Surviving Christmas

I was one of the lucky ones where I work at to have a Christmas vacation this year. So as a little reminder for the whole family we would drive by a few malls and department stores and watch people shop like mad for the Christmas holiday. My wife and I were smart enough to do all our shopping weeks if not months in advance due to knowing what our two boys wanted.

There were a few last minute stops to the Dollar Store to get wrapping paper and holiday candy items which was way cheaper than the department stores prices. Plus we had to make preparations for a growing Japanese traditional dinner. KFC. Eating chicken at Christmas time is the Japanese thing to do especially with a great marketing campaign by KFC started decades ago. Well, Japan doesn’t have Bogangles which has better chicken, fries and tea than KFC so we were going to get Christmas dinner from there to take home to eat. The only problem was that they closed there doors in Knightdale, NC at 2 PM. The drive through was still open but I was raised a long time ago that if you locked the doors to your place of business that meant you are closed. Telling people they’re welcomed to visit the bathroom size window is like doing business by the bathroom stall. Keep looking straight, no real conversation and leave as soon as you ‘finish’. At 2 PM they were closed.

We did end up going next to a KFC that closing at 6 PM which meant we were going to have chicken tonight. And returning home we quickly got the computer back on to the NORAD site to see where Santa was located at. My wife was still fuming that he didn’t come to Okinawa this year. She blamed the new Japanese Prime Minister for causing so many problems was the reason. After years of marriage I just nodded my head and kept quiet. There are conversations I do not want to have and I learned where to avoid those conversations. Needless to say as the evening went on and Santa was getting closer, we had to stay with the boys until they fell asleep. And by 10 PM we were able to do that. Can’t blame them, when I was their age I set my alarm clock to 2 AM. My parents were not impressed and made it a point that I didn’t do it again.

This was the first Christmas were I didn’t have to stay up to 3 AM putting bike s and toys together. We actually went to bed by midnight and the boys woke up before we did. My oldest said he peaked into the living room but quickly closed the door for he thought Santa was in the room. In actuality it was Vanilla, our cat, who has been sleeping in the tree since we put it up. So the boys got us up and we looked at all the present while my wife went to make coffee. The boys were amazed that Santa ate all the cookies and drank all the ice tea we left for him. By them I burped.

And for the whole day the boys played with everything they got while a rain system was moving through the area. It was nearly 5 PM before we even though about eating anything. We were having so much fun being together. To add more to the Christmas toys for the boys we received a package from Japan that had another toy the boys wanted. The lobster for their Shinkenger toy set. They only need the Bull, Dragon sword and the lantern to finish their set.

This was one of our less stressful Christmas’s we have had in a long time. Over the years it will get easier but a little of the Christmas magic may go away but on Christmas Eve it was my wife and me who had the most fun watching Santa traveling across the world. It was our two boys trying to cook cookies for Santa and all our cats keeping watch over the Christmas tree. We spent almost the entire 24 hours of Christmas day in the living room together as a family. We played with the toys and games, watched Christmas light shows on TV. Just being together with the spirit of the holiday.

The next day I went back to work and by 7 PM I returned home to which the boys wanted more toys and my wife produced a grocery list of items we needed. And after returning home again we played for awhile and watched the a few TV shows as I passed out on the couch from exhaustion from 13 hours of work and fighting traffic of so many people returning their Christmas gifts. We’re keeping ours. And the Little Debbie Valentine Cakes too.