Christmas Stories

Had GS last night, and we sat around in jammies with hot cocoa and cookies reading and telling Christmas stories. (Yes, we know all the girls in the troop celebrate Christmas...) The other leader read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, which the girls enjoyed, then I told some family stories.

Dear Grandma J was brilliant with family stories. She had a way with the telling, which she indulged in often. So often, in fact, that the first time B met my cousin R, we tortured poor B. We were driving to my Aunt's house an hour away, and the 3 of us were in the back seat of their car with B between my cousin and I. B was the only one of the 3 of us GJ could see. She launched into one of her stories. R and I rolled our eyes and began mouthing the story along with her, word for word, pause for pause. Dear B managed to keep a straight face through the whole ordeal.

One of GJ's Stories:

J had two sons, R and D. The boys (as kids will) decided to go snooping for presents. D happened upon his mother's hiding place, and found two amazing cars, one for each boy. One was red and the other was blue. He took them out and played with them, the hoods came up, the tires came off, the doors opened. They were great fun. D very carefully placed them back in their hiding place, and that night while the boys were in their bunk beds, D told R all about the cars.

R became very excited, and said he would go find them the next day. GJ, being a mom, figured out that D had found the cars, and changed her hiding place. The next day when R went to where D said they were... no cars. He searched but had no luck. That night in bed, he hissed at his younger brother, "D, you're a liar. There were no cars." D defended himself, again outlining all the features and describing how he's played with the cars. R was unconvinced. They boys never did find the second hiding place, but on Christmas morning, the cars were under the tree.

I thought of this story when I saw the new LLBean flashlight ad. My grandmother would have done that!