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huntington
I think that giving presents at Christmas is really for children.
Personally, I think of Christmas as a time to gather with family, enjoy each other’s company, eat food, and reflect on the blessings God has bestowed on us throughout the year.
But there’s something else about seeing a child’s face light up when they get the toy they’ve been wanting.
In 2015, I was working for my hometown newspaper and ended up getting a little extra scar in December. As I recall, she had a magical “extra check” that her mother always told her to save, but she ended up blowing it.
I took a good portion of the check and blew it to my friend’s nieces and nephews, and given that the five of them had to explain, they each got a toy.
Back then, I spent Christmas traveling from house to house, devouring and drinking along the way. But I always started Christmas morning at Paula’s house. There she cooked biscuits and gravy, fried eggs and bacon, and we all watched the children open presents.
This was the first time I really bought one for a large group of children—I don’t have brothers or sisters, so I couldn’t benefit from my nieces and nephews.
Seeing the joy shining in their eyes was a real bright spot for me, considering I wasn’t living very well at the time.
Fast forward to 2019 — I was still used to my stepdad and didn’t want to ruin Christmas.
At the time, the job I was working at gave me a lot of overtime, so I had quite a bit of cash piled up in my bank, so I bought my kid a Nintendo Switch.
I should have seen the look in her eyes on Christmas morning — I could have sworn I brought a unicorn home.
That’s what presents are all about.
But it’s also nice to have an old dad get a present, or a mom get a present. This year, her wife wanted a coffee maker.
Now about my wife. She’s a fervent believer in spoiling Christmas for herself and figuring out what she’s got weeks before she opens it on Christmas morning.
Good thing she’s an adult. I wish she knew but honestly if she found out my life was a car commercial gifted with $500 monthly premiums and her $1,000 taxable property , I quietly rage.
But her need to snoop is more than that. Apparently, when she was a kid, she unpacked her presents properly, looked at them, and figured out how to repack them without her parents knowing anything wise.
I already knew she knew she was going to get a coffee maker.
I dealt with it when she asked me about it.
But hey, it was a distraction – I was adamant about surprising her with accessories.
So I drove to Full Circle Ceramic in Huntington’s Heritage Station and lined two coffee cups I knew she would love with real fabric. Then I went to Wild Lamp and some packaged gourmet coffee.
But when I got home, it quickly became apparent that these gifts were too big for stockings.
Within 30 minutes, she determined that the scent was coffee and the shape was a mug.
It was Pyrrhus’ victory — yes, she identified what it was, but I still didn’t know what was in the mug and what kind of coffee I had (of course, she (Unless you took coffee behind me and went to Wild Ramp) compared the scents. )
Stocking Stuffer!
That’s how I take her socks off.
so i thought.
On the Sunday before Christmas, my wife took a nap on a gloomy afternoon. I drove to Target to look for necklaces and chocolates.
After loading up with three boxes of “fancy chocolates” (from Europe, you know) and a $5 off necklace, I rushed to the checkout and proceeded to checkout.
For starters, targets have something called “Circle Rewards”. I once worked in the Red Army and had no idea what it was for or how it worked. All I know is that her wife gets “points” when she enters her phone number into the slider on her credit card.
How these points work is above my pay grade, but why? How about an extra little Christmas gift in the form of some “points”? Maybe she’ll use it for what we’re looking for in the cosmetics aisle for 45 minutes every time we walk into that store.
I checked out, stopped at the Academy to do some window shopping, and headed home.
She didn’t even see me hiding the bag in the closet.
A few hours later we were sitting on the couch watching TV.
“Honey, do you know the rewards of those targets?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “You got some because you entered your number today.”
“I know,” she said.
She then took out her phone and pressed it to my face.
“Every time I use it, I get a receipt in my email,” she said.
There were boxes of necklaces, Lindt truffles, Ferrero Rocher and Merci, each with a picture of the product on the side.
“Thank you for the necklace, baby!” she said with a laugh.
At least she didn’t know what was in the cup — Dolly Parton and The Great British Baking Show.
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