The Storage Unit Christmas

When my husband was almost done with law school, I was pregnant with our third child, due to deliver the week before graduation.  With no job prospects as of yet, we decided to move back to Utah to be near our family.  But, because of my due date, I needed to come back early. So, in March of 2003, I came to Utah with Reuben (4) and Tim (2) and moved into two bedrooms in my parents' basement. Judd drove our belongings out in a U-haul and we put most of our possessions into storage.  He then went back to Baltimore to finish law school.  Two months later he finished classes and flew out to Utah. I went into labor the next day and had the baby ( Amy) and he left a few days later to go back and graduate.  We then settled into living with my generous parents while Judd studied for and took the Bar exam, and then started a private practice.

Fast forward nearly two years to December of 2004.  We decided it was time to go out on our own.  We had very little money.  Starting a business is rocky and it takes a while to earn enough to make ends meet.  But, we found a great basement for rent in Holladay. It was only $650 a month and included the utilities.   It didn't have a dishwasher, we couldn't fit a couch down the stairs or a queen size box springs, and my piano would never navigate that narrow passage;  but the price was right and it was fairly large at 1600 sq feet.  It was perfect for our family!

The only problem was that we were practically penniless.  Putting down a deposit on our apartment and paying to have our piano moved out of storage and into our friends' house took a toll on our bank account.

We couldn't afford Christmas.

But, it didn't matter because we developed a plan, a delightful and slightly devious frugaliscious plan.  Our children had not seen the majority of their toys for the last two years. Our youngest had never seen any of them!  We wrapped up the Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, and Matchbox cars, and all of the other toys that had been lonely for so long, and placed them lovingly under the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, our excited children ripped open the paper with glee and squealed over each new toy. They had no idea these were their old toys coming back to them.  The closest they came to finding us out was Reuben saying, "I used to have one of these!"

It was the best Christmas ever!

Just this evening, after coming home from a special family gathering to visit Uncle Ronald  and bring him some Christmas cheer, I mentioned that long ago Christmas to my boys, now 17 and 15.

"What?"  Tim said." You gave us our old presents?"

" I never could figure out why I got so many Tinker Toys, but I didn't really have that many" replied Reuben.

We all laughed together.  I had no idea the boys NEVER figured out what we had done.