Grandma had him wake me before the excitement got out of hand on Christmas day. It was not too early. As a young one, I was awake at 2:00 a.m. Jack was much better than I in allowing the "old" people in the house to get a decent night's sleep. It was 7:00 a.m. or so when I felt a slight nudge on my arm. "Pop Pop! Santa's been here." He didn't repeat the words a second time. I heard his steps on the stairs. I came down immediately to see him excited about his new Millenium Falcon, Clone helmet and music maker.
We didn't open the large ship. We had to let his mom think about where to put it. It only took a couple of days to figure an option. We put the Queen sized bed in the room with his toys on Craig's List. Someone picked it up within 24 hours, and it left enough room for toys, his desk--an set of wooden desks we bought from the school in the 70's that were old when grandma and Pop Pop went to school--his clothes, and an air mattress that we could inflate when he and his cousin were in town. Sleepovers at grandma and Pop Pop's house would allow him to use the other bedroom when he needed it.
The music machine had his attention immediately. I had already decided to get him some violin lessons if his mom is willing. We have the small instruments for him and Tommy and Anna. But this machine was really fun. It teaches basic keyboard skills, singing skills, and as interesting as it was, there was a small recording device that made it possible to record his playing and singing that he does as he creates something. The small hand-held recorder is like an I-Pod. Jack spent the morning walking around playing his creations. At first he did it with his headphones, but then he became more confident and played it so everyone could hear it.
And then came the presents under the tree. Pop Pop enjoyed this part, knowing thatTommy was opening the same gifts in Minnesota. Anna had her gifts too, but the fun part for grandpa was watching Jack's enthusiasm and knowing that Tommy was just as excited.
What makes everything worth it is the sparkle in a child's eyes, the same reason I enjoy taking my three little ones to Disneyland. It's the ritual we play the same way each trip that makes it fun, having a contest to see which child can see the Tower of Terror first before we enter the entrance for cars before preceeding to the parking garage.
And what childhood would be complete without receiving the game named after those creepy things you accuse other unfortunate children of having. Has a generation of children existed without saying, "He's got cooties!" 
At this point, Jack must be wondering, another bug game? The name of this game--Ants in my Pants is interesting. I actually knew classmates my teachers accused of having had this problem. I knew it was not really so, because I had this uncle who said there was an elephant under the kitchen table who made bad noises too, but I always knew it was my uncle.
Now in this picture, I sit mystified by the instructions that some Pakistani dude wrote for pennies an hour, and it did not read like Shakespeare in any stretch of the imagination. In fact, for all intents and purposes, it could have been a lawn mower manual, because it was not all that clear. I actually wondered at this point if the character cut and pasted the instructions for a mower in with the graphics of the instructional manual for my grandson's Clone helmet. And just in case both my grandsons continue their reading skills in Kindergarten ahead of schedule, the Pakastani dudes are the best of Santa's helpers at the North Pole. They are the ones who smell like curry. 
And did I say that Jack and Tommy like Star Wars. It's a family tradition. Pop Pop did the same thing with Uncle Cles. The toys are still fun for Pop Pop to play with when he is home alone with nothing to do and no football to watch on TV.
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