My daughter’s friends descended on our living room for an impromptu Christmas party, with bags, boxes and gifts in tow, and the house quickly went from quiet to festive. One friend brought a portable turntable and a stack of old Christmas records. Another friend arrived in a Santa suit.
Our daughter lit the oven and began baking delicious-smelling treats. The sound of Christmas carols filled the room, and giggles followed when someone flipped the turntable’s speed from 33 to 45rpm, resulting in Chipmunk-sounding renditions of Andy Williams’ holiday classics.
The chaos settled down somewhat when the kids all sat down to exchange gifts. I had no idea what kinds of gifts they’d gotten each other or if there were any set rules for their exchange. I peeked at their gift swap from the kitchen to snap a photo, and this is what I saw:
One girl received a 16mm film reel in a metal canister. Does she have a projector? No. Did the gift-giver have any idea what movie was on the reel? Nope. In the photo above, you can see Santa Girl using a flashlight to peer at the film frames to try to figure out what movie it might be. After unrolling about ten feet of film, she passed the acetate film leader and found the countdown.
“Ten, nine, eight… This is GREAT!” she exclaimed. The gift-giver said she’d found it at a thrift store.
It was time for another gift. See the black “Let It Snow” bag in the photo above? It contained a globe.
The girls looked at the countries on the globe and determined that it was made before 1990 due to the lack of Ukraine having its own boundaries. The globe recipient hugged it to her chest and professed, “I love this.”
They continued going around the room and opening presents. Few of the gifts were brand-new, but all of them were quirky or delightful in their own way.
Our young boys watched the exchange from across the room and marveled at how much fun everyone was having with what could only be described as a very random assortment of gifts. Good times, good friends, and good memories. It made me happy to witness a wonderful start to the Christmas season for my daughter and her longtime group of friends.
Deb Cook says
It sounds like a wonderful start to a nice Christmas. It’s great kids don’t care if they are second hand but they love the gift and seem to love each other. That’s what Christmas is all about. You sound like a wonderful mother.