On the Sixth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me 6 times of snooping

I crept in to my parent’s bedroom and went straight in to the bathroom. No one could bother me in there if I locked the door and stayed quiet. My mom was notorious for hiding all of our Christmas presents in her bathroom closet. For as long as I can remember that closet has never been used what it was intended for. Instead it has held everything from presents to boxes to clothes to blankets. This Christmas was no different. In the past I had snooped under my parents’ bed, in their closets, and in the trunk of the car.

I wanted to know what I was getting way ahead of time so that I was assured I got what I wanted. If I thought it was something different then I would drop major hints. I’m sure it went something like this: “You know who says they like to rollerblade? Heather says she likes it, but I really don’t like it because it’s not very fun and you can’t go really fast. But you know what you can go fast on? Ice skates are really fun and go so fast. I’ve always wanted to be an ice skater.”

I know it sounds so pathetic but welcome to my life! I snooped every Christmas of my childhood. I even have gone as far as to unwrapping a gift, looking at it, and then re wrapping it. I think my mother caught on because then she started numbering the gifts and no one knew which number they were until Christmas Day.

So I snooped! It’s not a crime and people do it all the time. It was probably my 6^th year of snooping. The years past I knew exactly what I was getting down to the brittle and chocolate covered Santa. This year was not going to be any different. So I quietly swung the door open and began to quietly pull the plastic cover back. My eyes lit up as I saw an array of toys. My brother would get a remote control car, my sister was getting a Barbie, I made mental notes in my head as I dug my arms down deep in to the giant bag. It had to be there somewhere . . . oh yes there it was.

I shifted a bag to look at a bag beneath that contained a pink dress. I looked at the size and thought that it must be for my sister and then sitting below was a white pair of roller skates just my size. Roller skates I thought? I am too old for those. I fished my hand around and pulled out a pack of Christmas Lipsmackers and some new hair things. This was shaping up to be a very disappointing Christmas. It was only a week away and I did not like what I saw.

I thought I heard the stairs creak so I quickly shut the door and flushed the toilet just in case someone was coming. I ran out the door and walked to the hall where no one was. I was a little annoyed because I could have had more time to snoop in the shower where there were more presents “hidden.” Why did a parent not want me to peek when they were making it so easy for me to do so?

I planned other secret trips to the bathroom but as Christmas came closer, the less time I had to myself to go peek. I dropped major hints to my mom. I would say “mom I really want something for Christmas that I could use in this cold winter like a new coat or clothes.” Other times I would say “I really want a new boombox (yes I said it – this dates me!) or mom a new walkman would be cool. My mother would always just nod and say okay honey.

So even after all my snooping I still wasn’t positive what I was getting. I knew the roller skates were mine and a few other little things but that was it. Was I only getting 3 presents I thought? I know how horrible it sounds now but I expected a lot. But my worries grew with each day that crept closer to Christmas.

Finally the day came that we had all been waiting for. As tradition goes my brother wakes us up around 3 in the morning. My parents let us get up as early as we wanted to but we just can’t get them up until their ready! So my brother woke us up and we all ran downstairs to see the biggest shock I have ever had.

There sitting in front of each stocking was a brand new Huffy bike. How could this be? I gasped and ran down to look at it. Not only was I getting a bike but I was not getting roller skates! This threw me completely off guard. My siblings also gasped at the site of their own gifts. I have never been so happy or surprised on a Christmas morning before. As soon as daylight came I was outside riding my bike. My parents later revealed to me that they had been hiding all of our presents in a neighbor’s garage.

I would like to say that my snooping stopped there and I magically halted my evil ways, but alas I continued doing it all the way until I got married. I don’t know why but I have never snooped while I’ve been married. I think I’m so much happier that way. Because whether I wanted to admit it or not I look back to my favorite Christmas and it was the one where I didn’t know what I was getting.

If you have snoopers in your home try everything possible to keep the surprise from them because later they’ll end up thanking you for doing it . . . or at least you hope they will!