A few weeks ago, you told me that we need to buy a special Christmas ornament this year. “What? Why?” I said. “It’s a Christmas tradition,” you said. “You’re crazy! Stop making up traditions to get me to spend money,” I replied. Though I was half joking, I actually have no recollection of this tradition. This is probably due to my selective “money memory” (i.e., I remember to do things that save me money and forget to do things that cost me money).
I eventually realized that buying our family a special ornament for Christmas would mean a lot to you, whether or not doing so was part of a deeply cherished tradition. So, I got you this from Hallmark last night:
When I came home, I wrote out a note for you that said, “May we be a forever family held together with love” (how creative!) and I hung the ornament and the note on our tree. I wanted to keep it a secret so you could discover it on your own. But the entire time I prepared your surprise, our oldest daughter followed me around, whispering to me about your present and telling you not to look our way. No matter how many times I shushed her, she wouldn’t stop. From the kitchen you asked, “What’s the surprise, honey?” I burst into the kitchen and said, “It’s the baby! Surprise!” as I held our newborn up to you. “Oh, wow! What a great surprise,” you started to say. But before you could finish our oldest came around the corner with the note and ornament in her hands and said, “Look what dad got you!” Oh, well. You try to raise kids to be sneaky, but you just never know if it’s gonna take.
Since you found out about the ornament, you’ve told me numerous times that it is one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten you. Fancy that. It seems we need to keep this “tradition” going.
On day 67, I promised to clean the living room for a week. I took my commitment to mean that I’d clean it from 12/5 – 12/11. Well, yesterday was the first day of the entire week that I cleaned it. Before doing so, however, I thought I should apologize for not cleaning it on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. So I came to you and said, “Do you like how I promised to clean the living room this week but haven’t done it yet?” You replied, “Oh, no, no, no! You didn’t say that you’d clean the living room for ‘the week’ but ‘a week.’ Your week starts whenever you do.” Between you and our oldest, I can’t get away with much.
Love this! I know what you mean about them following you around! I have one who will try to get the secrets to spill them, but I also have another who just likes to be in on the surprises (she can actually keep them!). We have a tradition of getting the kids a new ornament each year so that when they leave the house, they will have a tree full of ornaments.
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[…] Once again, our oldest daughter wanted to help with the surprise, but this time she kept it a secret. She asked me what the sign says and I told her. Then I said that I made it to let you know how special you are. When I took her to the store later, she really wanted to get something for you because she “really wanted to let mom know how special she is.” I like that! GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_bg", "ffffff"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_text", "555555"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_link", "557799"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_border", "C8A799"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_url", "8FB1D3"); GA_googleAddAttr("LangId", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "religion"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "gifts-2"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "cardstock"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "favor-from-the-lord"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "frame"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "gift"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "proverbs-1822"); GA_googleAddAttr("Tag", "special"); GA_googleFillSlot("wpcom_sharethrough"); Rate this: Share this:TwitterFacebookEmailDiggLinkedInRedditStumbleUponPrintLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Posted by 365 Acts of Love Filed in Gifts ·Tags: cardstock, favor from the Lord, frame, gift, Proverbs 18:22, special Leave a Comment » […]
[…] surprises me that our oldest kept the Easter bag a secret. She’s had trouble with that before. Rate this: Share this:TwitterFacebookEmailDiggLinkedInRedditStumbleUponPrintLike this:LikeBe the […]
[…] It surprises me that our oldest kept the Easter bag a secret. She’s had trouble with that before. […]