Image by paparutzi via Flickr Once I'd become old enough to have some semblance of intelligence, which is to say I could sort of read and follow directions, I became the official Christmas eve assembler for the toys that my younger brothers and sister would be greeted with the following morning. I was Santa stand-in after my Santa dreams were shaken into reality.My dad was a good dad, but he was not good at mechanical and handyman sorts of projects. He was a bookkeeper by day and a professional juggler in his not particularly secret other life outside of work. Forget fixing broken things around the house or do-it-yourself car repairs or any of those types of jobs.
When I was little I just figured Santa's elves had assembled all of my toys and the big jolly guy just delivered them while I was sleeping. Actually come to think of it I don't know that I ever got many gifts that needed assembly. My mother must have had some sort of arrangement about that back then. But once she figured out that I could figure out stuff, I became the handy kid of the house.
My mother would go all out at Christmas when it came to buying toys for my younger siblings. I usually went on the shopping trips and egged her on as I looked for things that I could have fun playing with. Then Christmas Eve, my closest sister in age and I would help my mother wrap the presents as we listened to Christmas music or had some special holiday program turned on the television.
Each year, the gifts that required assembly became bigger and more elaborate. My father would retire early leaving me with the chore of putting together the crazy stuff my mother had bought. My mother, sister, and I would be up late wrapping, chatting, and laughing. At times I might let out a scream of frustration when my Christmas projects were not fitting together like the instructions showed, but I was committed to fulfilling my yuletide mission.
I suppose those Christmas mornings back then were worth the effort, all of us in pajamas watching the wonderment of the younger ones. My father watched with good-nature and perhaps a smug satisfaction that he hadn't had to put any of the toys together. And though I put on airs of reluctance on the eve of toy assembly, it always gave me a certain sense of pride in the part that I had played in those Christmases when I was younger.
Great story, but kind of sad to think of all the pressure put on you at Christmas to assemble.
ReplyDeleteWhat doesn't kill us makes us stronger? I really don't like that saying. Ha!
T
Great story Lee! I bet Dads over the ages have dreaded the Christmas Eve put together tasks! :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful story Lee most enjoyable to read, how these memories come back to us.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
Nice story Lee. It must have been an interesting time in your life. My dad was the one who built our Christmas presents and we had a whale of a time helping him. God bless you today, Geoff.
ReplyDeleteForget assembling --I just about lose a digit trying to get some of the darned things opened!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visits. Kelly, I agree about the packaging--there must some amazing engineering that goes into creating some of that stuff.
ReplyDeleteLee
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This is a great story Lee. There maybe some sad parts but all is well. You may have the Christmas pressure with you but you still got through it. I admire your perseverance.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful memory. This had me smiling so big. Thank you for this :0)
ReplyDeleteI can just imagine your sense of pride in tackling those assembly projects. Good for you. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
ReplyDeleteOh my Lee, I love your story. It made me feel all warm inside, because it brought back my own memories of sitting with my dad and assembling toys.
ReplyDeleteHappy holidays. Thanks for sharing the magic.
I agree with Kelly. The packaging today to prevent theft makes opening them like trying to break into Fort Knox. You need more tools to get the toy out of the box than you need to assemble it.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, my days of assembling this or that have come to an end. Now, I tell the college kid and his sister, "You guys know how to put those things together better than I do. I'm gonna try on my socks [no assembly required]."
ReplyDeleteNOTE: They got their iPods, computer speakers, snowboard bindings, iTunes working swell.
And the socks fit.
I was the wrapper once I figured out the truth. My dad was handy, so he got to do the handy stuff, but my mom hated wrapping with a passion by that time. The evening of Christmas Eve would come, and I would be up wrapping presents for my four siblings, ribbons and everything. Now I do not look forward to the wrapping. ;-p At that time, it made me have that same sense of pride, and it was a pleasure to be in on the secret.
ReplyDeleteSome wonderful comments here and I appreciate them all. They gave me smiles and a bit of a glow.
ReplyDeleteLee
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What a sweet post! I now have the joy of watching my nieces and nephew open their Christmas presents, and it gives me a sense of wonder even greater than when I opened mine as a child.
ReplyDeletePS--I LOVED the "are you living or dying" post from Tossing It Out, and I'm glad you received an alert to let you know I had linked to it.
It's great that you've always been handy, and your dad must've been very proud of you. I know that you're still a tremendous help to your family, and it's nice that it hasn't changed. Julie
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were smaller, I was the one who assembled. I didn't think ahead enough to do it before the opening. I wish I had. But, it taught me to think before I purchased when "some assembly required" was on the box!
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