Merry Christmas Eve!!! I just LOVE Christmas. Everything about it - lights, the tree, glitter everywhere, Santas all over the place, Christmas music, red and green together, sharing joy with everyone, the look on store keeper's faces when I say "Merry Christmas." It's all great. Clerks always seem surprised when I say Merry Christmas. I guess it's because people don't say it as often as they used to. Anyway, I love it. Of course, I don't love people being rude and pushy in the store, but I've found the best ways to deal with it are: #1) I don't go out during peak times so as to avoid such people and #2) When someone is rude I smile my best Christmas smile and say, "Oh excuse me, Merry Christmas." It really throws off the rude people. And then I forget them because they don't matter anyway. :o)
Ok, I'm sure you are wondering what the title of this post means. Well, it's a family tradition that I associate most with my Grandaddy Blevins because he would always call over to our house to say it. The way it goes is, if you yell "Christmas Eve gift" to someone first, they're supposed to give you a gift. But it's just in fun because I've never seen anyone actually give a gift. It's like a "get your goat" kind of thing. And if you don't understand the phrase "get your goat," well, you probably wouldn't understand anyway.
I am so excited about what I've gotten Steven, I almost want to post what it is since I'm sure he won't read this before the morning, but.....I'll resist temptation. I've been keeping it a secret for over a month so I guess I can wait one more night. The stinker already found out I was getting him a summer sausage for his stocking. I think he'll be completely surprised about his main gift though.
We both got a surprise this morning. We heard a loud knock on the door and since we had slept late, we were both still in pj's. Steven rushed to throw on some clothes but before he could get to the door, the visitor was gone. But, they left us a package! It turns out our visitor was UPS and my mom had sent us a package from a smokehouse with three kinds of smoked meats and some fancy mustards. It was a great surprise because we weren't expecting anything like that. We've never received a delivery from a holiday mailing company. She was very glad we were surprised. Thanks Mama!
Because I most likely won't post tomorrow:
Merry Christmas and Good Will To Men!!! and women.... :o)
9 years ago
2 comments:
I enjoyed the excitement in your post, all about Christmas and being kind and getting in the spirit. That's what we all need to do, make it special.
My family also said 'Christmas Gift' and also 'Christmas Eve Gift'. Anyone who woke up during the night before the household stirred would yell 'Christmas Gift' and it would wake everyone up. There would be a round of greetings from every bed and then we'd all go back to sleep til morn.
We still have that tradition. I am trying to think of where I read it came from. I'll look it for it and if I find it I will comment on it again. Seems it's totally southern and probably came from the slaves who would call that out and know that that is all they had to give. But, I will look to be sure.
I found the following online in 'Documenting the American South'.
On the plantation, the transfer of Christmas gifts from master to slave was often accompanied by a curious ritual. On Christmas day, "it was always customary in those days to catch peoples Christmas gifts and they would give you something." Slaves and children would lie in wait for those with the means to provide presents and capture them, crying 'Christmas gift' and refusing to release their prisoners until they received a gift in return (p. 22). This ironic annual inversion of power occasionally allowed slaves to acquire real power. Henry, a slave whose tragic life and death is recounted in Martha Griffith Browne's Autobiography of a Female Slave, saved "Christmas gifts in money" to buy his freedom (p. 311).
I believe Truman Capote mentioned this custom in his book 'Christmas Memories' but I am not sure of the content.
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