When I was 5, my parents told me to look out our window that looked out into our backyard to see what Santa brought me-a giant Sesame Street swing set! I was a firm believer after that.
When I was 7, I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I woke up to find that Santa had been there. I then proceeded to open my presents without even waking my parents! I remember the toy that I wanted with all my heart: a Cabbage Patch Horse. I knew this was wrong because afterward, I wrote my parents a letter apologizing for opening my presents. We laugh about it now, but I remember my parents being very bewildered and saddened at what I had done. Now I can imagine how they felt because I can't wait to see Andrew opening his presents this year.
When I was 11 or 12, my parents came home after Christmas shopping. I was whining to them about something, and my mom just kept saying, "Go get that bag on the table." She probably asked me three times before saying, "GO GET THAT BAG ON THE TABLE!!" Well, I got the bag, and there was a puppy inside.
Speaking of pets, it seemed like that's always what I wanted every year for Christmas-we had many hamsters, guinea pigs, and rabbits through the years.
When I was 13 or 14, we opened our Christmas presents like usual. I received a lot of nice things, but I didn't get the "one thing" that I had asked for (I can't even remember what it was now). My parents asked me if I was happy with what I had been given , and I said yes, of course. Some time later, my parents told us Santa had left some more presents in one of the bedrooms-there was another load of wrapped presents in there.
We had so many little traditions that I long to carry on with my own little family:
We went to the same Christmas tree lot every year to pick out the perfect Christmas tree. We went out to dinner afterward and then sang Christmas songs on the way home. Dad would put up the lights on the tree (meticulously) and then my sister, Mom, and I would put up the ornaments while listening to Christmas music and sipping hot chocolate. The tackier the tree, the better. I loved seeing my homemade ornaments year after year. We always had colored lights that blinked in splotches-it was such a comfort to me for some reason. We had a red bell that played Christmas tunes that I loved. We also had a very old angel that sat on top of the tree that finally bit the dust when I was in high school-we tried to replace it, but it was never the same.
Every Christmas Eve, we got to open one present to take the edge off of our excitement. That present was always pajamas. My sister always hoped it would be something else. On Christmas morning, we would open our presents in our cute pajamas-perfect for pictures. Even my mom and dad got pajamas and it was fun going with them to pick them out for each other.
Every Christmas Eve we would put our jammies on and then hop in the car to go look at Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music. Then off to bed!
We woke up way before the sun came up. My sister and I woke up around 3 am and would lay next to our presents around the tree until it was a suitable time (like 4 am) to go wake our parents up. Our parents were so good and let us wake up that early-their only stipulation was that we had to go make them a cup of coffee and tea before they'd get up.
We opened our presents one at a time. Santa made our dreams come true every year. I always got clothes (I loved getting clothes), but they were never the style that I wanted! My poor mom tried every year to pick out clothes she thought I'd like, but I'd always want to return at least half of them! The day after Christmas, my mom would take me shopping-she'd wait in the return lines while I scavenged the clothes isles. It turned into a really fun tradition-my mom is the best shopping buddy ever!
We always made M&M cookies and sugar cutout cookies every Christmas Eve. We'd leave a plate of cookies with milk for Santa.
We got my mom & dad the same few stocking stuffer items every year. For my mom, it was Jordan Almonds & bubble bath in the shape of a champagne bottle. For my dad, it was a particular shaving soap and chocolate covered cherries. The chocolate covered cherries (without the cream) were always hard to find. Every time I see them at the store, I check to see if they're the kind that my Dad likes, and they never are. I wonder if they even make them anymore.
On Christmas morning, we got dressed after opening our presents and then headed over to my aunt's house to spend time with her and my cousins.
I remember getting those big huge (poster sized) coloring books-I don't even see those anymore. I loved them!
5 comments:
I saw the big poster board coloring books at Target in the section with all the crayola stuff... just so ya know.. Fun traditions too.
That was fun to see the different traditions that everyone does. I swear every family does the christmas eve jammies. It's a great one.
It was fun reading about your Christmas memories! I can't believe the big day is almost here.
My parents buy chocolate covered cherries, I think at Costco. They're dried cherries covered with chocolate that is dyed kind of red. They're good, but probably not what you're looking for!
Those were the best days. Weren't they? Remember every year I would put the newest photo of you and Jamie with Santa in that old cheap gold frame in front of the one from the year before? I used to love to look at how you had changed in the pictures from year to year.
Make me cry why don't you. You described our Christmas's so perfectly. And every time I pass by those cherry things I always always look to see if those are the ones dad likes! And this year I did mom's stocking and sure enough I went on a hunt for jordan almonds(I didn't do the bubbles though). Thank you for recalling our past w/ such Poignancy. I can only hope that we make our Christmas's as magical for our kids as our parents did for us:)
Post a Comment