[GailA]

My favorite memory of Christmas as a child was when my littlest sister and baby brother were both under 3. That was when the bulbs were those BIG ones that got hot. Mom put the Christmas tree in the playpen to keep it out of their reach. It was funny then as the memory is now.

[FreeTheHostages]

ROFL!

One Christmas, dad replayed a radio broadcast he had done years ago, when I was 4 and my sister was 6, of us being interviewed by him on his Christmas show.

He asked me what the house was like on Christmas eve. And I (apparently thinking of "not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse"), mentioned that there were "stockings hung by the chimney with care" and there were also lots of "mouses."

My father says to me, with slight impatience, what else? And I say "rats"? And my father -- mind you, this is being broadcast all about -- says, no, other than that. How else is the house ready for Santa? And I say "mice"? And then, certain that this must be the key information my dad is prodding me for, I say with great certainty and cheerfulness: "There are lots of mouses and rats and mice!"

At which point my father clears his throat and turns to interview my sister, who is more helpful. :)

The interview ends with an entirely painful duet on clarinet and violin by two of my siblings.

[Billie]

Oh, that's funny, Gail - the Christmas tree in the playpen!