Christmas Eve Campaign

Every year I've celebrated a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve. However, part of the tradition was the fact that the opening of a present wasn't a given - it had to be earned through steady manipulation of my father.

On Christmas Eve morning, my brothers and I would begin our campaign on our father, beginning with big hugs and shouts of "It's Christmas Eve! We get to open a present!" Pat would then respond gruffly "Of course you can't open a present!" We would then give him sad eyes and plead. "No," he'd say, "You're not opening a present today, and that's final!"

And thus it continued for the whole day. We'd snuggle into his lap and say "please Papa, just one little present?" He'd always respond no, until right before bed, when he'd finally give in and, with shouts of glee, Jordan, Logan and I would each tear into one present. Afterward, we'd give Pat more hugs and tell him what a wonderful, generous father he is. He totally ate it up.

Now that I've left the home and am married to Taylor, my Christmas Eve campaign continues. Taylor's a harder nut to crack, however, because he can't play the Bountiful Father like Pat, so I have to try a different angle.

Taylor's really big on traditions, so I stress for a week before Christmas how my favorite family memory was the opening of one present. Taylor then says that it's important that we start our own family traditions. I then respond by saying my family has hardly any traditions and he can't take away the one that we consistently celebrated. Taylor then ignores me.

But, so far in three Christmases together, I've won. I'm going four for four this year!