Christmas Memories

Thanks to a recent post about Christmas memories I responded but it was a little too long to submit. So I finished it off here....... I might add and tidy it up later - but here it is 'raw' and rough on the edges.

I felt a bit the same about my friends and their expensive Christmas lists and always getting large amounts of money as presents at Christmas also.

My memories include:

My siblings (I was the youngest of 4) rushing me upstairs to see the red light in the distance from the back of our house. They said it was Rudolph's nose and that I had to get to bed or Father Christmas wouldn't come. Years later I discovered it was a ligt in a house in the village across the fields.  It was there every night of course - but the magic was so real at the time!

My Mum used to work till 2am, so my Dad used to prepare Christmas Dinner the night before. His conditions were that Mum had Bells whiskey in and had made him a whole tin of mince pies (stored in a Quality Street tin of course).

Peeping at the presents in the wardrobe of Mum n Dads room - we didn't see what they were - but used to pop  a little hole in the wrapping and try to guess. Wrapping has improved a lot since the 'paper thin' days.
Putting decorations up on Christmas Eve and being careful not to drop the old fashioned glass baubles.  It was tinsel and paper chains in those days - decorations have improved a lot since :o)

Over the years as my older siblings got older still - it was Dad and Me in the house on Christmas Eve and he would prepare the dinner as usual and I would put up the decs, balancing on chairs and play all the old Christmas albums (Jim Reeves, Andy Williams and the like). 

Later we would sit and eat mince pies and I would sample my first tastes of Christmas liquours (sensibly of course) like Royal Mint Chocolate Liquor and Baileys . We would wait for Mum to get home and my older siblings to come home from their nights out and then open 'just one' present, as it had gone midnight.

As my siblings grew older and had children of their own, these children became a massive part of Christmas for our family and my parents house at this time of year and we would have Christmas dinners for 20 on a make-shift table (Dad was an engineer). These were magical family Christmases.

I had my first daughter in 1999 (at the age of 28) and spent a lot of time at Mum n Dads (Christmas was no exception) and Christmas took on a new light for me and was just the best time of year. I could do Christmas every day at Mum n Dads, I thought.  Being a parent now - I truly knew how precious those moments were for my Mum and Dad and the magic continued ......

I would wait for the Rotary/Round Table Father Christmas to come and take my daughter out into the street (donned in padded snowsuit, hat and mittens) to show her his sleigh - her eyes would light up and I recall how I remembered the same feeling.

Padded snowsuits and snowball fights, first steps in the snow (soft enough to catch her fall) are things I remember with a lump in my throat.

Just a year later my Mum took ill and  I spent the last Christmas with my Mum (my husband decided to take off just days later too). She passed away later the following year after my daughter's 3rd birthday (August 2002).

Dad comes to us at Christmas now and this year he is giving me all of his old albums  for keeps, as my current  (almost husband) and amazing man is a bit of an audio enthusiast, lol and his turntable alone was enough to impress the likes of Dad, never mind the glowing valve amp'. 

We have 3 children between us (as Rob has been married before and has a son and we have K'Boo now) and the magic is re-lived with family Christmas courtesy of us with H'Boo 11 yrs, O'Pops 10 yrs and K'Boo almost 4 yrs.

Christmas is a time of exciting preparation, long-served traditions, hoping for the snow to come, letters to Father Christmas, the Rotary/Round Table Sleigh, your child's first school Christmas play, checking out other peoples Christmas lights in PJ's, decorating the tree with things made at nursery/school (the best decs), Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, giving, receiving and all the family round for dinner.

I can't wait to hear those records again and look forward to making more memories of the same for many years to come.

I Love and miss you so much Mum and Love you so much Dad - thanks for the best memories ever and Christmases that were priceless!!!!!!

http://timeoutformums-honiebuk.blogspot.com/
http://honiebuk.wordpress.com/



Tweet