Happy Humpday!
Yesterday, I kept thinking that today was going to be Thursday. I was thoroughly disappointed when I made the realization that it is only Wednesday. I am ready for a weekend 100% free from homework to spend finishing up my Christmas shopping and mailing gifts galore.
As a child, Christmas was (and is still) a big deal in my family. It was usually just my immediate family, occasionally the grandparents would come. All of our cousins and aunts and uncles lived far away, so we kept Christmas intimate. We had a few traditions at Christmas time that I still love. The past couple of years my older brothers haven't been able to come home for Christmas, so we have let some of those traditions go. I constantly look forward to the Christmases with my own family and the traditions that we will start or keep going.
The season was full of special things. My mom, sister and I would spend an entire day making like 10 different kinds of cookies. My brothers helped when they were younger, but as they got older they only helped by eating the cookies. My dad would make his famous peanut brittle to send as gifts to our family. I can recall the warmth of the house as all the cooking was being done!
Every year, we have this Christmas program at church. Ever since I could stand still, I sang in the choir. My mom directed it all, with help from different ladies in the church. As I got older and my brother moved to college, I was promoted to the pianist. I always wanted to be Mary, but my mom never let me (I guess it would be fair to other kids...but whatever I'm not even mad I guess). We sang all of the Christmas songs and reenacted the story of Christmas. After the program, there was a massive dinner with a lot of people. Once everything was finally over, I can remember going to hang out with my friends and watch movies even though I was dead tired.
The most memorable traditions are Christmas Eve and Christmas day.
Christmas Eve is always filled with pie baking and preparation for Christmas dinner. In the evening, we go to church for a special Christmas Eve service. We sang carols, read the story of Christmas, and some years we lit candles. After the church service, we came home to the finger-food dinner my mom always made for us. We had chips, dip, salsa, pigs in a blanket, cheese and crackers, BBQ Little Smokies, cookies, and peanut brittle. We would eat our fill of goodies, and drink a lot of sparkling cider. Then, our favorite part as kids would arrive. We were always allowed to open the grandparents' gifts on Christmas Eve. This obviously got us all wound up and wild, begging to open just ONE MORE PRESENT PLEASE? Us kids would stay up so late, too excited to sleep. One special tradition my sister and I had was that we would sleep in the same bed. We shared a room most of the time, but even after we got our own rooms we slept together on Christmas Eve. Eventually, we would drift off into a sweet and excited sleep.
A very short, sleep.
Christmas morning, my sister and I would wake up at 4 or 5 am. We would sneak into the living room with our slippers on and blankets wrapped around us. We would excitedly, but quietly, search for our stocking around the tree. My sister and I would pull everything out, telling each other what we got, and then try our best to put our stuff back exactly the way it was so that mom wouldn't know we peaked through our stockings (although I am 100% sure she knew we already looked when we pretended to be surprised in the morning). We would either fall asleep on the couch together or go back to bed.
As soon as the sun came up, we would run back downstairs to look at our stockings again, and impatiently wait for everyone to wake up. Everyone would eventually make their way into the living room, and we would all look through our stockings as the oven preheated for Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Cinnamon rolls are one tradition I absolutely love. One year my mom said she was going to make HOMEMADE cinnamon rolls, and I got upset because that wasn't the tradition.
My dad would make us all get dressed and look decent for pictures, which we all used to hate but now as an adult I understand. Everyone would take what felt like 1 million years to get dressed and eat their cinnamon rolls.
Finally, after what felt like hours of waiting...we would open our gifts.
We couldn't just rip into the gifts that had our name on them. The youngest children went first. So, my sister Veronica got and opened the first gift. Then I would go, then my brother Cody, then Troy, then my mom, and finally my dad. We would go through this cycle maybe once or twice before we all went mad and had to just simply open our gifts.
The rest of the day consisted of parents cleaning up wrapping paper, putting together toys, cooking Christmas dinner, and everyone playing with all of their new presents.
If only the magic of Christmas was as prevalent and strong as it used to be when I was a child. The wonder, the excitement, the joy.
Christmas is still magical. The snow (although it hasn't arrived yet...), the Christmas tree, lights, the fun of buying gifts for people, the thankfulness for a Savior's birth.
It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
Are there any traditions you had as a kid that stick out in your mind? Let me know!
Merry Christmas,
KD.
