CUSHING, Iowa | April Putzier keeps lists, daily. Come December, she organizes presents by wrapping similar gifts in the same paper, then moving to another roll of paper for another set of presents.
Christmas works that way when you're the mother of five children, including 11-year-old quadruplets.
"I have to be organized," Putzier says on a busy Monday night at home with husband, Chris, and their growing family. "If I weren't organized, I'd be in trouble."
We last visited April Putzier well before dawn seven years ago, as the Putzier quadruplets headed off to kindergarten at River Valley Elementary School in nearby Correctionville, Iowa.
"I remember that morning," April says with an energetic laugh. "I poured coffee into my cereal that day!"
Christmas morning for the Putziers begins with cereal. The quadruplets Aubrey, Corbin, Carter and Ashlyn, join older brother, Cameron, 16, in examining what's been left under the Christmas tree in the living room. Clad in new pajamas (the only present they're allowed to open on Christmas Eve), the children report to the kitchen table for a breakfast feast featuring big bowls of cereal.
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"And then we head to the living room where we slowly go through opening Christmas gifts," April says.
"It goes soooo slow!" groans Corbin, admitting he might be the most impatient of the bunch.
There's a method to this Yuletide madness, April says. Opening gifts one-by-one allows each family member to bask in the limelight a bit, if only for a few minutes. It also helps each child learn a little something about accepting gifts with enthusiasm and courtesy.
"We don't have lots and lots of gifts," April admits. "I really want them to take their time and enjoy it."
While Chris and April Putzier had access to all sorts of materials concerning the upbringing of their quadruplets, who were born on Jan. 28, 2004, none of it related to handling holidays, especially one so vitally important to children.
Where does Christmas rate for these River Valley sixth-graders?
Aubrey and Ashlyn say Christmas, as a holiday, runs second, trailing only their birthday.
The girls show how high Christmas rates with lists that rival Mom's. Ashlyn writes a list and numbers each item. She then highlights each item as well, and provides a key at the top of the page for her mother, who will spend time shopping in the weeks leading up to Dec. 25.
Items highlighted in pink go under the "Maybe" category, as in "maybe" Mom can get this. Gift ideas listed under a yellow highlight fall under the "What I Really Want" category.
Items highlighted in blue are not make-or-break gifts. "I guess the ones in blue it doesn't really matter if she gets them or not," April says.
There's even a category in orange called, "Just Kidding."
Carter opts for a different approach. He writes his list and has a column for "What I Sorta Want."
"Ever since they've been able to make their own lists, I've had them do it," April says.
Each year, she and Chris set aside extra dollars for a bigger gift item for the four quadruplets. Last year, when all four wrote "Red Rider BB Gun" on their list, Mom and Dad saved the $120 it took to purchase a set of four.
All four guns were wrapped in the same paper and placed in the same spot under the living room tree. April asked that the quads open those gifts at the same time. She does the same thing when she wraps essentials, like socks or T-shirts and places them under the tree.
Each child, she surmises, ends the day with a half-dozen Christmas gifts from Mom and Dad.
There's also one special "Family Gift Item" that whole tribe enjoys. Again, this set of presents has its own wrapping paper to differentiate it, and keep April on the right track. Last year, the "Family Gift" followed a S'mores theme. One package had Graham crackers; one had Hershey chocolate bars and one had marshmallows. There were a couple of new movies to complete the gift.
"The kids also purchase presents for each other," April says, detailing how those purchases are made from a "Santa's Workshop" effort undertaken each December by the River Valley Wolverine Booster Club. According to April, members of the club solicit donations for small Christmas gift items, which are then collected and displayed at the school, allowing for children to pay small amounts for each gift.
"That's where we get our gifts for each other," Carter says.
The quadruplets share more memories about Christmases past while Mom and Dad briefly examine photographs that date back to 2004, the first Christmas big brother, Cameron, enjoyed with his siblings.
And soon the talk returns to their 2014 lists, trying to keep the family current on the wants and needs of soon-to-be teens.
"I want thin-tipped Sharpies, but it's OK if you don't get them," Aubrey says to her folks.
"We all want hunting licenses, except I'm a terrible shooter," Corbin says, stifling his laughter.
A hunting they will go, at some point. The lists remain on the table, additions and subtractions duly noted. Mom and Dad give them a glance and tuck them away, retrieving them soon as the hunt to wrap up another joy-filled Christmas commences.
