My kids being 19 and 17, I remember fondly but don’t miss one iota having to put shit together like that on Christmas Eve.
17 years ago, after a nice Christmas Eve dinner where the 2.3 year old boy had drank 3 full small cups of Egg Nog by first going to me for one refill and then his mother for the second and subsequently puked all over the table., I began a drunken “let’s put together the red rider tricycle and wagon”. Took over 3 hours mostly because I was housed.
the next morning (Christmas) my wife starts complaining that her uterus seems to be contracting, despite being 2 weeks prior to our scheduled c-section. I was excited to see the boy’s reaction to his gifts, but we don’t get very far. I’ve got great video of her next to him where she winces in pain. She calls the doc who exclaims, “OK, head to the hospital, you’re having a baby today.” We looked at each other and we’re like, “uh, no way Doc.” Yes way,. About 3 hours later I got the best Christmas present I ever had or ever will get.