Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house…all the teenagers were stirring! Santa (that’s me) was waiting and waiting to fill the stockings….but alas it was not to happen this year (at least not on Christmas Eve!)

I am the Mom of three teenage boys. It’s ok, I meditate, no need to feel stressed for me! This year for Christmas, the boys got their Dad a basketball game – you know the kind you find in the arcades that you can shoot small basketballs into a hoop over and over while the timer runs and you collect points. Pretty cool gift right? Well, this gift has finished dimensions of 4ft wide by 7ft long by 7ft tall and comes in a box that is 2ft wide by 4ft long by 4in high!

So two days before Christmas Eve, I said to the boys, “Maybe you should put that present together today, we can cover it with a sheet.” But, they said, “No we’ll do it the night before Christmas so Dad won’t find it.” I didn’t even bother to protest, having been a Mom now for over 19 years, I have learned a bit about wasted words.

The day before Christmas came and it was getting late – the boys gathered at about 8pm to begin to put it all together. I cleared the space for the final product and left them to it. I figured it would be such a cool experience for them to do all on their own. Plus, there have been years and years of their Dad and I staying up late putting together “some assembly required” presents until the wee hours of Christmas morning – how fun to have the tables turned. 

I checked in after about an hour. They were working hard. Not much seemed to be together yet. My oldest said, “Mom, we’ve had to take it apart four times because the directions don’t have you do it in the right order.” I smiled and asked them if they needed a snack.

An hour later I returned. More of the frame was together. My middle son was working on the backboard and complaining about his youngest brother not helping. He said, “Mom, this is going to take at least another hour. It is really complicated.”

More time passes and I return. My middle son says, “Mom, you should have read the reviews on this before we bought it! It probably says it’s really really hard to put this together. I bet there’s some swear words in there too.” Then my youngest puts his arm on my shoulder and says, “We’ve thought about giving up several times.” Meanwhile, my oldest is still screwing and unscrewing the pieces, cursing a bit under his breath.

It was now after midnight and I came in to see the finished product! It was awesome and I was so impressed by my three young men! Excited and proud of their accomplishment, they decided that since it was officially Christmas they would show their Dad right away! He came in with a big smile and they played hoops until 1:30am. I am truly blessed (and tired!)

And Santa filled the stockings at 8am Christmas morning while the teenagers were sleeping…

In the present,
Tammy