Best Christmas Memories As A Child

In My Humble Opinion
41

I have so many good memories, it’s hard to recount them all. There were five kids (well, eventually-I’m the eldest and only girl; there are two brothers who are 3 and 4 years younger than I, then the last two are 9 and 10 years younger), so often our parents didn’t really have much extra for Christmas presents.

One of my aunt’s made each of us a Christmas stocking with our name embroidered on it. They were fairly good size stockings and even when money was short, our parents never failed to fill the stockings with all kinds of goodies! We almost always got a tangerine and nuts, along with small toys like jacks, bubble liquid, etc., but one year money was really tight, I guess, and we each got a wash cloth with our names embroidered on them. It’s a shame that you can’t really do Christmas stockings any more, because they’re meant for the inexpensive trinkets that are just too hard to find now.

We always loved visting my maternal grandparents for Christmas; my uncles had a train set that they would put up on the back porch every year. One year, they came to visit us in Michigan from the east coast. I had many stuffed toys and dolls, but this year my grandmother brought me one of those sparkle paint sets and boy did I love that! After I got a Barbie (one of the very first ones, too!), I would get accesories and clothing for the doll.

With my dad a minister and my mom a church organist, our Christmas was always built around the church schedules, and it was always an extremely busy and stressful time of year for them. I don’t know how they did it, but they always managed to make our holiday a beautiful time for all the kids. We always went to the late Christmas Eve service, and then when we got home, we’d each open one gift, saving the rest for Christmas morning (more services then). And my mom always found the time to make great food and bake Christmas cookies. We’re all scattered now; our mom passed away in 2003 and dad is retired though working part-time still as a minister (they had been divorced over 25 years). I’ll see my dad in a couple of weeks, as well as three of my brothers, so I guess we’ll reminisce about the good times we spent together as a family. I really do miss my mom more during the holidays.

42

I’m not from the 50’s but you reminded me about Ogilvy’s Christmas window display here in Montreal. A little snowy village filled with animatronic woodland creatures dressed in scarves and mittens, doing wintry things. I like walking down Sainte-Catherine street in December, once the snow has started falling, and I always stop at that window to watch the little creatures do their thing.

43

I’d say around the age of 8 it was the most special for me. I still sort of believed in Santa, but was old enough to know all the cool toys and really appreciate the fun of anticipation. We’d usually spend Christmas Eve at my grandmother’s, and in this town they used to put up a large Santa’s sleigh with the reindeer “flying” over the biggest intersection in town. They still do. One time my brother and I were out walking with some older cousins and one of them pointed to an airplane overhead in the night sky and said, “There he is! It’s Santa Claus.” And being almost young enough to believe, that was a fun moment for me.

44

They have some of those ornaments here: http://item.express.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ExpressItem&item=120055339699&FROM_MERCHANDISING=1&tr=merch:cvi
and here: http://cgi.ebay.com/Christmas-Ornament-Jewelbrite-Shiny-Brite-Heat-Spinner_W0QQitemZ300051548097QQihZ020QQcategoryZ33844QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I have spinners and bubble lights on my tree. So retro :-p

45

That’s it! (The first link) Ours weren’t covered in glitter, but that is darn close to what I remember. I’m buying one right now! Thank you.

46

Oooh, wait, the second link had one even closer to what I remember.