Have You Ever Done Such a Thing?

My better half and I were coming home from shopping yesterday, and as usual, were listening to the radio. I love this time of year as you can find stations that play nothing but Christmas music, 24 hours a day. The DJ caught my attention when he asked "Have you ever bought Christmas presents that didn't make it to under the Christmas tree?" It was the intro for a commercial for a security system, but it reminded me of an event that happened when my children were little.

I'm not the most organised person in the world. Are you surprised? Well, this one particular year, I was determined to change, so I went out Christmas shopping in September, instead of waiting for the last minute. I didn't buy everything on my list, but filled two shopping bags with my purchases. I brought them home, wrapped them up, and then hid them.

This is the important part of the story. My son, when he was growing up, was the best gift seeker I've ever known. I had to be extremely clever in finding hiding places, or he would not only find every present, but many times, he'd share with every one else what they were getting as well.

I really outdid myself when I hid those gifts. As Christmas approached, I bought and wrapped more toys and clothes, and then did an inventory of the various piles. I couldn't understand why there weren't more gifts. Yes, I can see the light dawning, I forgot about the gifts I had bought way back in September! So I went out and bought more things to make up for my shortcoming.

It wasn't until the following June, when we were packing up the apartment preparing to move, when way back in the top of the closet, we found the bags of forgotten Christmas presents! We had an unexpected 'Christmas in June' that year, and my kids haven't let me live it down to this day.


Speaking of toys, this is my latest - a crochet snow-yo man! I found the pattern here: Gardener's Ramblings