Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 25th, 2008
All around the tree, stacked and balanced mid-way up the wall, the space in the nook next to the stairwell was filled by presents and plastic limbs. There rested the results from two months spent in stores on two sides of the state line searching for the best deals on clothing and toys. Some packages waited under the lowest boughs nearly a month and yet never managed to collect dust. Either honery children who took them in hand hoping to find a clue as to what they contained or their thoughtful mother rearranging them as more boxes of all shapes and sizes joined the stacks until late Christmas Eve had saved them from gathering anything other than imagination. That so much could fit in such a confined area was a miracle in this season of magic, but not nearly as miraculous as how little time it took to dismantle it all.
A little after 7 on Christmas morning, the children found their stockings and, soon after, the living room floor was spread with miniature candy, coloring books and stickers, dolls and action figures, and anything else that could be crammed into them. An hour later, the first wrapping paper came undone from boxes labeled specifically for each child and in what in real time must have been no more than an hourm, the first floor of our home was littered with torn wrapping paper almost as though the children hadn’t used their fingers to unwrap but instead concentrated and well-placed explosive blasts.
I don’t remember seeing wrapping paper being shot directly into the air, but it’s possible we missed it in our early morning stupors. We’d just started our first cups of coffee when the kids began setting off the presents. By mid-morning, more than half of the surprises that belonged to the colorful holiday display had been revealed. Maimed paper and frayed ribbon lay helplessly on what could be seen of the carpet. The rest of the space was taken by empty present boxes or those belonging to children’s playthings.
With the boxes half gone, there was plenty of room for the kids to stand in the tree light and cradle new dolls and love on toys. Play sets had to be removed immediately from intricate packaging – a process sometimes involving scissors, a screwdriver and significant pulling. Batteries were rounded up from obscure drawers in the kitchen and inserted into anything that needed them. Clothing was given a short once-over by the children then was tossed away.
The effort, though, in arranging such a beautiful display was so much more than how long it lasted. From my place on the couch, I observed all the ripping and tearing, the surprises that were appreciated and the ones that were not. I’d have to say – and this opinion is based nothing more than on feeling – the faces that lit up as warmly as the tree’s softest bulbs were worth every second of preparation.
Each child was given a large cardboard box to place their presents in to keep some order, to protect the small bits of toys from being lost or a sibling from taking something that had been carelessly left on the floor. They did help with organization, but they left something to be wanted in the area of aesthetics. Mere cardboard boxes are a drastic step down from the lovely arrangement and expectation of Christmas.
