Blog Hop ~ Day 9

First things first......

Thank you so much to all of you that left comments yesterday.  I am in awe of how many people this blog hop has attracted, and how many of you took the time to let me know how much you enjoyed the Jolly Holly Placemat!  Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

It's been a crazy busy day, so I plan on sitting down tomorrow morning to read through all your comments and do a random drawing for the winner of the fabric kit.  So just sit tight and enjoy another day of the blog hop!

Now, on to the topic for today:  A kid story.

Hmmmm......

I've been thinking on this one for several days, and I have to admit that I'm stumped.  I mean, I have kids...... and I've been a kid...... soooooo, you would think that something would come to mind.  

But, no. 

So, instead, I'm just going to share a story about Christmas past and Christmas present.

Growing up, presents started appearing under the tree shortly after we got it up and decorated.   One of my favorite things to do was to lay under the tree and stare at the lights. . . . . . . . . .   and the presents. Well, ok, I liked shaking them too.  Oh, and trying to guess what was in them.  And counting them. 

You see, there were three kids in my family and we all kept track of who had more gifts under the tree, and which ones were for who.  So you can imagine our surprise one year when we found that none of them were for Deb, Terri, or Tad, but instead for Grumpy, Bashful, and Dopey. 

Yep, three of the seven dwarfs.  

Do you think our parents were trying to tell us something?!

There was more discussion about the gifts that year than any other year.  Each time a new gift appeared, we all had to go shake it, inspect it, and rethink about who was which dwarf.  My sister swore that I was Grumpy (bet you can't guess why!)

On Christmas morning, we made a guess about who was who and opened up a present that we thought was ours.  I'm sorry to say that I don't remember if I really was Grumpy, or if Tad was Bashful, but it definitely was a Christmas that we all remember!

So, fast forward many years to when my kids were about 9 and 12.  I think I must have finally gotten fed up with them comparing the number of gifts they each had.  Or maybe I just wanted to make Christmas a little different that year.  Who knows.  But I can tell you that they were really surprised and confused that year when gifts started showing for Fred and Barney!

We had fun with that for several years and although we don't do it any more, I can't help but wonder if our kids will someday try it with their kids! 

Now, it's time for you to go check out the free project that Sherri has!  Sherri is another Minnesota designer, whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting in person, but hope to someday!  Everyone of the designers in the blog hop seem like such great people, so be sure to check them all out (click on the links in the side bar.)

It's so much fun to see the variety, and to have so many projects to pick from. 

Have you decided yet what you're going to try to get finished before Christmas?

Comments

[Wendy]

How cute to rename your children so they won't identify their presents too early. Great idea.

[Monica]

What a hoot! My kids are grown, and wonderful young adults....but they still get excited like little children. I wonder what they'd do if we "renamed" them? I love to throw them curve balls....;-)
Thanks for the great idea!

[Penny Fraley]

You are the second one to have done something like this. I think it's so clever and a great conversation starter for the kids.

[Jocelyn]

What a very clever idea. I think it would be great fun to have the guessing who as well as what was in the package :-)

[Debbie St.Germain]

I don't think that would have worked in our house, we had eight kids and I can imagine the mayhem, lol.

Debbie

[Jewel]

That is cute. My parents always had presents from them and then presents from Santa. THe Santa ones were the ones they thought were the best ones.

[marta]

Es asi, aun hoy adultos jovenes siguen tratando de averiguar para quien es cada regalo.

[call me crazy]

What a cute idea! My mom would use different wrapping paper for each of us and not tell who was which paper~ and we weren't allowed to shake! :/ LOL

[Carol Sc]

What a creative way of dealing with the counting and the shaking! I never thought of it, but may suggest it to my married kids. It has put a smile on my face --- thanks!

[Beth Patrick]

that would be a fun idea! wonder if I can get the grandkids to go for it??
Thanks for sharing!

[Ruby]

Another great idea!!! Thank you so much for sharing your stories.

[Jay]

I love this idea! What fun.

[arlette]

I'll need to finish my christmas quilting if I want to display them in my house I have a few need to be finished, it's a few work, but I'm ready to take the challenge to finish them and make some other more from the blog hoppies!, I'm dreaming about how gorgeous my home is going to look like! :D

[Julie in WA]

How funny! Another designed shared with us about the codes she made up for each child. I have but one child, so no codes or silly names for our family. But maybe I could use the idea and put on each gift one of my daughter's lovely personality traits (no grumpy, etc.)Hmmm....

[Darlis]

Such a cute story!

[Jenny]

I like this idea and I could see it working at our house...but with the Disney princesses for our Granddaughters.

[Chris H]

Too funny! I love the seven dwarfs idea - and the Flinstones, too. :-)

[Janelle J]

Good idea and funny story.I remember shaking, but never counting. I knew my mom always and still makes sure to have the same number and very close to the same dollar amount for my sister and I. I'll never forget her being within a matter of pennies and was so proud!

[Iva]

What a cute idea. Since my kids are all grown, I'll have to remember this for the grandkids. Or maybe share the idea with their parents should they ever have a need to use it :D

[Shelly W]

Oh your parents were clever. Thanks for the idea! It will drive my two boys crazy!

[Krist Van Os]

That is such a cute idea - I bet your kids will do that one day

[Mary-Kay]

Someone else used numbers. I think it's a great idea.

[Lana Ebeling]

Cute pattern for the blog hop. I don't know where to start!

[Sheila Carita]

What a great idea!! A friend of mine always wraps her two daughter' gifts in different paper. So they can see at a glance all of the packages that are their own...

SheilaC

shecarita(at)yahoo(dot)com

[Cindy C.]

What I want to get done for Christmas? You all have shared so many wonderful projects and I thank you all. I truly want to make the placemats. I had planned on making some this year so the Jolly Placemats will be wonderful.

I'm following all the blogs everyday and have so enjoyed all your memories. Yesterday late afternoon, hubby and I landed here in San Francisco and I'm even following you all from here (we live near Prescott, AZ). The "ease" and "convenience" of laptops.

Don't know if you've heard of Britex here but I was able to visit there today. Oh my word - you talk "BUTTONS" - they have buttons!!! Yes, I will be going back there before we leave on Friday afternoon.

Sewing hugs and blessings to all.

[Leslie Schmidt]

I had a hard time trying to convey to my mother-in-law that my kids didn't understand about parity in money spent on their gifts, they wanted to be sure no one got more in quantity that they did!

[Leslie]

What clever parents, and a fun memory. I want to get placemats made and the table topper, You ladies are all so talented and creative.

[Jayne Honnold]

Assigning a cartoon character to each kid...ingenious! Wish I'd thought of it. I like the way your mom thinks!