It's way less creepy than it sounds. Promise.
It's just when Bethany first picked up the bright red package and saw that it was "signed" from Sadie, our sassy Scottish terrier that passed away last year, she and I exchanged mock horrified looks with one another and were trying to piece together the puzzle. What could our precious pooch possibly want to give us beyond the grave?
After some weird looks at my parents, who were rolling their eyes at our dramatics, we tore open the package to find ultimate cozy gift: the softest, warmest, matching pj's with scottie dogs printed all over!
Is there nothing more Christmassy than new pajamas? Oh wait, there is! Pajamas with adorable scottie terriers wearing red bows! Is there anything more Christmassy that pajamas with scotties on them? Yep, when said pajamas are matching with other family members!
My sister working it in hers
Can you tell we liked them??
This gift catered to two of the major commonalities my parents, sister, and I share: our love of comfort and our mutual love of Scottie dogs. We've owned two, and there's something about those pig-headed, infuriating, snappy dogs that we just love. They look like ToTo and growl for treats and attack dirty socks lying on the ground. In short, they're loveable and weird, just like us.
Further evidence of our family's strange sense of humor? My sister gave me a vendetta gift, and my dad settled our debate on whether Dollar Store gifts are ever appropriate.
As sisters tend to do, Bethany and I started a weird debate over who made a wonky candy cane ornament in elementary school. My mom kept all of the ugly ornaments that we crafted over the years, and in high school, Bethany and I noticed that there were two candy cane ornaments: one with beautifully spaced sparkly beads and one that was really ugly in comparison. It became a litmus test for who was the more awesome of us two kids. Whoever made the sparkly pretty candy cane (ahem- me) was the better of the two, like the yearbook superlative "most likely to succeed". Whoever made the cracked out looking one (Bethany) was Mom's second favorite and clearly several IQ points lower. We always tried to get Mom to reveal who made which one, but she just clucked her tongue and refused to get involved.
I realize this is the dumbest inside joke ever, but it's like "church laugh" when you begin hysterically cracking up at the most inappropriate thing and can't stop.
Anyway, I hadn't even thought of this stupid sibling rivalry until I looked at my tree on Christmas Eve and saw it covered with homemade candy cane ornaments my sister had secretly stuck everywhere!
And what gag gift would be complete without the occasional hazing note:
Last stop on the weird gift train, my family and I love to ridicule my dad's love of Dollar Tree. Anytime we received a card from him, we would turn it over to see if it "Tender Thoughts" was printed on the back, signifying that he had splurged an entire dollar. Suck it, Hallmark.
Anyway, he had joked that he could find bad ass gifts for all at the Dollar Tree, and this year he made good on his promise. He was struggling valiantly to find something, anything he could stick in our stockings that would prove that the Dollar Tree was a jackpot of amazing, frugal gift ideas.
Randomly remembering that he had called us "his princesses" and built many a sandcastle at the beach for us when we were in our diva stages, here is what he found:
Yep, that is how my twenty-seven year old sister and I received a Cinderella puzzle and princess bubbles, while my Dad crowed, "Can you guess which one is from me?? See? The Dollar Tree does have great stuff!"
I'm going to have to up my "gift game" for next Christmas.
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