Christmas Memories #1, The Scheme

I've decided to do a series of Christmas memories this week. Here's the first one:

I think it would have been in the early 80s, because I believe I was around 8 or 9, and my brother 10 or 11. The main thing on my list that year was the Barbie horse, Dallas. My brother's big request was bike accessories.

My parents both worked, so we stayed home during the day while we were on vacation. We had a neighbor across the street who was a stay at home mom who would keep an eye on us. Times were just different then.

Anyway, because we were home all day, we came up with a scheme to open all of our presents under the tree and re-wrap them so nobody would ever know! We did it, and yes, I got the Barbie horse (amongst other things) and my brother got his bike stuff. I was SO excited about that horse!

Now came part two of our scheme - the re-wrap. Let's just say that our wrapping job was not nearly as neat as my mom's perfectly square corners. Needless to say, she figured out what we'd done. I remember that she threatened to take everything back, and we were freaked out that she'd actually do it.

She didn't, but Christmas morning wasn't nearly as fun when a) we felt guilty and b) the element of surprise was gone. We learned our lesson!! Good times!