Like many families with small children, the countdown to Christmas has reached epic proportions in our home.
Every morning throughout the month of December has been the same. Sometime around 6:30 a.m., my wife and I hear the thump of our youngest daughter’s feet hitting the floor as she jumps out of bed. This is typically followed by several loud thumps as she bounds across the hall and down the stairs to reach the “Countdown to Christmas” snowman calendar that awaits her at the bottom of the stairs.
In years past, there was often a mad dash from both of our daughters to be the first one down the stairs to move the tiny snowman on to the next day as the excitement for Christmas day built steadily. This year, however, there has only been the thumpity thump of one pair of feet coming down the stairs. (I’d say pitter-patter, but our youngest walks around the house with such a heavy foot that it sounds like a herd of elephants approaching).
Apparently our 10-year-old is now too cool to rush down the stairs in order to be the first one at the calendar. In fact, waking her up in the morning for school has become akin to waking the dead as she certainly looks like one of those zombies from the A&E show “The Walking Dead” some mornings.
It will be interesting to see if the same scenario plays out on Christmas morning. I have a sneaking suspicion both kids will be up before the sun again this year.
Growing up, finding that right time to wake up on Christmas morning was always a challenge. Some years, our parents would let us come downstairs while it was still dark outside, but most years, my brother and I were sent back upstairs to our rooms, so our parents could sleep an extra hour or two.
Sometimes, we would sneak down and snatch our stockings, hoping upon hope that there was some cool toy inside them. More often than not, though, the stockings were filled with apples, oranges and toothbrushes. Occasionally there would be a neat Hot Wheels car stuffed inside, which would have to suffice until we were given the OK to come downstairs.
Our parents had it better than our neighbors, however. No matter how early we awoke, Dickie and Aimee Fournier across the street always had us beat. Some years, I think they were up as early as 4 a.m. That would never fly in our house.
Now that I am the parent, I appreciate Christmas morning on an entirely different level. It’s no longer about receiving presents as it is watching the faces of our children light up when they come down the stairs. If that means operating on four hours of sleep, so be it. I’m sure it is only a matter of time before my wife and I will have to holler up the stairs to wake our children on Christmas morning. So for now, I will gladly take the early morning chaos, completely with all of the squeals of excitement and miles of wrapping paper being ripped open.
Hopefully, there will be a bag or two of coffee underneath the tree for me as well. I’m sure I will need it.
The staff of the Houlton Pioneer Times wishes all of our readers a very Merry Christmas.
Joseph Cyr is a staff writer for the Houlton Pioneer Times. He can be reached at pioneertimes @nepublish.com or 532-2281.
