I was not always a Realtor (imagine!). How ironic that even as a kid, I knew the staircase to be central to our home. Not just any staircase! It was made up of three flights of stairs that went from the third floor to the main floor (it had to handle a house for 12 kids). It was large and the backdrop to many wonderful memories. It was also perfect for Slinkys! And I remember that if you stood at the WAY top, you could drop a rubber ball and compete as to whose bounced the most and made it the furthest.
But at Christmas, the staircase was something else. It was the magical pathway to Santa! You see, on Christmas Day, we were not allowed to be the first one to go downstairs in the morning. Instead, we had to wait for everyone else before we could open our stockings! As second to the youngest and filled with excitement, you can imagine this was not easy to do! Slowly we would gather at the top of the stairs, in our jammies, sleepy-eyed, talking and laughing (of course loud enough to wake anyone who had the nerve to sleep in ????). Then, when the moment was finally right, and everyone had congregated, mom and dad would greet us from the base of the stairs and share the good news: Santa had come and the stockings were filled and ready for us to open! Yay! The descending stampede down the stairs began! I still get a rush of excitement thinking about it!
I learned much later in life that while we were waiting for what seemed like an eternity, mom and dad were calmly enjoying coffee together. For you parents, this is not a bad idea if you can get away with it!
Enjoy your holiday season!
by Kristin Beise RE/MAX Advantage Plus
December 2025
