It's Over!!!!! YEA!!!!!

This year was the first year that I actually experienced what my parents went through when we were little. Trying to sneak the presents into the room after the kids went to bed and make it look like Santa had been there. Usually, the kids pass out around 9:30 p.m. and are out until Christmas Day. Not this year. In years past, I've had all of my wrapping done on Christmas Eve Day. We celebrate Christmas with my husband's side of the family on Christmas Eve, so I usually get to wrap before that because the kids are at my in-laws getting ready. This year however, found Jason and I going to my step-sister's house before my in-laws house for dinner so I didn't have time to wrap the presents.

That night, I tucked the kids into bed after looking at a NORAD's radar to find out where Santa was and locked myself in my room to wrap their presents from us and Santa. I finished up around 11:20, and was about to go out and put the presents under the tree when I heard my son's door open. I could hear his feet going down the hall and then running back to wake his sister up. I had put out their new scooters, unwrapped, and thank goodness didn't mark them. They were supposed to be from Santa but ended up being from Mom and Dad. Jack wanted to come into my room and tell me what he saw, but I couldn't because the evidence was still on the floor. I cleaned up after he went back to his room, but I could still hear him and his sister talking.

Jason and I contemplated what we should do, and concluded we'd leave a "note from Santa" saying he'd come by but the kids were awake, so he'd swing back by on his way back to the North Pole. Just as I got finished writing the letter, Jack knocked on the door and told me that I'd better turn out my lights, because if I didn't Santa would miss us. You could hear the worry in his tired voice. I threw the letter away knowing that if I gave it him, that would make him worry so much more. So there I was finishing up some last minute wrapping with basically no light except for the small lamp on my nightstand.

We were finally able to put out the presents around 12:30 a.m. and went to sleep knowing that in a few short hours we'd be back up again. Sure enough at 4:30 a.m. I could hear the excited voices discovering that Santa had been there. The kids had to watch cartoons until 7:00 a.m. when Jason and I were able to be coherent. I let them get into their stocking and they watched the Tom and Jerry video that Santa had left them. That kept them occupied until 7:00.