Point of fact: no one's memory improves in a span of five years. If neither of the parents remembered baths, panties, etc., five years down the road, any new answers are irrelevant.

Christmas day is busy, even if the woman of the house isn't fixing dinner. There are still last minute chores to do, gifts to wrap, phone calls to make, visits, and so on. One of our family traditions we initiated when the kids were quite small. They were allowed to open one gift on Christmas eve, new pajams, usually something a bit more festive than what would normally be purchased throughout the year. As a result, both kids were given baths after dinner on Christmas eve so they would be clean for their new PJs. Christmas day we generally allowed them to skip baths since this freed both my husband and I for other duties.

However, if someone asked me in 1993 whether or not our kids got baths on Christmas day 1998, I'd have to say, I don't know. I also wouldn't know if they had on fresh underwear.

We all brush our teeth every morning but to state that we actually remember brushing them on such-and-such a date five years ago, the honest answer would be--I don't remember.

Rainsong