Post by cyberangel on Nov 22, 2012 12:30:32 GMT
Dear Friends,
What does Christmas mean to you?
Here are some of my memories and what Christmas means to me....
Christmas has so many lovely memories for me both as a child growing up and now as a mother myself. The first signs that Christmas was nearly here when I was a young-un, was mum icing the Christmas cake. It would look so lovely and she would put so much effort into it looking good for us and warned us not to touch it!
The smells of Christmas dinner cooking in the kitchen and the panic that came with it!!! Who was going to get the leg or breast? But above all, it was the waking up early on Christmas morning and looking down at the bottom of the bed and with butterflies in our stomachs slowly looking into an old sock of my fathers....and my relief of not finding a lump of coal was beyond words!
Father Christmas/Santa would always leave us sweets and a small gift. We would then tip toe down the hall to our sitting room and slowly turning the door handle, just in case Father Christmas was still there! Like most youngsters of that time we knew that whatever we got was really very special as Christmas in those days (early 80’s) really was only ONCE a year and it made it so much more special.
My brother’s eyes and mine would light up when we’d see all our presents neatly wrapped and placed so lovingly under our tree with the tree’s lights casting beautiful colours all over them, it really was a magical experience and one I will never ever forget.
I feel sorry for kids nowadays, Christmas just isn’t the same as it was back then, when times were very hard and it was socially acceptable to be poor as everyone was practically in the same boat and we really appreciated every toy or new clothes we got. It will never ever leave my heart, now being older and wiser, how my mother must have struggled so hard to give us the perfect Christmas year after year, and it’s only now I can truly see the sacrifices she made for us.
It was the one day of the year that we knew we’d eat like kings and have presents too! We never wrote to Father Christmas back then asking for toys, it never really entered our heads, as that was the whole surprise, guessing ‘how did Father Christmas know?’ But we always, always wrote to thank him and the reindeers for bringing us our presents.
Before we’d open our presents we’d stand and look at them for just a few moments and then turn and run, and breathlessly let mum and dad know that Father Christmas had been, then race back down our hall and into the sitting room to begin the unwrapping. I remember my mum’s face and tender smile as we unwrapped each and every present gasping as each toy was unveiled.
My brother is 2 years younger than me and tore through his wrapping paper, where I savoured every second of mine not knowing that each present would hold a Cindy doll, a colouring book with new felt tipped pens, new slippers and a Bunty Christmas annual along with so many, many other gifts and delights.
I also remember one year, my brother and I pooling our few pence we had been given by relatives and family friends and buying mum and dad a Christmas present each. We got dad a new comb and shoe polish and we bought mum some bubble bath, Radox I think. Both their eyes filled up when we gave them our presents that Christmas Eve and I remember that feeling of making someone else really happy.
Nowadays, having grown up a bit my priorities have changed and have focused on our wonderful son. I want to try and recapture that ‘magic’ that I had as a child and let him experience it for himself.
My Christmas morning starts with a few moments with the Saviour from our nativity set. I gently lift him up, kiss his head and whisper “Happy Birthday”. That is very important to me and I thank him for everyone in my life, but especially my little boy. We all decorate the tree together in our house and take it in turns each year to switch on the fairy lights.
I love to hear the first Christmas carol be it on the radio or in town, and it always brings back loads of memories of when I was younger. I now have new memories of our own son growing up and his very first Christmas, but we have captured every Christmas on video so I never need to reminisce too hard!
I love all the excitement and stress of the run up to Christmas. I love it when we take a walk and its particularly cold outside and the smell of smoke from peoples fires fills the air. I like looking at others houses and seeing their tree’s and lights shine through the darkness. I also like it when we come home from town or somewhere and our tree looks so welcoming from outside.
I love to snuggle up with my husband and watch Charles Dickinson’s A Christmas Carol.
Christmas Eve is also very special and hectic too! It’s a fine art in mastering the 'timing' on when Father Christmas calls and allowing enough time to get some sleep
I like to see everyone’s outside light turned on on Christmas Eve it is a lovely tradition here and a real sense of unity amongst our community. I also leave our front door wide open on Christmas Eve around 11.30pm til just after midnight to welcome the 'Spirit of Christmas' into our home.
Oh, I could go on and on about what I like about Christmas but if I have to sum it up in just one word, well that word would have to be.....Hallelujah!
Thanks for reading folks and I look forward to hearing about your Christmas memories and what Christmas means to you.
Love and Light and Happy Christmas
What does Christmas mean to you?
Here are some of my memories and what Christmas means to me....
Christmas has so many lovely memories for me both as a child growing up and now as a mother myself. The first signs that Christmas was nearly here when I was a young-un, was mum icing the Christmas cake. It would look so lovely and she would put so much effort into it looking good for us and warned us not to touch it!
The smells of Christmas dinner cooking in the kitchen and the panic that came with it!!! Who was going to get the leg or breast? But above all, it was the waking up early on Christmas morning and looking down at the bottom of the bed and with butterflies in our stomachs slowly looking into an old sock of my fathers....and my relief of not finding a lump of coal was beyond words!
Father Christmas/Santa would always leave us sweets and a small gift. We would then tip toe down the hall to our sitting room and slowly turning the door handle, just in case Father Christmas was still there! Like most youngsters of that time we knew that whatever we got was really very special as Christmas in those days (early 80’s) really was only ONCE a year and it made it so much more special.
My brother’s eyes and mine would light up when we’d see all our presents neatly wrapped and placed so lovingly under our tree with the tree’s lights casting beautiful colours all over them, it really was a magical experience and one I will never ever forget.
I feel sorry for kids nowadays, Christmas just isn’t the same as it was back then, when times were very hard and it was socially acceptable to be poor as everyone was practically in the same boat and we really appreciated every toy or new clothes we got. It will never ever leave my heart, now being older and wiser, how my mother must have struggled so hard to give us the perfect Christmas year after year, and it’s only now I can truly see the sacrifices she made for us.
It was the one day of the year that we knew we’d eat like kings and have presents too! We never wrote to Father Christmas back then asking for toys, it never really entered our heads, as that was the whole surprise, guessing ‘how did Father Christmas know?’ But we always, always wrote to thank him and the reindeers for bringing us our presents.
Before we’d open our presents we’d stand and look at them for just a few moments and then turn and run, and breathlessly let mum and dad know that Father Christmas had been, then race back down our hall and into the sitting room to begin the unwrapping. I remember my mum’s face and tender smile as we unwrapped each and every present gasping as each toy was unveiled.
My brother is 2 years younger than me and tore through his wrapping paper, where I savoured every second of mine not knowing that each present would hold a Cindy doll, a colouring book with new felt tipped pens, new slippers and a Bunty Christmas annual along with so many, many other gifts and delights.
I also remember one year, my brother and I pooling our few pence we had been given by relatives and family friends and buying mum and dad a Christmas present each. We got dad a new comb and shoe polish and we bought mum some bubble bath, Radox I think. Both their eyes filled up when we gave them our presents that Christmas Eve and I remember that feeling of making someone else really happy.
Nowadays, having grown up a bit my priorities have changed and have focused on our wonderful son. I want to try and recapture that ‘magic’ that I had as a child and let him experience it for himself.
My Christmas morning starts with a few moments with the Saviour from our nativity set. I gently lift him up, kiss his head and whisper “Happy Birthday”. That is very important to me and I thank him for everyone in my life, but especially my little boy. We all decorate the tree together in our house and take it in turns each year to switch on the fairy lights.
I love to hear the first Christmas carol be it on the radio or in town, and it always brings back loads of memories of when I was younger. I now have new memories of our own son growing up and his very first Christmas, but we have captured every Christmas on video so I never need to reminisce too hard!
I love all the excitement and stress of the run up to Christmas. I love it when we take a walk and its particularly cold outside and the smell of smoke from peoples fires fills the air. I like looking at others houses and seeing their tree’s and lights shine through the darkness. I also like it when we come home from town or somewhere and our tree looks so welcoming from outside.
I love to snuggle up with my husband and watch Charles Dickinson’s A Christmas Carol.
Christmas Eve is also very special and hectic too! It’s a fine art in mastering the 'timing' on when Father Christmas calls and allowing enough time to get some sleep
I like to see everyone’s outside light turned on on Christmas Eve it is a lovely tradition here and a real sense of unity amongst our community. I also leave our front door wide open on Christmas Eve around 11.30pm til just after midnight to welcome the 'Spirit of Christmas' into our home.Oh, I could go on and on about what I like about Christmas but if I have to sum it up in just one word, well that word would have to be.....Hallelujah!
Thanks for reading folks and I look forward to hearing about your Christmas memories and what Christmas means to you.
Love and Light and Happy Christmas
....no change on the cash front but nowadays I just look forward to that wonderful feel good feeling. I have at long last come to terms with not being able to afford expensive gifts for my friends, as like many others I have before now gotten myself into debt.
