Uh..Uh...Uh Santa Claus probably put it there.

We were all told that "it is more blessed to give than receive" but as a kid, that pretty much goes out the door at Christmas. How many times did my parents bestow upon me waaaaaay more awesome gifts than I could ever give back to them? Sorry, guys. It was a bit early in my career.

They weren't left completely giftless though. Somewhere, in the recesses of a kid mind that still enjoyed recess, do I remember going through a holiday-themed school store that catered just to elementary school children. There were more tacky coffee mugs, keychains and wallets than one could shake a candy cane at, but it was a quick, cheap and easy way for a kid to spend their ten dollars of chore-earned cash on Christmas gifts for ones they loved. Luckily my parents never dipped into the same store that I shopped for our presents from about age five until eleven.

I've got to say, as far as the "getting" goes, my sister and I really cleaned up. Looking back, we got some pretty awesome things. A few of my favorites were completely fitting for the time period. The first was a Holly Hobby kitchen set, complete with the pots, pans, plates and two wee-sized aprons for little four and five year old Beth and Jill.

There's home video of us looking, in absolute awe and excitement at a gift that we ended up playing the heck out of. Some people, whose name just happens to start with a "B" and ends with an "H", like it so much that she, I mean 'they', were caught on film pushing me out of the way. Fully, "You best move out of the way, beeotch" hip bumping a certain older sister.

A couple of years later, after my long flowing golden locks had been murdered and turned into a Dorothy Hamill (aka "mushroom cut") and I had suffered an earlier pre-Cabbage Patch Kid incident (it was a homemade fake CPK - my mom wanted to test it out to make sure I was ready for a 'real' one), Beth and I finally achieved true 80's kid stardom with our very own CPKs. Mine had blond hair and was named Nicolette Fay.

As I aged and moved into the teenage years, my taste in Christmas pressies matured…although my taste in clothing quite faltered. Hey, it was the 90s. Further awesome gifts ranged from a pink and grey 10-speed bicycle, a mammoth-sized Caboodle makeup case, leather brown bomber jacket and a full-fledged boombox (with my first CD player, mind you). My former squeals now turned to "Wow, like, totally cool!" but inside that giddiness was still there.

As a grown-up, it's hard for me to think of even a few things that I "want" anymore. The desire to "get" has changed and I've discovered that it really is more blessed to give than receive. But I will never forget the excitement and wonderful memories that were waiting at the bottom of the stairs for my childhood eyes on Christmas morn.