my christmas story, by meredith elaine
the "dark side" (aka my bro-in-law's step family) did end up showing up. on time, no less. so our christmas gift-giving tradition was cut short.
(side note: our tradition is known as the "christmas pie". all the presents are put in a huge pile, and covered with blankets, to resemble a "pie". one person grabs a present from inside the pie, announces who the present is to/from, and gives it to them. and then the next person does the same, and so on. i like this so much better than the "here's your gift. this is for you. ok, give this to so-and-so" that can happen)
so the next 3 torturous hours were spent in idle chit-chat, and me trying to be nice, and not all cranky/anti-social. i slept for a while before dinner, having a stomach ache from too many cookies and too much stress.
the spawn of the dark side, ages 9 and 11, stole my nephew from me, took him into the basement to play, and made a screaming mess. during dinner, the spawn attacked the food as if they had been in a famine for the past year. i have NEVER seen a child consume a turkey leg like the 9 year old did. we're talking a completely clean bone here, folks. no meat, no skin, no fat. just bone. the youngest spawn, leaning across the dining room table and screaming "jingle bells," brought out the bad behavior in my nephew. i've never witnessed him being taken from the table for a "time out", until this day.
i found it highly amusing that the mother of the spawn mentioned that the 9 year old was doing SO well on her ADHD medication. i think my mother and i both nearly fell off our chairs in a true "WTF???" moment. if THIS was the 9 year old on meds, i'd hate to see her off of them!
(side note #2: again, i feel justified in making this comment, since i also am on ADHD meds)
i suppose i wouldn't mind the spawn so much if they were actually RELATED to me. but they are step-relatives-in-law, that i see MAYBE once a year, if that. and that's just not enough of a connection for me to care. sorry.
the dark side outstayed their welcome, for sure. and by the time THEY were getting ready to leave, it was also time for my sis, bro-in-law and nephew to go home. so, the next 5 minutes were spent throwing gifts at each other in the aforementioned "here's your gift. this is for you. ok, give this to so-and-so" manner that i so despise. i was lucky to get a hug goodbye from my nephew. THAT was the extent of my quality time with him.
most of the presents that i received, i already knew i was getting because i picked them out: my coat, my scanner/printer, my grey fleece, my pink fuzzy slippers. i DID get 3 pairs of christmas socks (just in time for...oh, wait. christmas is over. well, i'm prepared for next year!), and a photoframe with a picture of me and the nephew. here's the kicker: i got, from my mom and dad, a nightshirt with "JERSEY GIRL" emblazoned across the front.
again, a not-so-subtle hint as to where my parents would like me to move, come april 2005.
i was in bed by 830. this was my holiday.
my christmas WAS saved, however, by a knight in shining armor of sorts. i got a call from dave, late christmas evening. he said that he wanted to come see me on sunday, and stay over, since he didn't have to work until monday evening.
at 530pm, he arrived, and my christmas story, amazingly enough, came to have a happy ending.
posted by: less-than3
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