Simple, Sweet almost forgotten Holiday Memories & Traditions of Your Youth

[barkley]

i think they called them snowballs. the were 2 individual scoops of vanilla ice cream, rolled in coconut. they came in a box of 2 or 4 along with plastic holly leaves and a red candle (1 for each). it was a special 'fancy' dessert we ate one night during the holidays.

boxes of cookies and treats mailed from far flung relatives. some were opened with glee to be slowly doled out as long as possible, some....were not so welcome but we chocked them down so we could honestly tell the giver that yes we had eaten every bit of it.

overhearing mom read to dad the holiday newsletters that were sent in christmas cards and providing commentary/interpretation of the meaning behind certain phrases like 'we're so looking forward to seeing our little jimmy this christmas, his federal obligations have kept him away from us for so long'=YEAH, cousin jimmy got his parole approved early! or 'uncle jack has decided he wants to live closer to the grand kids so he's picking up and moving=uncle jack has lost another job and no one in the area he lives in will hire him so it's time to pick up stakes and relocate again'

*i should add-my mom never wanted to be subject to this kind of speculation so our christmas cards always just had a sparse 'merry christmas from ___________._________________ and the kids.

knowing that whatever mom wanted to fill her glass dining room table bowl with for christmas day would be what our stockings were filled with-FRUIT. the one year i asked about maybe having something different like the other kids i knew who got nuts and candies..............i got nuts which went directly into that glass bowl.

and last but not least-the one gift we got to open on christmas eve-pajamas, always pajamas. mom and dad did'nt want us looking wretched in the christmas morning photos so everyone got new ones. and even though we dont take christmas morning photos at our house-my kids get new pj's on christmas eve as well.

happy holidays everyone.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

My dad would buy a billion of those blank ceramic ornaments and we would paint them for like a month leading up to Christmas. We had so many... He kept every single one I made.

Black Friday shopping with my mom and aunt. So crazy, and so fun!

 

[cglaura]

Christmas movies on tv...Rudolf, Frosty, The Year Without a Santa Claus, etc. No VCR, DVD, Streaming existed back then... they only came around once per year. We got to stay up late, eat cookies & drink hot chocolate, it was a holiday event!

 

[luvsJack]

The annual movies that we would watch. Laying on the floor under the tree. Christmas movies and others. Wizard of Oz, Tomasina (not sure of the spelling but about the orange cat and it’s 9 lives), and some of the Disney live action movies. All seem to come on during the Christmas season.

Game nights with me and my adult siblings. They were all married but lived close by and would come over to play board games with little sister. These usually were in the days between Christmas and New Years.

And my favorite gift memory. Christmas morning and I had opened all my Santa gifts. Suddenly my brother (this would be just before he got married so I was probably 7 or 8), said “hold on”. He ran out to his car and brought in something wrapped in a blanket and handed it to me. It was a pink lion! I loved that lion! Even at that young age, I knew he didn’t really have any money to spend on gifts and he won the thing at a fair a month or so before. I just felt like it was such a gift from his heart.

 

[a1tinkfans]

My mom ( rip, she passed way to young) and my dad always had all the kids(5) make Struffela’s several days before Xmas ... to eat and share at our Holiday, Xmas Eve Dinner ( the Italian way lol... fishes)

That tradition includes all the grandkids now.. and continues to this day. The family gathers and makes Struffelas and then joins for Xmas Eve. Those of us Far away, typically FaceTime onStruffela making day ( or fly in to join, when we can)
The tradition continues .. older kids helping the smaller ones, grandkids truly enjoy the Entire Messy experience!
And despite marriages and distance..Xmas Eve is still with Our side of the family.

Happy Holidays One and All.. May the Season be Joyous!

 

[Snowflakey]

Taking a ride to see all the Christmas lights with a cup of hot cocoa. Going out to cut down a fresh Christmas tree. Taking a complete weekend to bake just before Christmas. Saving our stockings to open Christmas night. LOVE This tradition because the excitement lasts all day long and isn't over with in the morning. Bringing platters of home baked goodies to neighbors and friends around town. Adopting a family for Christmas and always thinking about them Christmas morning.

 

[mmouse37]

My dad would always bring home spearmint flavored giant candy cane sticks...they were about 2 inches around. Can't find them anywhere. We also always had ribbon candy. My grandparents lived with us when we were young and my grandma and all five of us kids would help her make gingerbread cookies the day before Christmas.

Right before bed on Christmas Eve my parents would yell...."what's that I hear? Is it bells on Santa's sleigh? We would all run to the window and hear bells ringing outside. We would run right up and go to bed before Santa came in. Still don't know how they did it with bells ringing outside!

MJ

 

[tcufrog]

Going to the church Christmas Eve candlelight service. I'm not religious anymore so I don't go to church but I do miss the Christmas Eve service. I also miss the handmade felt stockings my mom made us and the Christmas tree skirt she made. They were so beautiful. My sister knit stockings for us and quilted me a tree skirt. I love them but they aren't the ones I grew up with.

 

[dish rag]

Christmas was magical for us growing up. I was blessed with very good parents and blessed that at my age they are still both alive in their own house and healthy enough for their ages.

 

[maxaroni]

Burning bayberry candles on Christmas Eve. The excitement on Christmas Eve, the Christmas PJ’s, the anticipation.

 

[JLTraveling]

So many memories. Huge Christmas dinner with all the extended family when everyone lived close. The year I was 18, I was working in residential mental health and had to work Christmas day. My parents hosted that year. Christmas dinner went on the table at 2pm like always, but every single relative stayed to have a second dinner with me when I got home at 10pm. Now most of the older relatives are gone, as is my mom (RIP) and we're all scattered to the four winds.

Black Friday shopping with my mom and grandma. One year the guys decided to go separately, without telling us. We all ran into each other in the middle of the mall, and quickly ducked behind displays etc. to hide the stuff we were buying for each other.

Christmas Eve Coffee with my grandparents. Since 30+ people gathered on Christmas day, there wasn't much time to spend with any one person. So my grandparents would host just their kids and their families late in the evening on Christmas Eve for coffee and cookies and conversation.

The hometown Christmas parade. I was in it a couple of years with various groups/organizations/sports teams. But most years it was just a time to gather with a bunch of friends and relatives in a huge group and kick off the season.

The Glory and Pageantry of Christmas at Disney Springs (Downtown Disney then). A bunch of relatives would go early in the morning and take turns staking out seats/shopping all day long. It was a great show from what I remember (closed when I was pretty young), but most of my memories are of the fun we'd have during the day with cousins we didn't see a lot.

And now I'm crying. It's been a rough year, especially the past couple of months. I hope I can find some of that holiday spirit this year.

 

[luvsJack]

So many memories. Huge Christmas dinner with all the extended family when everyone lived close. The year I was 18, I was working in residential mental health and had to work Christmas day. My parents hosted that year. Christmas dinner went on the table at 2pm like always, but every single relative stayed to have a second dinner with me when I got home at 10pm. Now most of the older relatives are gone, as is my mom (RIP) and we're all scattered to the four winds.

Black Friday shopping with my mom and grandma. One year the guys decided to go separately, without telling us. We all ran into each other in the middle of the mall, and quickly ducked behind displays etc. to hide the stuff we were buying for each other.

Christmas Eve Coffee with my grandparents. Since 30+ people gathered on Christmas day, there wasn't much time to spend with any one person. So my grandparents would host just their kids and their families late in the evening on Christmas Eve for coffee and cookies and conversation.

The hometown Christmas parade. I was in it a couple of years with various groups/organizations/sports teams. But most years it was just a time to gather with a bunch of friends and relatives in a huge group and kick off the season.

The Glory and Pageantry of Christmas at Disney Springs (Downtown Disney then). A bunch of relatives would go early in the morning and take turns staking out seats/shopping all day long. It was a great show from what I remember (closed when I was pretty young), but most of my memories are of the fun we'd have during the day with cousins we didn't see a lot.

And now I'm crying. It's been a rough year, especially the past couple of months. I hope I can find some of that holiday spirit this year.

Thank you! You reminded me of our old Black Friday traditions!

Me and Mom would hit the stores early! We would get to the mall like at 4 am and have such fun. Sometimes it would be packed and some years it would be very few shoppers but we always had a ball. My sister and her daughters would come out about 8 and meet us for breakfast. Then all of us would continue on our good time shopping. About 3 we would choose a movie and all go together. And sometimes have dinner before heading home. It’s was our annual “girls day” and such fun.

The tradition continued for a little while once Dd got old enough to strike out with us but then they started changing the times and Mom got older and couldn’t hold up as long. Sometimes I would still take her out for a little while. It was just the start of the Christmas season.

Dd and I went Thanksgiving night for a little while this year but we were both a bit tired from Thanksgiving. Gotta find a new tradition for Black Friday.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Our local newspaper came every evening and sometime in December started telling a portion of a story every day. I’d wait for the paper to be delivered and my mom would be making dinner. But she’d stop and read out loud the few paragraphs of the story that appeared in that day’s paper. Then we’d anxiously wait for the next day.

 

[DisneyMommy77]

Running down the stairs each morning to beat my sisters to the wooden advent calendar to get the candy piece first. Usually a Hershey Kiss.

My sisters and I would all sleep together in one room on Christmas Eve and would have a hard time falling asleep due to excitement. For some reason my mom seemed to stay up late every Christmas Eve and forbid us to come out of the room after we went to bed. When we peeked she was always sitting on her bedroom floor with tape, wrapping paper and scissors.

We also always made homemade Christmas cookies that we decorated. My mom would make us about 10 different icing colors and gave us tons of sprinkles etc... I now appreciate how much work and mess this is to do with kids.

We didn’t have family that lived close so Christmas dinner at our house included our parents friends and their kids. They would play with all our new toys with us.

Happy Holidays!