Three ears were listening to the voices and metallic clinking sounds coming from the basement. Picture three pajama-clad siblings, Cindie, Brad, and Vivian, each with one ear to the 12-inch opening to the clothes chute in the hallway outside of our bedrooms. Judging from Dad’s frustrated comments about missing parts and lousy instructions, we knew SOMEONE was getting a bike for Christmas (and assembly was not going particularly well).
Our parents didn’t know that we were secretively listening to the bike assembly endeavor. After all, it was Christmas Eve and we were supposed to be ‘nestled in bed while visions of sugar-plums danced in our heads’! Hearing mom’s footsteps coming up the basement stairs, we each scrambled to our respective beds feigning sleep. When the three of us finally succumbed to sleep, I am sure the sugar-plums in our dreams looked more like a bike parked next to the tree with OUR name on the gift tag.
Imagine our great delight when Christmas morning dawned and three bikes sat perched on kickstands around the tree! If we didn’t live in snowy Wisconsin, we three kids would have been riding up and down Milwaukee’s Stark Street in our pajamas ringing the bell or honking the horn Dad had attached during his after midnight assembly project. For today, our Dad would drag those bikes back down to the basement and our bike-riding adventures would begin.
Barefoot Lily Lady 
Cindie, such sweet memories. I remember my first bicycle, it was the best Christmas. Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
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You too, Pam!
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I remember when our oldest three children got their bikes for Christmas (the youngest was just a baby). My parents sent the money for them and we picked them out and purchased them. We had to hide them somewhere (we don’t have basements in Texas). So, Wayne hid them in “plain site.” He put them in the garage and covered them with a tarp. Then he took the children out to the garage and pointed it out to them saying that it was a surprise for me and that if they touched it, the tarp would probably fall off. So, he told them to stay away so the surprise wouldn’t be ruined. They readily obeyed.
Right before the reveal, Wayne pulled the cars out of the garage, took the tarp off and placed the bikes in the center of the garage. I then gathered them up and said there was a surprise in the garage. The children thought they knew something I didn’t. However, the look on their faces said it all when they saw what was waiting for them.
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Oh, I LOVE this story, Jo Dee!! Thank you so much for sharing a little slice of your life.
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