Christmas memories.
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| Our Christmas socks hung on our steps since we didn't have a fireplace. |
The excitement of the Christmas season began after Thanksgiving when the stores started to decorate and the Sears Wish Book came in the mail. I would study the catalog thinking about what I would ask Santa for. Santa was very busy so he didn't always make it to my town, but I would write him letters. When I did get to talk to him, I really did believe that his reindeer were parked behind the store although I never saw them.
Each year, I watched the evening news on Christmas Eve because they would report a strange object on their
radar that looked like a sled being pulled by flying reindeer. I did this every year even long after I knew the truth about Santa because that blip on the radar still held its enchantment.
After watching the news and knowing that Santa was on his way, my sisters and I would start preparing for bed. We would take the toaster and bread and butter with us upstairs so we could have breakfast in the morning without going down to the kitchen. We were not allowed downstairs, where the tree was, until my aunt and uncle arrived. As soon as we caught the first glance of their car, we would rush downstairs to see what Santa had brought. He always left one unwrapped present for each of us.
There is so much more to tell you about my childhood traditions and the wonderment of Christmas, but I don't have time for that now. But I will say that even though Christmas celebrations have changed over the years and my excitement has mellowed, I can still remember how I felt when I was six years old. And for that, I am thankful.
How fun to re-live your childhood memories! I love it that you thought the reindeer were parked out back. I learned the truth about Santa early (that's a story for another day) but I always enjoyed the Christmas season--the lights, the cookies, being in the Christmas play at church (and then getting my box of 4 Whitman sampler candies), Christmas eve with candles .... I hope my children have fond memories of their childhood celebrations someday.
ReplyDeleteNo one person let the secret out to me about Santa, but I remember in third grade the kids at school teasing a boy becasue he still believed in Santa. I was pretty sure at that point that I knew what was going on, but I kept pretending for several years after that because I loved the magic of Santa so much. And I had a younger sister, who was four years younger than me, so my parents continued to do all of the Santa things for several years. I'm sorry that you found out early, but that's the way secrets work sometimes.
DeleteI hope my kids have good memories of their childhood Christmases, also. I'll have to ask them.
I was five years old and I had lost a tooth. I looked for money under my pillow the next morning and came up dry. I went into the kitchen and complained to my mom and big brother that the Tooth Fairy had forgotten me. They tried to distract me and then told me I must not have looked well enough. I knew THAT was wrong--indeed there was money under my pillow the second time I looked but I put two and two together and told them, "You put the money under the pillow! You're the tooth fairy! You are Santa and the Easter Bunny too, right???". So goes our childhood.
DeleteMy husband and I still laugh--my daughter believed when she was little that the Tooth Fairy wore a blue dress. Since hubby usually filled that role, it cracked us up--he would go around prancing (once the kids were in bed) saying, "I'm the tooth fairy! I have a blue dress!".
The problem was that you were too smart for your age to figure everything out so early. And the image of your husband dancing in his "blue dress" is pretty funny.
DeleteWhat I remember is the stockings, that my grandma had made, each with our name embroidered on them, that were hung, and we got to open what might be inside them, on Christmas Eve. It was terrible waiting.
ReplyDeleteWaiting was definitely hard. My grandmother didn't make our stockings, but she did embroider our name on them, also. Santa filled our stockings so there was nothing in them until Christmas morning.
DeleteWhat wonderful memories of your childhood Christmases! I remember having a pillowcase tied to the end of my bed when I was a child, for Father Christmas to fill! I remember going across the street to my neighbor's house with my father, one year, to ask if we could cut a branch of one of her pine trees for a Christmas tree (I presume my father reimbursed her for it); I'm not sure if we bought a tree in other years. I remember going with my mother to her mother's house with gifts. I stopped having a Christmas tree when I was 11 and I didn't have another tree until I was well into my 20s. But I continued the tradition of Santa Claus for my daughter, because I didn't want her to feel left out. She continued to profess a belief in him for the longest time to continue getting gifts from him! LOL!
ReplyDeleteIt's always so interesting to hear of other's customs. I like the idea of a pillowcase at the bottom of the bed.
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