Monday, November 23, 2009

Making A List, and Checking It Twice

Every year, the Barnes clan creates and refines a very specific list to help with Christmas gift buying. Every single person in the family, including Grandma and Grandpa and assorted pets, all contribute to "the list." As commercialized as this sounds, having a list makes everyone's life easier. Aunt Sherri acts as list manager, and the children are never discouraged from putting anything on the list, no matter how extravagant. Some years, the list could make you cry if you put too much thought into it. I don't know how many years someone has listed "job," or in our case "baby." Some years the wishes are granted, and some items just stay perpetually on the list. Poor Alexis has had "dog" on her list every year since I've known her. Going on 8 years now. She's been optimistic enough this year to even specify a breed, (doberman) which I'm rooting for wholeheartedly. The dog people need to stick together.

This year, Uncle Daron has taken it upon himself to "help" the kids refine their lists. Items such as "a laptop" or "PSP with games" have been callously crossed out to reflect what Uncle Daron thinks they really need. After a quick glance at the boys list, I think I saw "Ritalin" and "a muzzle" as two not-so-helpful suggestions. Fortunately, the kids have a pretty good handle on Uncle Daron, and know when he's yanking their chain. I hope. Because, let's be honest- if Santa forgets to ever send us that baby on our list, these are the people that will be taking care of us in our old age. Hopefully they have a sense of humor!

1 comment:

Catherine said...

I don't know if I should laugh or cry after that post. Ahhhhh!