I’m looking forward to getting angry on Christmas morning.
My childhood Christmas memories are likely a familiar refrain to many of you. My sister and I would go to bed extremely early, somehow thinking that the sooner we went to bed the sooner Santa would come and the sooner our anticipation would turn to reality.
We’d often sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve, so we could listen for Santa on the roof and wake each other up in the morning. The minutes it took us to fall asleep felt like hours but I was always fully refreshed when I woke up… for obvious reasons.
In the morning, we’d rush downstairs, past the Christmas tree, into the living room where the fireplace was located and stockings were hung, all proceed to scream our heads off – SANTA CAME! SANTA CAME!
We didn’t even have to go upstairs to wake up our parents. Our screams told them we were ready to get things started.
Every year, without fail, my Dad would come downstairs groggy and exhausted. We would survey the house and marvel out loud at how good we must have been because the tree was always packed with toys and the stockings overflowing with goodies.
Then, his merriment would inevitably turn to anger.
“Look at the mess Santa left! I’m SO tired of this crap! That man is SO inconsiderate!”
You see, at our house Santa always left ‘footprints’ leading from the fireplace in the living room to the tree in the family room. As he’d walk over to the tree, snow would fall off his boots and leave perfect footprints on the carpet and floor.
To my sister and I, the footprints were real live proof that Santa existed. To my Dad, the footprints were the lump of coal in his Christmas stocking.
My sister and I never stopped to wonder how Santa left footprints on the years it didn’t snow outside. We never asked why Santa’s footprints were the exact same shape as my Dad’s winter boots, or why the snow didn’t melt in the warmth of our house, or why the snow smelled like icing sugar, or why there were no footprints leading back to the fireplace from the tree.
I hope Pea never wonders any of these things either. Because I’m really looking forward to venting my ‘anger’ at how inconsiderate Santa is year after year.
Merry Christmas Urban Moms! All the best to you and your families this season!
That’s awesome!!!
What a fantastic tradition!! Hope you had a great Christmas!
That is so cute!! I might have to steal it…
Wow, I have never heard of this Santa trick before! Sooooo great! I just loved hearing about you and your sister … brought back memories of me and my brother on Christmas mornings. Happy holiday to you and the family!