isa-normaladvance-1913-00066

Description:	66THE NORMAL ADVANCEChristmas, Cfjen anb jgotoMARGARET MORGAN GILLUMCHRISTMAS, when the children weresmall, was the happiest day in the wholeyear. Weeks before, they would begin to countup the days, and when the time came for themaking of the shopping lists, each childthreatened to burst with his precious store oflittle secrets and surprises. Mother would callthe children to her one at a time, and withher help the final decision, concerning whatto give grandpa or father, would be made.What if Dick refused to place Margarets nameon his list, because of a disagreement with thatyoung person? Differences of opinion soonmelted away in the enthusiasm of the moment, and Christmas Eve was sure to findthem all good friends. What a delightfulfeeling of excitement there was in the air, asthe children were hurried to bed! And howmysterious w7ere the noises that issued fromthe parlor directly beneath the nursery! Proceedings down there were always interruptedseveral times by this or that eager little voice,w7hich would inquire anxiously whether it wasnot yet time to get up. Then came the decision to be very quiet in order to catch SantaClaus, but gradually eyelids drooped lowerand lower, and the voices would sound moreand more inarticulate, until at last peacewrould reign in the bed room and Santa Clauscould enter in safety to fill the row of stockings. Long before daylight the next morning, little white-gowned figures would creepinto mothers room for permission to examinethe stockings, and soon, propped up amongthe pillows, with the contents of their stockings about them, they would begin the daysround of pleasures. Oh, the delightful agonyof suspense during those first few hours, w7henthe parlor door was closed, and no matter howlong one peeped through the keyhole, onecould not pierce the mysterious gloom within!How one danced with pleasure when thechimes of Santas bells could be heard throughthe closed door! It was strange that the children never associated fathers mysterious disappearance with the ringing of the bells. Thegrand climax always came immediately afterbreakfast, however, when the children formedin line, and, to the tune of a Christmas hymn,marched into the parlor. The lights from thegorgeous tree, which filled one corner of theroom, fairly dazzled one, and the heaps ofmysterious packages, all of them wrapped intissue paper and tied with gaily colored ribbons, awed one into silence. Then, mother,who was always master of ceremonies, wouldbegin to distribute the gifts, and with the restraint worn off, tissue paper and ribbonswould soon be flying in all directions, andchildish voices would rise higher and higheras they gleefully announced each new find.Were not those beautiful days? And did younot wish that every day could be a Christmas day?But it is different now. The children aregrowing up and their interests have spread beyond the little circle of home amusements. Sobusy are they that they almost forget Christmas. Then, suddenly, about three weeks before the day, it occurs to them that time is flying, and that gifts must be prepared. Afterhastily deciding about their shopping lists, thegirls in the family make various little purchases, and during spare moments they sewfrantically on bits of ribbon and lace, whichthey are making for this or that friend. Some^times they sigh at their work, because a fewof the remembrances are given, not so muchfrom a real desire to give, as from a senseof duty. The boys, however, with genuinemasculine indifference, forget about their presents until a day or two before Christmas, andthen they suddenly plunge into the whirl oflate shoppers and return with various pack-
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34511
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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