The day before Christmas we were tidying up.
We had ventured underneath the stairs. This is not advisable normally. Underneath the stairs consists of shelves and coat hooks and what would once have been a large airy space. But in a family with the size, organisational strategies, and animals of the Shrewsday family, it develops something like geological layers, formed over time. Tidying under the stairs is like being on an archaeological dig.
You could even chart the passing of time: there were the bags from the last day of school on December 22nd; the jumpers discarded in Autumn, when coats became the norm; and there was the summer layer; the cloth caps to shield one from the sun, the sandals. A pair of swimming goggles.
And then I saw the Power Rangers costume. Red, heroic, made to fit a very small person.
“Felix,” I said to my son (whose job it had been to clean Under The Stairs, but who had last been seen fifteen minutes before under a large pile of mackintoshes) do you still want this Power Ranger’s Costume?” It used, I recalled, to be a great favourite.
“Ummm…I don’t wear it any more,” he volunteered.
“Right then. We’ll throw that away.”
“NO!” my son exclaimed, distraught. “We can’t do that!”
“”Well, what can we do with it, then? We always say we’re going to pass these things on to Al but we often forget and they stay there, gathering dust.”
“I’ll give it to Al.” He said. And he picked it up most assertively, and disappeared. His experience of The Dig under the stairs had not been a positive one. I let him potter off.
The next day, presents opened, it was time to go down to Al’s where we were about to eat Christmas Dinner. Felix and Maddie appeared with three packages. Tiny ones for the princesses, my nieces; and a large carefully wrapped bundle for Al.
On arrival and exchange of gifts, the children’s first question was predictable: and it is always better to ask an auntie than a Mummy. “Auntie Kate, can we open the presents now, please?”
“Ask Mummy, ” I said.
She said yes. But the children did not fall on my posh presents. No: they headed straight for the ones wrapped by Maddie and Felix.
Al devoured the wrapping and stood, holding up the slightly grubby Power Rangers suit as if it were Joseph’s coat itself. His eyes gleamed with little boy awe. I cannot remember him putting it on: I think in retrospect he must have materialised himself into it. The next moment he was a superhero, of incredible stature and peerless powers. Though he was slipping a bit on the wooden floor.
“He’ll slip over if we don’t do something,” his grandmother worried on the side.
I sat Al down. “Hold on, Al. I’ll tie up the bottoms,” I said.
He sat while I found a couple of pieces of elastic and tied them up. And the Power Ranger informed everyone that he was not Al.
Obediently, we spent the minutes before dinner feeling the Power Ranger’s muscles, informing him how very strong he was, and watching sundry Power Ranger stunts.
And then, Al turned to his present from us: two pairs of pyjamas; one of which was a Spiderman costume.
“Auntie Kate, can you help me get the Power Ranger off, I want to be Spiderman now!” he said.
We hurried him out of the suit. There seemed to be an indefinable urgency about the change. And lo, there was Spiderman, all ready to eat his Christmas turkey.
We have a kids table and a grown ups table, but Spiderman flitted between the two, making cameo appearances to furnish us with on-the-spot reports of his dinner. He was a trifle excited. And when the jelly appeared, Spiderman’s joy knew no bounds.
Christmas is so much more fun incognito.
Kate Shrewsday 
What a lovely day. We had Lunch with Minnie Mouse. I’ll be posting a glimpse later. Children are such fun and give a depth of woder to the occasion that we have all lost. Do you think I could get away with being incognito for Christmas next year?
I think incognito is the new cognito, Myfanwy 😀 They’ll all be doing it next Christms: Kate Moss, Eddie Izzard, Stephen Fry…
Here’s our Minnie! http://chittlechattle.com/2012/12/27/what-has-happened-to-innocence/
Loved this! So glad that Spiderman did not get short shrift. 😀
This might be a FUN experiment to do with the kids over break, Kate:
http://52brandnew.com/2012/12/26/new-experience-51-ivory-soap-experiment/
Actually, the whole site would likely appeal to adventurous you.
Thanks Nancy: I have put the site straight onto my élite Mac riffle list 🙂 I am encouraged to hear there are another 56 new things coming up this year!
We are trying the soap tomorrow….
I think every family has to have an “under the stairs” place, no matter where it actually is or what shape it takes. Ours is the FROG, yes, I know that is a strange term and I had no idea what it was until moving to the lovely Charleston, SC area. I had to ask our Realtor what it was as I was trying to figure our what type of fireplace it might be. Turns out it stands for “Finished Room Over Garage”, a great way to utilize space and a wonderful area to make it into whatever you want. A den, an office, another bedroom, a home gym, a filing space, printer room, etc. In fact, ours has turned out to be all of those plus a place for all jackets to find refuge and costumes to hang out.
All you really need to do with Big Al is to turn him loose “under the stairs” and find a way to video the action. That would be worth a story.
He lived there for a while, Lou. Macaulay was most put out because it was his house before that. Needless to say, he moved out hastily when Al took it over.
FROG: I must look out for those….
We have a room like this over our garage. It’s called a Bonus room. I think I like FROG better.
Time well spent on digging the area under stairs… Al got to be a super hero 😀
He did. Two, in fact 🙂 He had a lovely Christmas day. In fact, he is living on Planet Christmas right now.
And absolutely delicious with children like Big Al – oops, I mean Power Rangers, no Spiderman around 🙂
It does make Christmas rather lovely. Though your city explore sounds like my idea of Heaven, Wanderlust.
Ah – got it, Kate 🙂 Mine too, of course, but my memories are of kids and chaos so yours has become the image of an almost mythological past. 🙂
Wonderful to have children around during the holiday … other times as well, of course.
Lovely!
Glad you had a good day, Kate.
Thank you, Jamie. Hope you are having a lovely festive season!
We had Harry Potter at Christmas breakfast, complete with Gryffindor robes and a wand. I had my fork Expelliarmused from my hand more times than I can count.
Glad to hear Al had a lovely Christmas, too, and that Felix’s beloved costume has a new life!
Recycling at its best, Cameron! Good to hear Harry was there at breakfast. I’m sure it made for a varied Christmas experience 😀
LOVED the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Thank you! While my genre isn’t quite the same thing, I took my inspiration for a holiday series from your example.
It livens up a very quiet time!
Each story makes him more loveable 🙂
It’s the same in real life, Tandy..
*with great self-importance* I also dressed up for Christmas Day. Well, that is to say that I wore a Santa Claus hat while dishing out the presents. I shall do it again on Sunday after the return of the mob from the Wild (north)West.
Well, now I’m impressed, Col. Clearly you are already appraised of the charms of Christmas Incognito….
As proved by the one in my Christmas Day story! 🙂
Oh, Kate, I’m filled with blissful glee! I think one can be filled with that can’t they? Having, myself, enjoyed Christmas dinner with a dragon, I can appreciate yours with not only a Power ranger, but Spider Man as well.
The more I think about this, I just might meet next Christmas incognito myself.
Your little Christmas dragon was such a lovely visitor, Penny! I think you should start searching for a costume ready for next Christmas…
Christmas is always so much fun with little ones about…..I love hearing about the antics of Al……reminds me of the days when my son was little…..good times….
They are very precious times, Annie, and gone so very quickly. I suppose blogging about it will save the experience so i can read about it in latter years…
Forgot to mention….Al’s antics always bring a smile to my face…..thanks for sharing…
Thank you 😀 Lovely words to make my day, Annie.
“Christmas is so much more fun incognito.” – that is quite a wonderful idea, for the grown-ups too
It is. Which costume should be hired for next year, I wonder, BB?
The image of Al running around as a Power Ranger is another Christmas gift, Kate. Thank you.
You are welcome, Andra: though I shall pass on your compliments to he who kept us all entertained!
What a very fun story to share, Kate. I may have previously mentioned this but Sophia, 5, really looks up to her almost 9-year old cousin. She adores her! I think anything Al must really love the costume for its “super powers,” surely, but also because it came by way of Felix. What special relationships and what a wonderful family day!
I think you are right, Debra. Hero worship has a lot to do with it. Hope you all continue to enjoy this special time.
I can’t imagine Christmas without children. They are the real Christmas lights.
They are fabulous, aren’t they, PT?
Your description of ‘under the stairs’ being like digging thru an archaeological dig cracked me up, Kate. It sounds so much like our storage area.
I also loved your description of the children and Christmas. Our two grandkids do enliven the day, as do your children from the sounds of it.