But since I'm in a I'll-think-about-my-credit-cards-tomorrow mood, I thought we'd do a little bit of a giveaway.
I have two copies of the charming 100 Christmas Wishes: Vintage Holiday Cards from The New York Public Library, which I'll give away to randomly selected commenters.
All you have to do is share one of your favorite winter holiday memories below.
As for me, we used to spend Christmas vacation at my grandparents' mountain cabin. Every year we prayed for snow, but I think that actually only happened once. ;-) At first, there was no TV, so we spent our holiday break hiking and exploring, playing with paper dolls or games like Mystery Date (I kid you not), baking MOUNTAINS of sugary deliciousness, and listening to Christmas music on this very old portable record player. I was the only one of my friends who was familiar with the entire oeuvre of the Mills Brothers and the Andrews Sisters. ;-) So yeah, it was pretty old school. There was even an outhouse for those occasional emergencies when the only bathroom was already in use. In fact, it was too old school for my grandparents, who quickly got cable and built on another bathroom. ;-)
I think I was in college when my grandparents moved back to "civilization," and we started celebrating the holidays at home like regular folk. There's a lot to be said for central heating! But I have to say, those rough and ready cabin Christmases were kind of magical.
Share your magical holiday memories below.
One year we had a ton of snow on Christmas day, which was unusual. We spent the entire afternoon sledding. The silence that falls when it's snowing heavily and the whole world becoming white... for it to happen on Christmas was special.
ReplyDeleteI remember one Christmas when it snowed a lot - like a snow storm (it used to snow often when I was a kid) - and tree branches fell on the power line, so we didn't have electricity (this happened often, too, in the village where I grew up! :D). And with no power, we didn't have heating either. So we had to manage with torches and candles, and the only warmth was from the fireplace. We had to chop a huge amount of wood, warm the water on the stove for washing, and sleep all together in the lounge where the fireplace was, but my siblings and I were super excited and so happy - my parents were probably less amused :D. But they managed to get "Santa" deliver all our presents without us discovering anything, despite the Christmas tree being in the same lounge where we were sleeping. They were good! Anyway, nothing like a snow storm to make a very merry Christmas!!
ReplyDeleteP.S.: I looooove snow! ;D Cris
I remember, my dad being a minister, we spent Christmas Eve packing up boxes of food and presents and leaving them on doorsteps of people who needed them. It was kind of a ding dong ditch thing. My mom always included home baked sweets because everyone deserves treats at Christmas. I thought it was way much fun.
ReplyDelete😭😭🥲 So sweet and so true.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all - MYSTERY DATE! I got that for Christmas one year!
ReplyDeleteThankfully, there are so many happy times. It isn't a specific memory, more of a montage. We always put the tree up in the living room (furnished with S&H Green Stamps lamps and end tables!) and my 3 siblings and I pretty much lived there all season, even as teens. On our parents' anniversary (the 22nd) we always got to open our "big" present, usually a Timex watch or "church" clothes. Our cat, Midnight, had her own ornaments she was allowed to play with. And my younger brother and I always crept downstairs at 4 a.m. or so to see what Santa brought! 😅 I'd love to be able to relive one of those times again ❤
I loved getting Christmas presents from my kids that they made in school. I kept them all.
ReplyDeleteI'm on the topsy-turvy side of the equator so it's a summertime memory for me.
ReplyDeleteWe did Christmas small when I was a kid, just my mum, my sister and me. If the sunshine was cooperating we'd have our food out in the backyard. I remember I'd eat and eat and eat, and when I was finally full I'd just slide out of my chair and lie down on the grass. I even fell asleep that way once. So many bugbites.
I was 26 when my mom died very suddenly on Halloween. I have no siblings and my dad died when I was ten so there was just the two of us for many years. When I closed out my mom’s apartment I found wrapped Christmas presents for all five of my kids. The older two got very emotional seeing the presents with the gift tags under the tree. The younger ones weren’t affected until years later when I told them the story.
ReplyDeleteGathering with the whole family for Christmas Eve supper
ReplyDeleteI'm late to this, because I keep forgetting there is an Advent Calendar going on! Anyway, I grew up in New Jersey. After I moved to Manhattan, I would spend the holidays with my parents over in NJ. I remember one Christmas morning waking up just after sun-up. It had snowed through the night; there was a picture-perfect blanket of untouched snow outside. I hurriedly got dressed, picked up my Nikon (no iPhones then), and fought my way through almost a foot of snow to the road in front of the house. The feeling of quiet was deafening. Standing in the middle of the road, I took a full-shot of the house and front yard. To this day, it is probably my most treasured photo.
ReplyDeleteI'm late, too. I was a child in the 1950s and we had really traditional Hallmark movie Christmases. One of my best memories is the whole family going to church on Christmas Eve and then going to my grandmother's for a late supper. It was always a wonderful evening.
ReplyDeleteBeing woken up by excited kids 2 hours after I've finished getting everything ready.
ReplyDeleteEven later! Growing up in New Zealand Christmases were bbqs at the beach. I moved to Toronto with a young family in 2002 and took them to the Christmas Lights display at Niagara Falls. They shine coloured lights on the falls and that evening it started snowing hard. We were surrounded by a pink snowflake blizzard. magic!
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful memories. Thanks for sharing <3
ReplyDeleteMmmh... I think my best memories of Christmas come from when I was a child and believed in Santa (and I used to believe in him until I was 12!) My mother was giving my bath and on the Eve of Christmas (the moment we have our feast) she always let me dry myself to go check if Santa has arrived yet. And she always reminded me that I should stay in the bathroom, because if I ever saw Santa putting the gifts under the Christmas tree, Santa would never come back (which is actually so true ^^). An earthquake wouldn't have convinced me to leave the bathroom but I still jumped in front of the high window hoping to see him leaving with his reindeers. That hope and marvel is really the best I keep in my heart
It's so important to me that I went out of my way to help little ones starting to doubt because of their school friends keep believing in this magic for 2 or 3 more years.
Almathea, my mom finally told me the Santa truth when I was 11. I think that makes us sweet, adorable, trusting people! 😃
DeleteIndeed we are <3 And maybe also people with more imagination (and super cool parents!) than most ;)
DeleteYes!! <3
ReplyDelete