As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought,cards to be sent, rooms to be cleaned. Parents are 1 with difficult jobs of hiding presents from curious young children. If the gifts are large,this is sometimes a real 2. On Christmas Eve, young children find the excitement almost unbearable. They are 3 between the wish to go to bed early so that Father Christmas will bring their presents quickly and the wish to 4 up late so that they will not miss the fun. The wish for gifts usually proves stronger. But though children go to bed early,they often lie5 for a long time,hoping to get a short look at Father Christmas.
Last Christmas, my wife and I 6 managed to hide a few large presents in the storeroom. I feared the moment when my son, Jimmy, would 7 me where that new bike had come from, but 8 he did not see it.
On Christmas Eve, it took the children hours to go to sleep. It must have been nearly 9when my wife and I went quietly into their room and began filling stockings. Then I pushed in the10 I bought for Jimmy and left it beside the Christmas tree. We knew we would not get 11sleep that night, for the children were 12 to get up early. At about five o'clock the next morning, we were woken by loud sounds coming from the children's room-they were shouting excitedly!13 I had time to get out of bed, young Jimmy came riding into the room on his new bike, and his sister,Mary,14 close behind pushing her new baby carriage. Even the baby arrived, he moved 15 the hands and knees into the room dragging a large balloon behind him. Suddenly it burst. That woke us up completely. The day had really begun with a bang.