There was a tradition for every holiday, every birthday, every weekend. The memories of these traditions are really hitting me now that this is the first year I haven't spent Thanksgiving or Christmas with my parents. I'm anxious to replicate these traditions in my own home so I can feel closer to the holiday, so I can feel that warm, cozy feeling I always felt growing up and being at home with my family.
I've tried to pull several pictures from my old photo albums to remind me of the fun traditions we had at Christmas-time. Unfortunately, most of the photos I have are from when we were very young but I can assure you that these annual events continue to carry on. :) Besides, my sister and I were much cuter when were younger so these pictures will be much more enjoyable for the viewing public. :)
Using a fake tree didn't happen until the later years but I can remember going to various tree farms in the FREEZING cold and picking out our own tree. Dad would bring a handsaw and gloves (you can see them tucked in his back pocket) and cut down the tree after we had picked it out. The fun part was always bringing it in the house, there would surely be cussing involved. :) The picture below is from December 11, 1983.
We always decorated the tree together. We had TONS of ornaments. I still do. I have ornaments dating back to when I was 1 or 2 years old!!! Mom was great about labeling and dating our ornaments. When it was time to decorate the tree Dad would go up in the attic (usually more cussing involved :) ) and bring down the boxes of ornaments. My sister and I each had our own box! There was usually Christmas music, egg nog (with a little something extra for Mom and Dad - and Lisa and I when we got older), and lots of tinsel! The last ornaments to go on the tree were always the blue balls (you can see them at the very top of the tree). We recently collected family ornaments for the dogs we've had that have passed away and we each have a Wizard of Oz ornament (of course I'm the scarecrow). :) The picture below is from December 19, 1984.
Lisa and I loved to watch our favorite Christmas television shows and movies. These were the ones that couldn't be missed and you can still catch them on ABC Family now: The Original Grinch, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph with the Island of Misfit Toys, Peanuts. For movies we loved Christmas Carol, Scrooged, A Christmas Story (which we watched non-stop on Christmas Eve), AND Babes in Toyland (the TV version starring Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves - a real winner of a movie). The picture below is Lisa and I watching our favorite Christmas shows a few days before Christmas. Picture is dated December 20, 1987.
We always baked cookies before Christmas Day. As Lisa and I advanced in age Mom showed us how to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch which is Dad's favorite. However, in the beginning we would make sugar cookies as you can see below. The picture below is from December 24, 1981. Best part of making cookies? Eating the dough!
Mom and Dad did a great job decorating the house and making it very festive for Christmas. There were decorations everywhere - upstairs, downstairs. It still remains my favorite time of year because I love how cozy the house feels with all the decorations up. I never want to take the decorations down because everything feels so plain and boring and cold after. This picture is from Christmas Day 1981. I look dumbfounded at everything that Santa has delivered but I noticed the stockings hanging. We even had stockings for the dogs. I just loved how festive it looked in this picture, and this is only a taste of how the rest of the house looked.
Ahhh, Christmas Eve... the night of wrapping. :) Dad always had to work on Christmas Eve and pretty much every day leading up to Christmas so he never had anytime to wrap his presents. So on Christmas Eve my sister and I would help Dad wrap his presents for Mom. Lisa and I hated it. :) Well, I hated it because I hated wrapping. Lisa was usually a much better sport about it. Of course, as I got older I didn't mind it so much because it gave me time to hang out with Dad. We always did it in the basement and there was usually a Christmas movie on TV. Sometimes Mom would even be down there with us and we'd have to yell at her to make sure she didn't try to turn around and peek! This picture is from Christmas Eve 1987.
Without fail, every Christmas Eve my sister and I would be so excited about Santa coming that it would be VERY late before we went to bed. We'd leave out cookies and milk for Santa (ummm, when we got older, Mom and Dad informed us that Santa preferred beer so we were very accommodating). We were so giddy that we always slept in the same bed. We were paranoid that the other one would get up first and see the presents so if we slept together there would be no risk of that. We would wake up very early in the morning and sneak out to the living room to see what Santa brought. The family tradition was the first person who woke up had to go downstairs and play Hallelujah on the record player to wake up the rest of the family. Lisa and would go down and put it on then go jump on Mom and Dad to let them know that Santa had come!!! The picture below is Lisa and I, finally asleep, on Christmas Eve 1986.
Dad played Santa every year on Christmas Day. When everyone was up and finally moving, we all sat around the tree and opened gifts one-by-one. It took HOURS. We would not be finished until early afternoon. Dad would play Santa and he handed out the gifts. We all would watch as each person opened their gift. I loved it. It made Christmas last all day long and you were able to see what everyone got. Dad never actually dressed up as Santa except this one year that I can recall. This is Christmas Day 1987.
On Christmas mornings there was always at least one big gift that was unwrapped and sitting out for Lisa and I. It would be the first thing we saw when we walked into the living room. I think Mom and Dad did this so we would let them sleep a little longer while we played with whatever it was. ;) The picture below is from Christmas Day 1984 when we got Barbie houses.
Christmas Day would turn the living room into chaos. There would be gifts everywhere, wrapping paper everywhere. Over the years we came up with a system where one person was in charge of boxes, one person had a trash bag for trash, one person was in charge of bows and gift bags that could be reused. I love this picture from Christmas Day 1980, it shows what our living room turned into after all presents were opened. I am a very anal person and would normally never be able to stand this but for some reason at Christmas it's Ok.
Christmas morning was the best because we always ate donuts. Lisa and very rarely got to eat donuts for breakfast. Donuts were a specialty. But on Christmas morning not only did we get donuts but we also got to eat candy and cookies. Anyone who got candy as a gift would pass around the box for everyone to try one. Anyone who got cookies as a gift would do the same. And if you had candy in your stocking that was an extra bonus because you could eat some of your candy in there!! Plus, after all the opening of gifts, stockings, cards was done, Dad always fixed a big brunch of cheesy omelet. Then we would go to my grandparents house and there was tons of candy and cookies there! The picture below is from Christmas Day 1983. You'll see the donuts on the table next to Lisa and I. Side note: Lisa and I would always get the same presents to avoid fights. :)
Christmas was never finished until we got home from my grandparents Christmas night. We would come home exhausted and always a little disappointed that Christmas was over. But it never was over. Santa had come again. Before bedtime we'd find one more gift for each of us (even my mom) under the tree, hidden. Santa had forgotten something and come back!! It was always a really special gift. This was my Dad's doing. And he still does it to this day. It means the world to us. Even if Lisa and I can't be there for Christmas he's had a gift sent to our homes.
I put my family through hell growing up, I know that. But I love them more than anything. Everything my parents did for my sister and I, they way they made things so special for us, it has stuck with me and it means the world to me. I am so incredibly lucky to have the close-knit family that I have. I will miss them this Christmas but they are right here with me because I haven't forgotten a thing about the Christmases we've shared.
This was beautiful Shannon! Not only did I love the photos and the memories, it was so nice to read about your family traditions. Your Mom and Dad are very very wonderful people!
ReplyDeleteThank you Aunt Cathy! I loved writing it!
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