To peek or not to peek, that is the question.
I have a past. I’m not proud of it, but it’s there, big as you please. This time of year always serves as a reminder to those dark days. It went something like this.
Mom would go downstairs to work on the laundry. I would then creep over to the Christmas tree. Then with all the skill of an Ocean’s 11 star, I would unwrap the ends of every one of my presents till there was absolutely no doubt in my mind what the present was, then I tidied up, putting everything back into place.
I’m not proud of it, okay? It’s something I’ve had to live with all these years. But it’s not like my mother didn’t know—though she said nothing. One year I tore away at a package only to find another layer of newspaper wrap.
She was on to me.
But the worst of it was knowing how to respond on Christmas morning. You know, do I gasp with wide-eyed surprise? Form a perfect “O” with my mouth? Scream? Smile and say, “Thank you”? What? Mostly, I broke out in a cold sweat.
It’s something I had to deal with. Every. Single. Christmas.
So now you know. I hope this doesn’t change things between us. And for the record, I considered therapy at one point, but the good news is it must have been age-related because I never do it anymore!
Well, almost never.
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Colleen Coble writes romantic suspense with a strong atmospheric element. A lovable animal of some kind--usually a dog--always populates her novels. She can be bribed with DeBrand mocha truffles.
Denise Hunter writes women's fiction and love stories with a strong emotional element. Her husband says he provides her with all her romantic material, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too.
Diann Hunt writes romantic comedy and humorous women's fiction. She has been happily married forever, loves her family, chocolate, her friends, chocolate, her dog, and well, chocolate.
Cheryl Hodde writes romantic medical suspense under the pen name of Hannah Alexander, using all the input she can get from her husband, Mel, for the medical expertise. For fun she hikes and reads. Out of guilt, she rescues discarded cats. She and Mel are presently taking orders from four pampered strays.
19 Comments:
I use glue. You can't peek when a package is glued. Not without getting caught, anyway! Believe it or not, this practice didn't come from having to hide presents from children, oh no! I had to do this because of my husband. Years before we had our daughter! And he's STILL more of a kid than she is! LOL
Wouldn't trade him, though.
For my daughter though--we have a rule. If she sees it before Christmas (or birthday), I have to take it back.
Not that I would, but it works. Either that, or she's REALLY good at sneaky peeking!
Di--You and my sister, Liz!! She would climb up to the top shelf of the linen closet, where the wrapped presents were "hidden," and open them! But then, not only would she know her own presents, she'd want to tell the rest of us poor schmucks what WE were getting! We did NOT want to know!
I spent every December of my childhood with my fingers in my ears! :)
Yeah, I still have that problem! :o)
I'm totally demented, I know. It was the thrill of the chase, I think, more than anything. Wanting to peek before Mom caught me. The year she added a layer of newspaper, I never had enough time to work through all the layers before she came back upstairs, doggone her. :-)
That is too funny. My sister and I used to peek at our presents sometimes. We did feel guilty at Christmas, but since we were in it together, we also had to try hard to keep from laughing on Christmas morning. Our mom had no idea, until we told her a few years back. She was shocked!
I have NEVER peeked. Once in awhile I had picked up a box to give it a halfhearted shake or poked around the package to hazard a guess, but Mom never really got me anything throughout the year so Christmas was the one time where I was able to get fun things. I didn't want to ruin it!
ok so in this age of technology and since i live almost 8 hours away from my parents now, the updated method of "peeking" is by using amazon.com to create your christmas wish list. I've used it ever since I moved from CA to MN for college for 5 years. The hard part is that you can create filters on your wish list, like if you want to know what's been purchased from your list, you just have to click on "purchased". Now, they've added a holiday filter so that whatever has been purchased by someone else, doesn't get deleted from your original wish list. So... this is the first year that in order to peek online... i have to hack into my mom's computer and figure out her password.... hmmmmm..... i wonder how i can do that.... maybe i should call the FBI....
Oh, my goodness, Annie, that is absolutely HILARIOUS!!!! I'm not smart enough to do all that. If it's not as simple as unwrapping something, I'm in the dark.
But like I said, I don't, um, do it anymore. ;-)
By the way, Rachel, I'm sure glad my mom didn't think of using glue! LOL
I admit it. I still pick up and shake stuff and try to figure out out. My husband and son, doggone them, can usually heft a gift in one hand and guess it with 100% accuracy. I want to hurt them.
My mom was the guilty culprit...maybe that's why my dad didn't shop until Christmas Eve?
Until mom's brother & his wife quit sending my sister and I presents, mom would open them early to "make sure they were ok." I'm not sure if it was so we wouldn't tell dad or so we wouldn't tell our uncle, but she'd let me be there when she opened my sister's gift and vice versa.
But I? I am an angel. I never peek. Shake, yes. Peek, no.
Dad was also one who could guess accurately...except for the year mom had a leather vest custom made for him (she put it in a Dremmel sander box that he'd opened as his "early" Christmas present).
Me, too!!! Only I didn't wait until they were wrapped and under the tree. I knew all the hiding places. :o)
But my son could unwrap presents so no one ever knew. And I didn't find out until he was grown! I finally learned his secret. If you pull the tape really, reeeally
s l o w l y ,
it comes off without ripping the paper.
I tried it. And blew my own surprise. :o(
So no, Di. It doesn't change a thing between girlfriends. I won't tell youtr secret if you won't tell mine.
I forgot to add that my husband picked up on my snooping, so he and our kids never put anything for me under the tree until Christmas morning, or they got up in the middle of the night and did it. I never figured out which. But I went many Christmases thinking I wasn't going to get anything. The stinkers!!! ;o)
LOL, Ane!! I was waiting to hear your response, since we're so much alike, I couldn't wait to see if you were a "peeker." ROTFLOL!!
I am NOT going to feel guilty for peeking. It's NOT wrong. It's NOT. Really! It's tradition. Right? Isn't it?
My sister was a peeker and so is my son.
I don't think I've ever peeked. I love the anticipation! I'm the one who unwraps in slow motion, trying not to tear the paper. It's not because I save the paper, but because it draws out the suspense!
My husband is notoriously bad at gifts, and last night during "The Biggest Loser" there was a commercial with a guy hiding his wife's diamond necklace and I said, "Where do you think Dad hid my necklace this year?" Without missing a beat, my son Trey goes, "At the jewelry store." LOL
Leanna, thank you! I was beginning to think I was the ONLY peeker. Sigh. Course, like I said, I don't do it anymore (my family sometimes reads our blog). *g*
LOL, Kristin!
Diann, you are not alone, mum and dad hit the gifts but i always found them and the biggest surprise was often i thought gifts were for my brother and they were for me. but even under the tree i shook, looked etc and would sneak a peek too. Yes acting surprised is hard soemtimes especially when you find something you really dont like but then you do have time to work out a pose for that one.
I have improved since then and my friend who still does it i discoverd sticky tape works wonders.
you wrap up the gift then sticky tape it anduse most of the roll then they almost need scissors to open it. but wrap one one layer so they dont know about the tape.
works a treat.
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