A Christmas story to keep you warm.

In a teacher's family, there was often too much month at the end of the money.

Dad and Mom spent everything they brought home to keep the family afloat.
Occasionally grandparents or other relatives would send a gift check to them. It almost always needed to be spent on regular household expenses. Groceries, the electric bill, a new coat for one of us. They never complained about it. They were just grateful for the bit of extra cash.

One December, all the stars aligned and they were able to spend the check that was sent to them on something that wasn't a necessity.

They decided on an electric blanket with dual controls.
Back in the 70s, you couldn't go to Amazon, and trying to buy something special in   their little town was not easy. They pulled out the Montgomery Ward catalog and picked their blanket. It took two weeks, but it finally came. They couldn't WAIT to try it out.

The next morning, both of them hated that blanket.
"It's a piece of crap," Dad pronounced. "I was hotter than hell all night."
"It's terrible," Mom agreed. "I  was cold all night long."

They decided to try it again, but planned to return it if they didn't like it.

The next night was the same.
Both of them were grumpy and out of sorts in the morning.

Mom said that every time she felt cold, she turned it up and it just wouldn't get warm .
Dad said that he was constantly turning his side down. "I was sweating all night!"

When they went in to take the blanket off
("I hate that damn thing!" Dad said. "I've got no use for it! No use atall.") they learned that they'd reversed the dual controls. So Mom had been turning Dad's side of the blanket up all night and he was turning her side down.

They kept the blanket.