everyone on my list.

After the presents were opened we cleaned up all the wrappings. I liked to stick the ribbons and bow in our hair for my sisters and I. We would wear them until the stickiness faded and then they would be tided up too. After things were sorted out around the Christmas tree the adults would make coffee and have a card game. My brother and I would play too, if there were spots open for another player.

That would be our Christmas morning. The rest of the day would come along, no real plan. There would be time for playing in the snow, or just taking a walk outside. It’s a shame there usually isn’t much snow for Christmas any more. I miss the heaps of snow at Christmas.

Fresh and Delicious Ideas for Christmas Breakfast

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