ON THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS — THE JOY BEFORE THE JOY

Before Christmas ever showed face with jollof, fireworks, new clothes and mama’s special rice, there was a softer sweeter happiness that started long before December 25. A kind of bubbling excitement that only children from those days truly understand. Because the real Christmas spirit did not begin on Christmas morning, it began the exact moment exams finished and teachers finally said those golden words, “You can go home.” Instant freedom. Stress cleared. Head reset. No more morning parade. No more mental arithmetic. No more homework threatening your peace. Just sunshine, laughter and the sweet long countdown to Christmas.

And then came the toys, the true kings of December joy. Not the expensive gadgets of today but the classics that carried power without battery. The stiff-legged baby doll with one eye permanently winking. The toy telephone that rang tana na, like it had breaking news. The plastic camera that showed lions, giraffes, elephants inside like National Geographic for children. The water gun that turned every compound into a battlefield. The puzzle bricks that made shapes only you and God understood. These toys had no charger yet they charged our childhood with full happiness.

Cousins would start calling from their parents’ Nokia phones with that legendary announcement, “We are coming next week.” That was when ginger entered everybody’s body. Rooms were cleaned with extra pride. Hidden biscuits were secured. Games were planned. Mischief strategies were drafted. Even parents had their own quiet excitement, checking rice bags, pricing chickens, calling tailors, ironing clothes, planning who to visit and who to avoid. The whole house became lively warm playful like a pot on slow fire gently coming alive.

And the air… ah, that unforgettable December air. It carried laughter in the afternoons hope in the evenings and a strange sweetness at night that made sleep deeper. You could almost smell the adventure, the love, the family chaos waiting ahead. Every day felt like a drumbeat drawing you closer to magic. Waking up each morning felt like peeling another layer off a gift.

Those were the days when Christmas was more than a date. It was a journey. A feeling. A house filled with cousins, noise, toys and small small joy in every corner.

On this fourth day of Christmas OECS remembers that magic with a smile because the sweetness was never just in the celebration itself but everything that led to it, the toys, the cousins, the planning, the warm chaos, the laughter, the innocence, the excitement that lived in our bones.

And even now as adults when we think back, we can still feel it. Pure joy. Gentle joy. The kind that makes your heart hum softly, “Those were the days.”

This is our four calling birds, three french hens, two turtle doves and a Patridge in a pear tree.

Enjoy your Thursday!!!!