As Christmas is coming, there are presents to be bought, cards to be sent, and rooms to be cleaned. Parents are ___1___ with difficult jobs of hiding presents from curious young children. If the gifts are large, this is sometimes a real ___2___. On Christmas Eve, young children find the excitement almost unbearable. They are torn between the wish to go to bed early so that Father Christmas will bring their presents quickly and the wish to ___3___ up late so that they will not ___4___ the fun. The wish for gifts usually proves stronger. But though children go to bed early, they often lie ___5___ for a long time, hoping to get a short ___6___ at Father Christmas.

Last Christmas, my wife and I ___7___ hid a few large presents in the storeroom. I ___8___ the moment when my son, Jimmy, would ___9___ me where that new bike had come from, but ___10___ he did not see it.