That`s us, Mom, Dad and the kids! Funny aren`t we? Christrmas time has always been a source of togetherness. Our big night is Christmas Eve. I started that tradition so the kids could have a peaceful night. We`d wake them up after Santa had arrived, then we played, had our cookies and milk or hot chocolate, then off to bed. I continued this to their adulthood, so that they could have Christmas Day with their own families.
They would come downstairs and see five piles of gifts, one for each child.
Then the commotion would start, yes, just like in your home`s. Tearing open of packages, the oh`s and ah`s, the smiling faces.
I wonder how many of you sat thru all the Christmas shows on TV? I would make hot cocoa, and some cookies. We`d all gather around the television, always one sitting in my lap, and watch
The Grinch That Stole Christmas,
and all the other cute animated stories, and of course, their all time favorite,
Charlie Brown Christmas.
I remember one year, Jim was only 5, we got him his own work bench. He stood in front of it in absolute awe, he even had tears in his eyes. Unbeknownst to us, his plan was to cut as many legs off the chairs as he could...needless to say, the saw magically disappeared. The year he got his Daisy pump BB gun was the making of the "Great White Hunter" in years to come, LOL!
The year they came downstairs and saw four bicycles lined up in the living room, was one they agreed, was a favorite Christmas memory.
As they got older, I had decided it wasn`t necessary to have so many decorations, and such a big tree....I guess I instilled too many traditions in them, as they didn`t want me to change a thing! So, I created another tradition, we call it
decorating night
. I really look forward to it, too. The kids come over, we bring down all the decorations. I have a casual dinner cooked, we eat, I clean up, they decorate!! Everyone is happy, and for me, it is the onset of the Christmas holidays.
Yes, dolls, bikes, trains, toy guns, thought it would last forever.....the main thing is that we taught them that even
he
knelt before
Him.
It`s been a lot of years since 1940, when that little girl waited for her "doll". I`ve seen my children wait for something special and now I watch the grandchildren with great anticipation.
I wonder if they wait to hear "the sound" of snow, like that little girl did so many years ago. Do they look heavenward as I once did?
Christmas Eve now is a big family sit down dinner....my house all aglow with candles, and yes, I too put those candles in the window just as my mother did. I guess some things never change.
After dinner, we all sit around the fireplace, and exchange gifts. Yes, still lots of commotion, and happy faces. The oh`s and ah`s haven`t changed. We all look out the window to look at the beautiful huge pine tree that Jim has lit up every year. I love it, so does my mother.
The evening is almost over, the kids all heading back to their own homes. If Amy stay`s over, she has tip toed upstairs with the kids for the night. I sit quietly looking around, enjoying the peaceful surroundings, my tree, the flickering of the last embers in the fireplace, and the candles, now burning down quite low.
It is then that I think back to my Christmas memories
"then", "now"
....."and to all a good night"....9-11-2000
NINA'S PLACE
TONY'S PLACE
MY FAMILY
POPPA
ANECDOTES
MY SHOES
COUSINS
MY MOTHER & FATHER
CHRISTMAS
XMAS2
Xmas3
THANKS & AWARDS
FSO BIRTHDAY'S
FSO
MARY'S RECIPES
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