Friday, December 5, 2008

Suspension of the Birthday/Christmas rule!

DSH turns 50 this December 15th. We are having a Christmas open house December 13th. Our neighborhood has a tradition of having a open house/Christmas party every year. We have lived here for six years and have not taken a turn hosting. We have been doing construction continuously for the past six years and have reached a good stopping point so decided it was time. This caused a conflict with the Birthday/Christmas rule which states: Christmas decorating, gift buying and giving does not start until after December 15th. I am enjoying the suspension greatly! More time for planning and doing! Out of respect for DSH and his understandable "issues" with birthday and Christmas, I have bought all of his birthday and Christmas presents, wrapped them in the appropriate paper for the occasion and placed the birthday pile in one corner and the Christmas pile in the other corner. Birthday presents are wrapped in a bright, cheery paper that says "Happy Birthday" all over it and the Christmas gifts are in an old fashioned Christmas paper and are hidden behind a chair. Easy to tell the difference. There is no place to hide gifts in our home so wrapping and displaying was the best solution. Plus, the gifts are out taunting him with their mysterious sizes and shapes. Oh, the anticipation! Happy Birthday, DSH!!