Made up memory: Christmas Mornings

Ben, me, and Aspen holding Emily

Christmas mornings were always full of excitement - as they are in every house.  

The excitement would begin bright and early, usually around 3:00 a.m.  Ben was always the most excited, and would quietly wake us up and whisper "Do you think mom and dad will let us get up now?"  

We would send Ben off to ask mom and dad...because we knew they would probably say no, but always hoped that Ben's charm would convince them otherwise.

But he always came back disappointed.

4:00 a.m.:  "Do you think it's time now?"

Off he went to ask the parents, just to be sent back to bed.

5:00 a.m. "I really think they'll let us get up now!"

But he was wrong.  They still wanted more sleep.

So, Ben - being the ultimate master of sneak - hatched a plan.  He would quietly go into the living room to see what Santa had brought, and report back to us.  That way the waiting would be a little easier.

He would come back with his report:  "I saw a bike/giant doll house/cabbage patch kids!" and we would sit and whisper and giggle, all squished in one bedroom (even when we had our own) watching the seconds tick away on the clock until we got the go ahead from mom and dad.

Mom always made us pose at the stairs for a picture before "letting us see the presents."

Aspen, Ben, Me, Emily

We would oblige and pause for the picture, all the while exchanging sneaky glances because Ben had already told us what we were getting.

But mom and dad were none the wiser.

As Ben got older, he tried to act too cool for Christmas, and he would tell us on Christmas Eve to not wake him up, because he wasn't excited and wanted to sleep in.

But sure enough, at 4:00 a.m., Ben would come into our rooms...too excited to sleep...to recruit us to go with him to wake up mom and dad.

And one year, after all the years of begging and pleading, it had finally paid off.  They let us just get up at 4:00.

Even though I'm an adult, I still feel that same intense excitement on Christmas Eve that Ben had, and instilled in the rest of us.  

And I find myself waking up at 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 anxiously waiting for the little pitter patter of feet to come wake me up and say:

"Do you think it's time now?"