How We Do Christmas

For all of my life, I remember lots of presents under and around the tree on Christmas morning.  There are 3 girls in my family and we always made lists from the Sears Wishbook.  I vividly remember being so excited the year I could read through the book and write my own list.  It was all Garfield.  Comforter, trash can, underwear, I think.  I don't know if I got the trash can but I definitely got the comforter and I think I remember actually owning the underwear and until at least 10 years ago, that comforter was still in the linen closet at my mother's!  Talk about durable goods!

After we had started opening some of "Santa's" presents, my grandparents would arrive with lots of their own presents for us.   We always had a good time. 

As we got older and actually got jobs and our gifts for everyone were no longer limited to 50 cent items from the church holiday fair, my sisters and I started giving things to each other that we thought were useful gifts.

I know in some families, lots of lavish gifts are given but they are things like fancy watches or Omaha steaks deliveries.  Not the W girls.  We give practical things.  We ask for practical things.  If you look at last year's 12 days of Christmas posts, you will see all manner of practicality in my gifts.

Things were no different this year. 

When we got to my parents' house, lots of presents still abounded under and around the tree.  True, we now have a granddaughter in the family, but she's just 7 months, so there wasn't a whole lot for her.  And what she did get was, you got it, practical.  Clothes, mostly.

My father says with the amount of kitchen goods we've received over the years, my sisters and I could open a restaurant.  Very true.

My middle sister has taken to giving me food.  I know it sounds like it's the 1800s (and my sister brought me an ORANGE!  I hadn't had an ORANGE since August!), but they haul farm goods from a farm near them because I like organic eggs and chicken.  I already got a chicken when my parents were there for Thanksgiving, so my sister brought me eggs for Christmas.

When I hear about what other people get and give for Christmas, sometimes I think our Christmas must sound strange.  How can you get excited over Calphalon pans, a dozen organic eggs and a bread machine?

L-ster can show you how:

Oooh what's this?

Hey, it's a gadget!  It's the same brand as the rice maker.  Are we going to make more rice?

A BREAD MACHINE???  We're going to make our very own bread at home?  You're kidding!

And that cute outfit she is wearing was made my sister just for Christmas.  Her name is on her butt.  So cute!

Anyway, we do Christmas the way we do and I think we do it right!  Lots of homemade things, lots of things we will use right away and very little of the things we put in closets because we don't know what to do with them.

If you'll excuse me, I have some fruitcake to eat.