Christmas Reflections
As Christmas approaches, I reflect on my memories of Christmases past. Many of my childhood Christmases were the same, with traditions both tangible and intangible. There were traditions that I wish to pass to my own family, and ones that will fall into disuse.
We always had a live tree. I remember the smell of pine throughout the house and my brother's and my frustration that we had to let the tree relax for a couple of days before we could decorate it. My father would put on the lights, and my brother and I would decorate the tree with my mom. There were certain ornaments that my father always put on the tree, carved from wood by his grandfather, and the angel tree topper passed down from previous generations. We also decorated the tree with candy canes. My brother hates mint flavored anything, which made finding toothpaste difficult, so my mom would get different flavors. We rarely had mint candy canes, but we would get raspberry, green apple, cherry, raspberry chocolate, cinnamon, and others. At the time, it was hard to find flavors other than mint, but now they have Jolly Ranchers, Starburst, Jelly Belly, and many other candy flavors. My brother likes the Jolly Ranchers flavors best, and my mom still puts them on the tree even though we're all out of the house.
There were traditional foods we had, my mom's cheese bread, rice crispy treats shaped into snowmen, fudge, various cookies, and my mom's special Christmas wreaths. When she made the wreaths, he would make rice crispy treats but with corn flakes instead of rice crispy cereal. She would dye them green while they were still melting together, and form them into circles on Christmas-themed paper plates. The corn flakes made them look like leaves and she would put little red hots candies on them in clusters to make the whole thing look like a holly wreath, then make a red icing bow to be the bottom. She would fill them with fudge and candy and give them to the neighbors as gifts. We always kept one, but it would be gone by the next day. The corn flakes gave the treat a unique flavor, and I loved them. She still makes them and gives them to the neighbors.
We always got to open one present on Christmas Eve, right before bed. We usually always got a pair of pajamas or blanket each year, but my parents would never point us to those presents. We always had to guess. I tried to pick one of those out because a cool new toy was horrible to open when I couldn't play with it until the next day. One year we each got an electric blanket, and happened to both open them on Christmas Eve. I was so warm that night while I was sleeping. It was heavenly.
When we got up Christmas morning, we were allowed to go through our Christmas stockings, but no presents. We always had a calendar next to the stocking, and inside always contained a small gift, tons of candy, and a nectarine in the toe. Every year each of us got a new ornament for the tree, and we hunted for all the new ornaments to show mom and dad when they got up, because they were always from Santa. We would check to see if Santa ate the cookies we left, cookies that we usually helped Mom bake. But the most important task was to count all our presents and decide which one to open first, and wait, ever so impatiently, for mom and dad to get up.
Present opening was always fun, and included eating lots of candy. The year's unhealthiest breakfast was usually toast dipped in hot chocolate, which was surprisingly filling especially considering how much candy we had already eaten.
Much of the day was taken up with new toys, each playing with our own, and then playing together with each other's. Mom would spend much of the day making Christmas dinner, which always consisted of a roast beef, asparagus, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, and rolls. She rarely changed the menu, but would sometimes change the spices and flavorings. Dinner was lovely, with our fine china and silk damask tablecloth, and as we got older we got to use the wine glasses and water goblets, but with sparkling grape juice.
Christmas night was always a very relaxed evening, with all the excitement leading us to be quite tired for a deep and relaxed sleep.
My parents are now divorced and both remarried. Christmas is different in their respective houses. My mom kept many of the traditions, and my father kept none, preferring to abandon everything that had to do with his life with my mom.
The only traditions that changed with Christmas at my mom's house were my dad's ornaments and angel, breakfast of toast and hot chocolate (which I think she always hated), and the menu for dinner, the sole change being a ham or turkey for the roast beef.
After the divorce we spent either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day with each parent, and it alternated each year. Christmases with our father were always strained and uncomfortable, especially after his future wife moved in with him. Christmases with our mom became more joyful and happy, with the atmosphere relaxed and comfortable, especially after she married our stepfather.
Once my brother had graduated from high school and moved away, I spent as little time with my father as possible, often only a few hours at a time. I could only handle about three hours, but would sometimes spend five or six because it was Christmas.
I am now two thousand miles from home, and my husband and I spend Christmas with my mom's sister and her family. They have different traditions, and some of them I will adopt when I have Christmas with my own family one day.
I hope to go home for Christmas within the next couple of years and introduce my husband to my mother's traditions. I love Christmas, and I love spending it the way my mother does.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Christmas, or one of the many other holidays during the Winter season.
Photo credit: "A Sack of Christmas Gifts" by Mister GC
We always had a live tree. I remember the smell of pine throughout the house and my brother's and my frustration that we had to let the tree relax for a couple of days before we could decorate it. My father would put on the lights, and my brother and I would decorate the tree with my mom. There were certain ornaments that my father always put on the tree, carved from wood by his grandfather, and the angel tree topper passed down from previous generations. We also decorated the tree with candy canes. My brother hates mint flavored anything, which made finding toothpaste difficult, so my mom would get different flavors. We rarely had mint candy canes, but we would get raspberry, green apple, cherry, raspberry chocolate, cinnamon, and others. At the time, it was hard to find flavors other than mint, but now they have Jolly Ranchers, Starburst, Jelly Belly, and many other candy flavors. My brother likes the Jolly Ranchers flavors best, and my mom still puts them on the tree even though we're all out of the house.
There were traditional foods we had, my mom's cheese bread, rice crispy treats shaped into snowmen, fudge, various cookies, and my mom's special Christmas wreaths. When she made the wreaths, he would make rice crispy treats but with corn flakes instead of rice crispy cereal. She would dye them green while they were still melting together, and form them into circles on Christmas-themed paper plates. The corn flakes made them look like leaves and she would put little red hots candies on them in clusters to make the whole thing look like a holly wreath, then make a red icing bow to be the bottom. She would fill them with fudge and candy and give them to the neighbors as gifts. We always kept one, but it would be gone by the next day. The corn flakes gave the treat a unique flavor, and I loved them. She still makes them and gives them to the neighbors.
We always got to open one present on Christmas Eve, right before bed. We usually always got a pair of pajamas or blanket each year, but my parents would never point us to those presents. We always had to guess. I tried to pick one of those out because a cool new toy was horrible to open when I couldn't play with it until the next day. One year we each got an electric blanket, and happened to both open them on Christmas Eve. I was so warm that night while I was sleeping. It was heavenly.
When we got up Christmas morning, we were allowed to go through our Christmas stockings, but no presents. We always had a calendar next to the stocking, and inside always contained a small gift, tons of candy, and a nectarine in the toe. Every year each of us got a new ornament for the tree, and we hunted for all the new ornaments to show mom and dad when they got up, because they were always from Santa. We would check to see if Santa ate the cookies we left, cookies that we usually helped Mom bake. But the most important task was to count all our presents and decide which one to open first, and wait, ever so impatiently, for mom and dad to get up.
Present opening was always fun, and included eating lots of candy. The year's unhealthiest breakfast was usually toast dipped in hot chocolate, which was surprisingly filling especially considering how much candy we had already eaten.
Much of the day was taken up with new toys, each playing with our own, and then playing together with each other's. Mom would spend much of the day making Christmas dinner, which always consisted of a roast beef, asparagus, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, and rolls. She rarely changed the menu, but would sometimes change the spices and flavorings. Dinner was lovely, with our fine china and silk damask tablecloth, and as we got older we got to use the wine glasses and water goblets, but with sparkling grape juice.
Christmas night was always a very relaxed evening, with all the excitement leading us to be quite tired for a deep and relaxed sleep.
My parents are now divorced and both remarried. Christmas is different in their respective houses. My mom kept many of the traditions, and my father kept none, preferring to abandon everything that had to do with his life with my mom.
The only traditions that changed with Christmas at my mom's house were my dad's ornaments and angel, breakfast of toast and hot chocolate (which I think she always hated), and the menu for dinner, the sole change being a ham or turkey for the roast beef.
After the divorce we spent either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day with each parent, and it alternated each year. Christmases with our father were always strained and uncomfortable, especially after his future wife moved in with him. Christmases with our mom became more joyful and happy, with the atmosphere relaxed and comfortable, especially after she married our stepfather.
Once my brother had graduated from high school and moved away, I spent as little time with my father as possible, often only a few hours at a time. I could only handle about three hours, but would sometimes spend five or six because it was Christmas.
I am now two thousand miles from home, and my husband and I spend Christmas with my mom's sister and her family. They have different traditions, and some of them I will adopt when I have Christmas with my own family one day.
I hope to go home for Christmas within the next couple of years and introduce my husband to my mother's traditions. I love Christmas, and I love spending it the way my mother does.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Christmas, or one of the many other holidays during the Winter season.
Photo credit: "A Sack of Christmas Gifts" by Mister GC
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