For a number of years now, we have been carrying on a new tradition where each family member buys two gifts for everybody's stocking. It has become our favorite part of the gift exchange.
One year when we couldn't get together on Christmas Day, nobody was willing to give up the stockings; so we got together a week before Christmas for a special meal and our stocking exchange. Then they took their Christmas presents home to be opened on Christmas morning.
The gifts started outgrowing the stockings, so we switched over to large shopping bags which we named ho-ho bags. All eyes rest on the person opening a gift from their "stocking" and needless to say there is a lot of laughter.
The first year we had our Samoyan husky, she was used to a quiet house with just myself and my husband living at home. She let us know she did not like all this Christmas commotion by laying at the far side of the living room with her back to the family; turning her head around every now and again to glare at us.
The next Christmas, I suggested that each person buy one treat for the dog and we fill a stocking for her. It didn't take her long to get into the swing of things and the ho-ho bags became her favorite part of Christmas. The following year, she started getting excited as soon as she saw the tree being brought into the house.
A problem presented itself, though, when we had a baby shower for my niece the next fall. The dog got more and more excited as the guests arrived with gifts for the new mother "in large shopping bags". I didn't make the connection until my niece had opened about three gifts and the dog had gone from being super-excited to crestfallen. Then I realized the misunderstanding on her part.
"Quick, somebody, go to the kitchen and get the marrow bones so we can remedy the situation!"
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2 comments:
I have a Siberian Husky. Wicked smart they are, and truly beautiful.
Right on - and they are wonderful Family dogs.
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