Holiday Memories

I absolutely love Christmas time. Sure I can do without the commercialism that has taken hold of our society. And yes I get quite irritated with how fast it goes by and the rush of the season. But when I really think about it my heart fills with a warmth and runs over with joy thinking about all of the fond memories I have of the season from my childhood. And now as an adult with children of my own, I cherish the memories I am creating with my own children and pray that they will look back on them with the same happiness I do regarding mine. Those memories gave me such joy as a child and still do.

• I LOVED riding around town and the back roads of my home town looking at all of the Christmas lights with my father. He would share memories of his own childhood while commenting on the beauty our eyes were gazing at.
• Each holiday season I would watch the Christmas holiday movies with my mother and the one that had the largest impact on me was "Miracle on 34Th Street". Sharing that time with her was so important to me as a child and still is as an adult.
• Receiving money from my mom to purchase Christmas gifts for my family. I didn't think about it then too much but she gave me a greater gift than what I was giving....the gift of thoughtfulness.
• Decorating our Christmas tree together.
• Christmas caroling with my father. I didn't really enjoy it that much as a child but now as an adult the memory makes me smile and makes me sad that people don't do it as often anymore.
• My mother would buy my brother and I chocolate Christmas calendars each year. It was so exciting to count down the days to Christmas and get a chocolate treat too.

Now that my husband and I have a family we have some traditions we share with our children. Most of them have been adopted from our childhood that we enjoyed doing with our parents and gave us fond memories. Here are a few that we share as a family~

• Each Christmas Eve we congregate as a family, order Chinese food and watch "Miracle on 34Th Street"
• On Christmas Eve we make Christmas cookies
• Christmas day we have crepes for breakfast after opening presents
• We make handmade Christmas cards and some handmade gifts
• Watch the holiday specials with the kids
• Look at the Christmas lights together
• Donate toys for children in need
• Decorate the tree together as a family
• My kids love the chocolate christmas calendars. My mother buys them each year for them.

I hope everyone has a holiday filled with love, peace and laughter. Happy Holidays.....