My favorite thing was getting the tree. We would drive north from our home to the Russian River valley and chop our tree down at a tree farm. We would also stop at another place and get fresh squeezed apple cider and bags of apples. Then it was off to the town of Occidental to eat Italian family style at the Union Hotel. We ate the same things every year and joked about it, but when my parents moved to Nevada when I was in college the tradition died and it was so sad!

LOL @ golddust, that was funny.

I'm not whining one bit. My Mom taught us that being poor was way better than being rich. Lol. I think she actually believed it.

Christmas morning it was our tradition to yell at the top of the stairs for mom and dad to wake up. We'd wait for them to grab the cameras and turn on the traditional Christmas music. When given the ok we'd run part way down the stairs to check our stockings first before opening any presents.

I remember one year I was so excited I kept turning my clock forward a little at a time as if that would make the morning come faster! I was told to go back to bed. :)

Mom did more Christmas decorating back then and there are a few things I'd take in a heart beat and actually display (tacky/dated ! ) if she didn't want them anymore.

How excited our dog would get knowing he had stuff in his stocking. He was a great dog.

My grandparents lived far away at the time and we didn't see them much but we usually went there for Christmas. It was SO exciting knowing we were going to see them. As strange as it may sound, even the car ride was fun for us kids.

Always had fun baking/eating cookies and playing in the snow.

Mine was when I wanted a pedal fire engine....forever. Santa brought me a beautiful Victorian buggy for my dolls. Mom would bring this up many times through my life, she never understood why I wasn't thrilled. Even when she was ill, she asked. I could never tell her the truth, the gift must have meant so much to her. Perhaps something she had wished for when young. I would take my actions back in a minute if this could be done over.

My kids (40s/50s) still talk about their favorite. The year I saved all the colored comics from the Sunday paper and wrapped their gifts with it. One never knows what small things may mean to someone.

When people would ask any of us what we received for Xmas, my Mum would listen for what we named first. Her theory was that was the item that made the biggest impact on us. She said so often it was not what she considered the best item.

The earliest memory I have of a gift that I really wanted was when I was 10 and wanted a knit poncho. I thought I'd never get one because my father said they were too hippy-ish (it was 1969). I was so surprised to find one under the tree Xmas morning. My father was a bit of a tyrant so I never expected something that he was on the record as opposing.

My Mum still has her lists of what was purchased for each kid (there were 6 of us) and how much things cost. I'm going to ask her to bring them over for this Xmas get-together so we can have a good laugh.

We were always allowed to open one present on Xmas Eve. I think it helped settle us down to go to bed since it took a little of the edge off of the anticipation.

One of my favorite family pictures is one of my closest in age to me sister and me sitting at a little table, having a pbj sandwich snack (cut into sailboats, of course) before bed on Xmas eve. We were probably 4 and 5.

My older sister, younder brother and I were the only children on both sides of the family, so most Christmas Eves and Days were at our house with both grandmothers, a great-grandmother and two unmarried uncles spending the night Christmas Eve. We were also joined by a third cousin and her family (mother, father, grandmother) as well as a married uncle and wife and assorted friends of these relatives. Mom hated cooking but loved entertaining and all the family and friends who came for Christmas. Anyway, my most memorable Christmas (not fondest though) was when all the excitement and food got to my sister, who spent the night getting sick on the floor between our beds. Fondest was when we got a ping-pong table. The adults spent all Christmas Eve playing ping-pong after we kids went to bed. So who do you think THAT gift was really for? Plus, we wondered before falling asleep what those "ping" and "pong" noises were.

We weren't poor, more like upper working/lower middle class. It was a nice place to be, in a way. You learn financial priorities early: the necessities come first; the extras are maybes if you save up for them, but you can live fine without them. My parents were proud that they provided a sound home, annual medical/dental/optometric care, nutritious food, & enough clothing. But beyond all that, not much else. Piano? Dance? Baton? Dream on, kid.

So we didn't have oodles of gifts under the tree when I was young. Some of our gifts were clothes to replace the ones we'd outgrown. My mother had a talent for beautifully wrapped gifts and decorated trees. It was truly lovely to look at. And the pine smell! Christmas wasn't much materially, but it was wonderful anyway.

My father (who I now think had ADHD!) started his Christmas shopping on December 24th and would do it all in a day long whirlwind effort. It was great fun to go along with him on this last minute panic. We would drive to parts of town I usually didn't go to, and of course my sociable dad would run into lots of people he knew and would spend half the day yakking away with them. The adventure of new places, new people, hearing news & gossip, rushing around from morning til dark, and seeing my dad in his element amid all the festive sights, ringing bells, & neighborly good will -- that is my favorite memory. More fun than Christmas day!

Some of my favorite memories from my childhood Christmases are making frosted and decorated gingerbread cookies with my mom and going around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols. Santa always came around on the back of a firetruck and gave out candy canes. One of my favorite gifts was the box of "sugar" cereal that Santa would bring for each of us. My mom never bought junk food sugary cereal, but on Christmas, we would each get a box of our favorite kind. Mine was the regular flavor of Cap'n Crunch. I have continued that tradition with my own kids. I don't get Cap'n Crunch anymore but my mom , as a joke, still gives dh Cocoa Puffs as that was his favorite as a kid. Another favorite thing to do was drive through a local church's living Nativity. I also remember when the huge Sears catalog would come out and my sister and I would go through and circle the things we wanted.

One thing I really miss is the cookie exchange between my mom and her friends in our neighborhood. Our next door neighbor was a gourmet cook who loved to bake. Her cookies were the plate I always looked forward to! She made this little shortbread cookies that had frosting in the middle - oh they were so good! She also made these brownies with mint frosting and chocolate ganache. I actually have that recipe - I make them from time to time at Christmas. I really miss that tradition - everyone always made like 5-6 different cookies and each neighbor had their own signature cookies. That seems to have died away now - people are too busy for that kind of baking. When my kids were much younger, I used to make plates of various cookies for people, but dh now makes his specialty - pumpkin chocolate chip bread. He is well known for it in the 'hood and spends several weekends making it, so it's hard for me to get any cookies done!

One of my funniest Christmas memories was my senior year of h.s. My father was (still is!) ANAL about decorating the tree. He was so particular that as we got older, we didn't bother to help him anymore b/c we'd see him moving our ornaments around. So that year, I was sitting in the family room watching tv with my boyfriend and my younger sister. My mom was in the kitchen baking. All of a sudden we heard this loud crash from the living room. We ran in and my father was on the floor on his back with the tree on top of him, ornaments all over the room. My sister burst into tears in fright, but I heard my father groan in the manner he always did when he was frustrated, and once we determined that he wasn't hurt, t started laughing at the sight. My boyfriend managed to get the tree off him and fortunately not many of the ornaments were broken. From that year on, he has always tied the tree to the bookcase just in case the tree stand fails!

I love these so much, hope others do too!
jmc, that's awful about your sister-

deeinohio- so funny you remember the plastic doll smell too.

I hope more will share their memories, good and not-so-good too.

LOL fourkids, your description of your dad reminds me of a Christmas we had when my boys were little. They still laugh about it and I wouldn't be surprised if it were their most memorable Christmas. When they were young I forced everyone to go and pick out the tree together. I say forced because my husband just didn't like anything to do with the tree part, hated the stringing of lights, decorating, putting in the stand or dismantling. Well one year I was sick with the flu so I made husband take the boys without me. The last thing I said to him was "make sure you get a tree with a straight trunk". As usual that registered in his mind as "buy the cheapest tree with a very crooked trunk" So, he came home with a tree trunk in a heavy leaning "S" and was proud that the tree guy practically gave it to him. I pointed out the crooked trunk which made him very determined to prove me wrong. No way could he get it straight in the stand. He was out on the patio and kept cutting more off the bottom and getting more and more frustrated. In his mind there had to be a way to make it work. The tree kept getting shorter and shorter and shorter. After a while we all heard a bunch of racket and peered out the upstairs window to the patio below and witnessed husband completely losing it rolling around on the ground with the tree. First the tree was on top and looked like it was winning then husband was on top throwing a few punches and over and over it went. We all laughed until we cried. If you knew husbands normal dignified ways you would see the real humor. That year we had a nine foot tree end up a five foot tree with all the lower branches gone as it had to be placed in a big planter pot all padded up on the sides.

Jterri, without even knowing your husband, that had me burst out laughing!

Years ago before we had kids, my husband and I got in an argument about which end of the lights should be at the top. We went 'round and 'round about who was right and who was wrong. That was the last year he has ever helped me decorate. We go as a family to pick out the tree, he brings it inside and gets it into the stand, but from there on out, it's all me - all interior and exterior lighting. I hang all the garland outside and string it all with lights, etc. And as much as I HATE stringing the lights on the Christmas tree (my absolute least favorite part of decorating and I have visions of my father as I do it b/c I admit I'm a perfectionist in that regard), I enjoy doing it all myself while dh stays outside and cleans leaves LOL.

I come from a very big, close-knit family and we all gathered at our house on Christmas Eve for a wonderful buffet feast. I have such great memories of those festive, happy times! These days, one of my sisters now does the same for all our Michigan family. I do one here in New Mexico for our close friends, although I have ours on Christmas Day.

My sister and I always looked forward to getting new Christmas coloring books and a new box of Crayola 64 crayons every December 1st. I was very artistic even back then and spent many happy hours coloring with my sweet sis.

I was 16 years old and received a special collection of 7 lipsticks, beautifully packaged by some (then) famous company. Christmas afternoon, when she was supposed to be taking a nap, another sis (this one around 3 y/o) ate every one of them! I was heartbroken then, but we all laugh about it now.

The smell of my new doll on Christmas Morning. They had such a wonderful, distinctive smell to me.

Happy memory: taking walks with my dad and sibs around our street after dark to see all the Christmas trees and holiday decorations lit up. So pretty! We sang Christmas carols as we walked.

Sheesharee, we also would holler upstairs to try to get our parents going in the morning. Their bedroom was downstairs, and ours were up, so we would go to the room that was above theirs and pretend to fall out of bed to make some loud noises and get them moving. Another memory for me was that we only had one bathroom which was on the other side of the living room. And of course we always had to pee when we first woke up, but in order to make it fair for everyone, our parents would escort us through the living room one at a time with their hands over our eyes so we couldn't see anything on the way to the bathroom. Then we all had to go back up and start at the top of the stairs and come down together to see the gifts!

Also, we always had tons of the silver icicle/tinsel hanging all over our tree, sometimes so much you couldn't really see the ornaments too well!

Christmas was totally magic for me when I was little. We would all pile into my parents car and drive to the small town where they grew up to stay with my great aunt, who was like a grandmother to me. She had no children so she turned every child into hers. We would drive up on Christmas Eve because my dad was a doctor and could only get away for a short time. I remember being in the back seat of the car and being completely convinced that I could see Santa on his sleigh up in the sky. I begged my parents to get there fast. I was afraid Santa would get to my aunt's house, see I was not there and not leave any presents.

We always had new Christmas pajamas. Two of my great aunts, my great uncle, my great grandmother and my parents would be there to watch us open gifts and we always got a mountain of presents. It was crazy. There would be a train going around under a huge tree, stuffed stockings and everything a kid could want. Cookies, candy, relatives dropping by, my dog all happy because of all the excitement. My uncle was so much fun and would do things like jingle some bells outside the window at night so we would run to bed so Santa could arrive. We put out cookies for Santa and the plate was always empty in the morning with a thank you note from Santa.

Later we stayed at our house and my aunts would come to us. My main recollection of Christmas morning was being blinded by the lights from my father's movie camera. I love watching those movies today. We also had to wait for my aunt that we didn't like so much to get all dressed and put on her makeup before we could go downstairs because she wanted to look good in the movies. It was torture and we despised her. I also still have some of the dorky Christmas cards my mother had with a picture of the three of us all lined up. Ugh.

One year I got a doll that could roller skate. I was barely allowed to play with her and I think she is still in my mother's attic. I did have a beloved bride doll that I named Rosie because she had rosy cheeks. She is in the attic, too.

My dad loved to decorate the outside of the house. You could probably see it from outer space. Our civic association awarded prizes for best decorated house and we won several years. The prize was a poinsettia.

One year my brother tried to climb the tree and knocked it over. Brilliant.

I could go on forever talking about Christmas memories.

My childhood memories are, unfortunately, bitter.

My Mom always had good intentions to make Christmas special, but Dad always crushed them. Each of us three kids received three presents apiece. A toy, socks & Pjs. Every year. She later told me that Dad begrudgingly gave her a budget of $75 which never changed from year to year. I could understand if we were poor, but we were middle class and could have easily afforded more than my miserly father allowed.

A few days before Christmas, Mom would get into a bad mood and yell at us every time Christmas was mentioned. I now know that was because of the upcoming stress she knew she was going to face. On Christmas morning, us kids would get up early and get into our stockings that we knew my Mom filled after we went to bed. That was the best part of the day. Later, Dad would heckle and jeer our presents or the way we were opening them, exclaim loudly about how much money was spent on a bunch of junk, Mom and Dad would get in a fight with Mom locking herself in her room crying while we pretended to have fun playing with our new toy.

Mom eventually came out and made dinner which was Dad's favorite part so the drama would come to an end.

We weren't religious so no iconic symbols besides Santa Claus. However, I never believed Santa was real because Dad dispelled that notion very early on. We lived far away from extended family, so it was always just us. I ended each day with the hope that next year would be better.

Later, when I was a very poor, very young single mother, my Mom remarried a man who belonged to a religion that didn't believe in Christmas, so it was basically cancelled for me for a few years until they decided not to belong to that religion any longer.

Now, I make the best Christmas memories possible. I decorate as much as I can; Christmas music is playing every day; I pile up the presents; make dozens and dozens of cookies and give them away to friends, family and neighbors; invite every Tom, Dick and Harry to Christmas dinner; and we top it all off with a New Year's Eve party.

Now, don't go feeling sorry for me because my son and future grandkids will have the most beautiful Christmas memories, and that's all that matters to me.

That's heartbreaking, Kelly-
I'm so glad your story has a happy ending.

Any idea what made your dad act that way?

kelly -you go girl. I'm a big believer in the thought that if you don't get the childhood you deserved, you seize the opportunity to create it when you have your own family. I like you, have probably gone over the top a few times, but I have a life I cherish....and so do my kiddoes....

My mother's Aunt Hilda was originally from Vienna, Austria. She always made an amazing variety and quantity of cookies for Christmas cookies. She even made meringues. It was a visit to pastry paradise at her house! I wish some of the recipes had come my way.

Kelly I'm so sorry for those memories. I was much luckier on Christmas I guess because after the very long drive to grandma and grandpa's house we all had time to get in the perfect family mode. That was when my parents couldn't drink except sharing a beer or something; my grandparents were not much into the drink. My mom who was mental would make up grand stories of our life and how she cared for us. My dad was in perfect behavior and very charming. After I learned to keep my mouth shut and not blow the cover it all went pretty well. My mom snuck out coins from the grocery money all year for the Christmas gifts to us. She tried to make up for all the emotional and physical abuse the rest of the time at Christmas by making that day special. It worked sort of. We did have great Christmas's and she was successful in creating some nice memories. I'm thankful for that. Im thankful for the day!

Myfoursquare - I remember the one year when we were older mom mentioned we could just come down stairs if we wanted but we would have none of that! It was bittersweet the last year I was home.

My parents were not at all religious and we usually went on a trip over Christmas, sometimes skiing, sometimes to Florida or some other warm weather venue.

My brother and I loved the Sears' Christmas catalog! One year he asked for a football and I wanted the "Sophisticated Sophie," a large (about 30 inches) standing stuffed dog wearing a cute outfit. These were ordered well before the day and of course my brother and I found the hiding places almost as soon as they were delivered. We got them out and played with them every chance we got, lol, and were finally caught. Mother threatened to send them back but we knew she wouldn't, and she didn't. That was my favorite toy ever, and it has just occured to me that our Lhasa, Mr. Fluffy, looks an awful lot like Sophie!

kswl, so funny about Sophie and Mr. Fluffy- my favorite toy was a big stuffed beagle (still have it)- I have had two beagles as an adult.

Another favorite toy was Chatty Cathy- I just loved her.

I grew up in the 80s and a few of my favorite gifts were my Pretty Cut & Grow Doll, Milky the Marvelous Milking Cow and Poochie for Girls. The year I got my stereo with dual tape decks was something special. It was totally unexpected because we did not usually get a large gift like that, which made for a lasting Christmas memory. Made for lots of mix tapes too :)

I also loved the Sears and Penney's catalogs. I don't remember if it was at Christmas time or other times of the year, but we used to love to lay out a big sheet of paper, and cut out the furniture, people and toys, and layout our own dream houses on the paper. So fun!

I had a Chatty Cathy, too! After posting here I looked up the 1964 Sears Wishbook, which is online in its entirety, and found Sophie! Here is a terrible phone photo of Mr. Fluffy:
{{gwi:1527611}}

And here is Sophie--- I had completely forgotten about the curlers :-)

One of my favorite memories is standing in line to visit Santa at Jordan Marsh in Boston, then going to see the "Enchanted Village". We waited for hours, with our coats on indoors. After we would get to pick out a surprise wrapped gift for $.50 up to $1.50. It was usually a coloring book or colorforms (remeber those?) Another exciting thing was getting my little Santa pin to put on my coat.
{{gwi:1527612}}

Wow these stories are fantastic! Even the few who had less than perfect Xmas days are happy now and that's all that matters. jterrilynn, your husband story made me laugh out loud and kswl when I saw your real dog and the sophie, hahahahhahahaha that was fab. Thanks everyone for the visual stories, loved every one of them.

Love all of these stories, all touching in their own way! I feel very blessed and lucky to grow up in the family I did, with no addiction, mental illness, poverty, or abuse. I married into a family rife with addiction and mental illness, and what a different scenario. They looked good on the outside, though!

I remember my brothers and I circling tons of things in the Sears catalog every year. My mom and I used to make cookies, candy, and crafts together before and during the holidays. My teachers always got a craft of some kind from me! My favorite gift has to be the ten-speed bike I received one year. I am not sure how old I was, but somehow my dad snuck it onto the back patio on Christmas Eve.

One year my brother who is closest in age to me secretly opened all of his presents before Christmas, and then rewrapped them. He talked me into doing it too, and boy did I regret it. The surprise is the best part!

I have great memories also of when our kids were small, and their excitement. The last few years have been kind of sad as addiction and mental illness has made its presence known in two of our three children. The holidays seem to exacerbate the pain of the loss of who my boys were before their lives (and ours) were altered by the unlucky roll of the genetic dice.

When I was younger, I never understood how holidays could make some people sad. Now I get it.

Texanjana,

Mental illness is devastating. I was a case manager for 15 years and dealt with it daily. Part of the very symptoms can undermine a cure. It can be a roller coaster. ((( Hugs)))

One year, after my Mother got a job, my sister and I got a Chatty Baby. I think they must have been cheaper than Chatty Kathy.

My mother had a beautiful singing voice and we'd talk her into singing Christmas songs. (She loved June Carter and her usual venue was folk songs and country. She knew how to yoddel.)

Mom made aprons for the towns children who had less than we did. So many wonderful testimonials at her funeral service. I had no idea she used to make things for other families. I was the baby so there were many things I was unaware of.

The dog pictures are very funny. They certainly do look alike.

Kelly, welcome to normal! You are a survivor! Your story broke my heart. You define Oprah's saying: When you know better, you do better.

I love this thread.

OMG, jterrilynn and fourkids4us you had me on the floor.

Kelly, I wish you the best Christmas ever.

.....Jane

I love this thread, too. The dolls I remember from childhood Christmases were Poor Pitiful Pearl, Betsy Wetsy, Tiny Tears and Ginny, along with the aforementioned roller skating doll and bride doll. I really was too old for dolls when Pearl became popular but my mom got it for me I think because she liked her! Anyway, I liked her, too.

Judie, it's so funny that you should mention your Santa pin. I was looking for something yesterday and came across mine. I've had it since I was a little girl. He needs a new battery to make his nose light up but is just as jovial as ever. Here he is!

I still have my Tearie Dearie doll from 64 or 1965. As you can see I almost never played with her. I didn't see the logic of getting a doll that cried AND PEED. I had a younger brother and sister to contend with and didn't need any more work as far as I was concerned, I was around 4 or 5 at the time. I mostly just looked at it and wondered what they could have been thinking coming up with such a harebrained idea of fun. A few years later, I think in 1st or 2nd grade I got a Giggles doll. Do any of you remember that? When you pulled her arms her head moved and she did a laugh giggle thing. I thought that was pretty cool, a doll with humor. After Christmas break and school restarted our teacher told us to bring in something for show & tell so I brought Giggles. But, I no more than got there and Wayne Hildebrandt kicked her head off. She couldn't be fixed. Giggles was dead. My mom about blew a gasket and made me stalk the Hildebrandt's house for close to two months with knocks at the door and notes taped everywhere. After a while I just pretended to go because I didn't feel it was my job. Mom was not giving up on them paying and started calling and mailing letters. They never paid. The Hildebrandt's for some reason moved away the following summer. Sometimes I would put the severed Giggles head on enough just to get her to giggle but it was kind of creepy.

Christmas' were a very special time in our home with mom and dad decorating the white flocked tree we had every year~I remember one year mom saying even though it was $50, she was still getting it. They never argued, and since mom also worked, I think she had the 'control' of the money. She always took me to the expensive children's store in town to buy me a Christmas dress, not Montgomery Ward or Penney's . I never felt I was any different, or had more, just thought this was the way everyone lived so it was normal.

The biggest thing was our trip to Chicago on the train every year to visit State Street and look in all the store windows, and we always went up to the top floor of Marshall Fields to look at the fur coats where an armed guard stood~i was so fascinated by that! We would later go to Woolworths and eat at the soda fountain, and when finished go to the 'bead department' where mom would let me pick out beads, usually in the glass tube. I loved 'stringing beads' and would make her a necklace every year and in the summer, after stringing beads all winter, would 'pedal my wares' thru the neighborhood, of course usually selling one if I were lucky!

I've really never thought about it before now, but believe I was a very fortunate and loved child, and I think in my child's mind, thought it was the same with every child.

Jterri, the thought of a giggling headless doll is indeed very creepy! I hope Wayne Hildebrandt got his comeuppance for such a nasty deed.

Thanks all for the sweet comments & sentiments.

I still have my Baby Tender Love. She was a Christmas present when I was two (1971) and she was well loved but used and abused too!

Here's a picture from 1972:

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And here's a picture I just took. She's wearing a 25 year old onsie from my son. I guess I should find her a decent dress:

{{gwi:1527618}}

I found a picture of me on Christmas. I seem to be pretty happy with my barbie doll:

{{gwi:1527620}}

Being the youngest of five girls, none of my dolls survived my middle sister. Eight years older, she would convince me that she was a hair dresser and would cut my dolls hair off. They ended up looking like 'Chuckie'.

When Aimee was young, I fell in love with Sasha dolls in an expensive toy store. I finally bought myself one on EBay a few years ago. I stored her original outfit from the seventies and made her another one. Her new outfit looks like a homeless child.

There were five Kids in my family. My dad had TB from WW2. He got it on a destroyer in the Aleutian islands. Much of my childhood was spent with him in TB hospitals.We were dirt poor and my mom did the best she could. I remember getting presents from the DAV. Somehow I don't remember feeling that poor as a child.

Christmas was not about gifts at our house. We knew there wouldn't be much and we were happy with what we got. my mom was and is a great cook and those memories are so alive.

My dad has been gone for a long time. He was a brave man and one of the greatest generation. Only as an adult do I appreciate his sacrifice and all of the Holidays he missed.

The most fun for me, as a child and an adult, was Christmas Eve because our volunteer fire department brings Santa to every street in the town. They hand out apples, oranges, candy canes, and dog treats. In our neighborhood,all the kids continued to come back as adults with our own children and show up at the corner no matter what to wait for Santa. It was always so much fun and wonderful to catch up with friends we only saw that one night every year. I would love to move back just for that!

Christmas memories! I am one of 7 children, my parents made sure that each and every Christmas morning was magical for us. I always received a doll. Sometimes a Madame Alexander Bride Doll, or a Tiny Tears doll in a wooden doll bed. having 5 brothers, there was often a Lionel train set up under the tree, and usually at least one bb gun or cap guns with a complete cowboy outfit. Santa was good to us.

St. Louis MO, Famous & Barr Dept. store about 1954

Maddie, that picture is so precious. I love the way Santa is holding your cute little hand.

Cyn -- we have the same memories! Does this look familiar?

Guess I had better scan one of my pics, ded! Yes, very familiar.

Kelly, dedtired and maddie I'm loving the pictures.
Kelly, wasn't it good to see yourself smiling with the Barbie?

I remember my sweet Tiny Tears. I left her on the swing at the nearby beach playground and have mourned her ever since. Someday I want to buy one on Ebay. I honestly have never gotten over that loss.
Lynn

I really had never thought about it before reading this thread, but I have no happy memories of childhood Christmases. Kind of makes me feel like a Grinch for saying so, too.

But what so many of you have mentioned as adding to the enjoyment of the holiday, I guess we just didn't have. Money was no problem, but my parents were not social and we didn't have family or guests to share the day; Christmas dinner was a big production for my mother to prepare and it was clear she didn't enjoy it, and as a picky eater, I didn't enjoy it either. I had nobody to have fun with as my sibling and I did not get along well and weren't interested in the same activities or toys,etc.

When I was in my teens, mother remarried and all of the above went from bad to worse.

Luckily, once I had my own children I was able to create happy memories with and for them. My kids have many happy holiday memories and share them often.

I know it would make my parents very sad to think that I don't have happy holiday memories and that's what makes me feel Grinchy for saying I don't.

Aw, Leafy, that's too bad. I'm sure we could start a thread about bad holiday memories and their would be plenty of entries. The holidays really heighten all of your happy and sad emotions. I'm glad you and your family have good Christmas memories now.

Awww, Leafy02, don't feel too Grinch-like. I think the best part about becoming an adult is the increase in your capability to create your own happiness.

Leafy--my post felt kind of Grinch-like as well. But, like you once I was married and had kids of my own we created wonderful holidays as well and memories. I think I may have more fun than they do.

Merry Christmas Leafy.

Thanks, ladies, and you are all right. I do love being able to have a "do-over" now that I am an adult and I probably get more enjoyment out of it now because of that. Lots of crafting before the big day, and on Christmas if I don't feel like making Christmas dinner some years, we stay in our jammies right up to the moment we leave for Chinese food. Stress-free!

Kelly --just read your post. You deserve wonderful holidays. It sounds like you are making up for the ones that weren't .

Maddielee--isn't that old Famous a hotel now? Dd graduated from SLU. Your post made me jealous, lol. Lucky girl.

Knowing you can start your own family memories and traditions is a blessing in disquise. It doesn't get any better than that!!