A Calvin Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Calvin household! It's been a fun day from here as we celebrate the day, and the season. Now, I know that every household is different, so heres how it works from our house anyway and the "rules of Christmas".

First off, PRESENTS ARE TO BE OPENED CHRISTMAS DAY... that is what the day is for. It seems like total torture to have kids open presents on Christmas Eve to then turn around and send them to bed, shortly thereafter. Christmas Eve is a time to celebrate the meaning of the holiday, in all of its forms: We finish wrapping gifts, we bake cookies to put out for Santa, we read Christmas stories and then study Luke 2 from the New Testament to make sure the kids understand what we are REALLY doing in all of this. Then, before it gets too late, making for grumpy kids in the morning, the kids go to bed, since as they all know, "Santa doesn't come when the kids are awake!" This gives us plenty of time to get the house ready for Santa's arrival and still get to bed on time ourselves (well, ok... maybe in theory.. there are some of us... ahem.. who procrastinate the wrapping of presents causing us to be up unitl 2 AM on Christmas morning, but I won't mention my... or.. ehhh.. names..)

Next, KIDS DON'T SNEAK UP ON CHRISTMAS MORNING TO PEEK AT THIER GIFTS! In our household, sorry, but there is no pitter patter of little feet on the kitchen floor at 5 AM sneaking in to see what Santa brought. In between our kitchen and family room hangs a large leather belt covered in large jingle bells. The kids know they are to stay in bed, regardless what time they wake up, until they hear the jingle bells ring. Once the bells ring, they are free to get up and trample me in a puff of dust as they rampage towards their loot. This was something that was done in my house as we grew up, and now that I am an adult I see the many benefits. We can control when the kids get up to see what... I can video their first reactions to Santa's arrival and I can make sure all is ready to go before the kids are up. Plus, I have a special place in my heart for that sound of jingle bells and I mentally associate it with the magic of Christmas morning, so I enjoy sharing that with my own crazy crew.

Third, GIFTS ARE OPENED PATIENTLY, ONE AT A TIME, NOT IN A WILD ALL AT ONCE FREE-FOR-ALL. As with everything else, there are rules here, all put in place to increase the fun and enjoyment. Each person takes a gift, whether it is from their Santa pile or from under the tree, and opens that gift while the others watch and support them. This allows the kids to share that opening experience with others from the family. It encourages the joy of giving as you can actually watch the gifts that you have worked to purchase be opened. And instead of having all gifts opened in a blur of flying wrapping paper in 10 minutes, we can still be opening presents at 10 AM.

Fourth, WE ACTUALLY EAT BREAKFAST ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. Now, there is a certain order to all of this: the Santa gifts are opened first, then we take a breakfast break, and then we open up the family gifts. This extends the experience out all the more and gives us a nice meal in the process. Now, my wife may question my definition of breakfast... to her, breakfast means eggs and hash browns, but in my growing up years, Christmas breakfast was always toast, hot chocolate, and cheesecake... yes, cheesecake... for breakfast. I have no idea who's original idea that was, or what would possess my normally health conscious parents to feed us cheesecake at 6 AM, but I never complained and the tradition (at least for me) continues to this day as I take my mid present breather and eat my seriously sweet breakfast.

So how was Christmas this year? Very nice! For me it was a great balance of all my passions: Star Wars, U2, and Disney theme parks. In the Star Wars realm, Galactic Heroes ruled the day, Typically designed for 4 year olds, I began collecting these toys several years back, simply because it was so fun to see how the toy makers would take a creature from the Star Wars universe clearly designed to appeal to adult fanboys, and "cute" it down to appeal to 4 year olds. I have every set ever released, with the exception of 1, and this year, not only did I get the newly released additions of the series, but 4 new that are very hard to find in stores.

Little Calvin also fared well, more entering the digital age. He got his own "kid friendly" digital camera (and is now acting like Mr. Fashion Photographer, taking picture of everything by the dozens. He also got his own computer.. not because I actually bought him one, more because I inherited an older one and fixed it up. But to him, it works, it stores all his pictures, music and can even edit video and it plays al his CD-ROM learning games to he is happy as a clam.

Dawn enjoyed herself, receiving a large framed version of her favorite painting of Christ, and DVDs from one of her favorite shows: Veronica Mars as well as multiple accessories for her phone and iPod. Amanda, added to her collection of frog paraphernalia, while Tyler loaded up on science experiments, a planetarium, magic tricks and has a new bike to enjoy (if it will ever stop raining).

Finally, it was time for the last gift, and I had the honors of opening it this year. On my Christmas list this year, I had indicated that I wanted a Dog. (Now that Little Calvin is no longer afraid of them, I felt it was time). I specifically wanted a Golden Lab, like "Yellow Dog" from the movie "Funny Farm". While I was not expecting to actually get a dog, as I know my wife has many concerns about getting one, I was quite surprised to open the last box and there I found.... my little Golden Lab puppy. They had gotten me my dog!

Now, here I learned an important lesson in life... called "Be specific". I got exactly what I had asked for: A golden Lab Dog that looked like "Yellow Dog". I soon realized, as it was pointed out to me.. that I never requested that it be REAL. They had gotten my exactly what was on my list.. just stuffed. They made a very good point.. and so for the time being I will be very content with Yellow Dog, and just think of how much I will save on dog food and vet bills. He's actually a very low maintenance pet!

So now it is time to go enjoy our newly received treasures and enjoy the holiday! Merry Christmas to all! And to all.... A chimerically fantastic night!