Wrapping Christmas up early

It had to be done. The renovations were set to begin again in earnest and, truly, there was no room for a Christmas tree filled to its pins with decorations. So Simone grabbed the boxes that the decorations get stored in every year, a pile of newspaper (thankfully, she had lots this time due to the timely arrival of Boxing Day flyers) and duly called the kids. They were excited. Actually excited. They were getting to help take down the Christmas decorations. Simone decided to look this blessed gift horse in the mouth and skillfully maneuvered her troops into action. "You! Bring me the nativity scene characters one by one. No. Not you, little B. Little B, you can bring me the Santa Claus." Because the nativity scene is highly breakable and the Santa Claus is made of cloth. The children fetched, removed and deposited various Christmas decorations into Simone's fast moving hands. She in turn wrapped, boxed and put away decorations. "The last to go is the street scene," Simone said, pleased at how fast the entire process had gone. "Um, what about the wreath?" The 13 year old asked hesitantly. Simone turned and looked and the miles of wreath and lights wrapped around the huge circular banister that lined the staircase. Okay. Maybe they weren't done - but they were close. Teamwork rocks!