Laughter is life giving and I have experienced much of it in my day. I am sitting here by my lovely Christmas tree thinking about some of the things of days gone by that make me smile. Here are a few.

One Christmas I put a Regal Catalogue in the bathroom with the other magazines. I went through the whole thing and marked the worst possible gifts each of my children would want. For my daughter a hockey poster- she has no use for hockey. For my 11 year old son - a wrap around stuffed puppy you would use when napping in a car. Then for my 9 year old a butterfly puzzle- he hated puzzles and for my 7 year old son, finger puppets. I circled each item with their name by it and waited.  A Week passed by finally one of my boys came to me and said " mom did you already order those gifts you chose for us?". I looked shocked that they would even ask. The caring child wanted me to realize that the chosen gifts were maybe not what they would like. 

Finally after a few weeks had passed and the youngest son came bawling his eyes out that he did not want finger puppets and his older brother hates puzzles and his other brother... mommy how is he going to tell his friends that he received a wrap around puppy for Christmas?  And lastly mommy I am the one who loves hockey, not my sister! He was almost hyperventilating by now and Bill made me tell them I was only joking and I did not order the gifts. There was great relief among my four children. It is a wonder they are not all in counselling. Maybe they are and they have not told me. 

One time we bought a bean bag chair for one of my boys who loved to read. It was in a huge box and he was very curious. I told him it was a joke on your dad and that I had told him it was a pen with lots of newspaper around it. I wrapped up the gift and put Bills name on the gift. My son thought I was brilliant. He had no idea just how brilliant I was! 

With four kids who liked to cheat and look into gifts, I switched every name that year. It made for alot of quiet questions. The best was Christmas morning when our boy saw the big box was really for him! He was delighted and that bean bag chair was well used for years to come. 

We sure had alot of fun and we still do, it just looks different now. Embracing change and family that grows is a blessing. It comes with new challenges but lots of laughter as well. I am looking forward to it. Who knows what new tricks I will dream up!