Christmas Present Flashback

Recently, Ian has been getting into a bit of trouble around the house. It all started with a gift that I bought on an after Christmas sale last December. I found three Hot Wheels toys that looked like either a van or a special vehicle that opened up and there was a place for a little car and a small track inside. I bought one for Ian and one for each of his cousins who are close in to Ian. Ian had seen them when I bought them and he begged me for the orange one, the one that was different from the rest. When his birthday rolled around, he was given the orange one and all was well in the world until his cousin's birthday rolled around in June and he was given one of the silver "vans". My once content child was struck by the wants. He wanted the silver van, no longer was the orange van worthy of his attention. It might have ended there except for the fact that the third cousin's birthday isn't until December. Which means his gift is in my closet. Ian decided that he needed to get in my closet and get down the silver van.
Ian has been repeatedly told to stay out of my closet. It happens to be where I usually keep Christmas presents. Thankfully, this year, not all his presents have been stored in my closet. Last Thursday, Ian had been in my closet and had gotten in trouble for his naughty visit to forage in gifts. What I did not realize was, he had also been getting into some of his Christmas gifts which were in bags on high shelves in my closet. I soon realized this last Thursday evening when Ian, being in a particularly ungrateful mood, dragged out one of his gifts, walked over and shoved it in my face and told me 'this isn't as nice as I thought it would be!' Needless to say, I'm not so sure he will be getting that toy this Christmas, it might be off to Toys for Tots! I must admit this does remind me of something I did when I was probably eight, although, I was much sneakier than Ian!
*******WARNING!!!!FLASHBACK IN PROGRESS*******************************
It was getting close to Christmas, only a few weeks away. We lived on a little farm and my parents had to take care of our animals. It was cold and dark so my little brother and I were left inside the warm house with the strictest of commands. Under no circumstances were we to go into my parents bedroom. Naturally, this made my desire to go into their bedroom unquenchable. So I did what curious, naughty little eight year old girls do, I snuck into their bedroom. It looked the same as always, except there was a great big box near their closet. I crept nearer and then I committed the ultimate naughtiness...I looked inside. Wow! A Barbie Doll! The one I wanted, too! All kinds of neat stuff. Stuff for my little brother, too. I called him in so he could see all this stuff. We pulled it out and later I put it back and we left the room and acted like we had never been in there. It worked perfectly all evening. No one suspected a thing. My brother and I went to bed. I was just dozing off when I heard a very unhappy voice say 'DeAnn Michelle Adamson!!!!!" Uh-oh. The full name, that means BIG trouble. I came out of my room and faced the inquisition. I listened to their questioning. Had I been in the box in the bedroom??? I did what any parent-fearing, punishment-hating child would do, I lied. Of course I hadn't been in any box. What box?? Of course, it probably didn't help my case any that just that evening I had suggested that I would love to have the same exact Barbie that was in the box. The truth came out and I was given a spanking, which I so rightfully deserved.
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According to my mother, Santa didn't pay a visit to us that year. We only had presents from Mommy and Daddy and nothing under the tree Christmas morning, but I don't remember that part of it.
Back to Ian. He obviously saw more things than I realized. On Monday, I asked him if he would like to watch a Magic School Bus show for part of science. I told him I'd have to check and see if there were any on ON Demand, if there weren't, we'd have to look for something else. He piped up and said 'Or we could watch the DVD's you have in your, er, uh, never mind.' The missing word would be: closet. What a little stinker! Time for Mommy to get more devious with gifts. Maybe I should just wrap them when I get them, although, that never stopped me!