Christmas Eve Gift!

I am not sure the complete story on this one. But as long as I can remember, my Dad has taken great pride in trying to "Christmas Eve Gift" us on...what else but Christmas Eve. What exactly does that mean? It means as soon as the clock strikes 12 AM on Christmas Eve you better watch out! He will be lurking around when you least expect it and will scare your antlers off by screaming "Christmas Eve Gift!"at you at first sight! He says it started LONG ago with his mom. I have no idea where she came up with this crazy idea, but she must have been a fun lady! As the story goes, if you "get someone" then they have to give you a gift! Like so many of our traditions...we just have fun trying to "get" each other! Occasionally, I will have something on hand to give but most of the time it doesn't matter...the person who just "got" you is more excited about having the bragging rights! I can remember on Christmas Eve as a child, being very cautious in coming out of my room because if Dad was in the house...he was watching for you to appear! Around here, before caller ID, if the phone rang, you just went ahead and took the risk that you might make a fool of yourself but you answered it CHRISTMAS EVE GIFT! Trust me, it has saved me a few times, but more than that I have had to explain myself to some poor soul on the other end of the phone that I scared to death! It's a price you pay.

Funny thing is when I married Larry, his Mom remembers doing it as a child! So...I am not sure who was the clever soul who started this VERY old tradition (seeing my Dad is in his 80's and he did it as a child!) but I would like to thank you. You have provided us with many a laugh, instilled in us the desire to be sneaky and have caused some to stoop so low that they put their children at risk. See the picture below, it should explain everything!

Our doorbell rang on Christmas Eve 2005 and this poor child was sent to do his parent's dirty work! How low do you go!