Memories of Christmas' Past

Traditions

Why oh why did I push myself so much when my kids were little to make the 'perfect' celebration for them!?  I cringe when I think of all the lost time I didn't have to spend with my kids because I was soo soo busy making sure they had the 'perfect' Christmas with plenty of tradition! 
  One year, maybe the second one I had RSD, I thought...'There is no way I can do all the things I used to do for Christmas.  I got a brainstorm: ask each of our dear offspring and my husband what was their favorite tradition, cookie, baked good that makes Christmas Christmas for them.'  'Huh?'  That's the reaction I got from probably three out of the five!  So, I repeated myself, giving a little help.    Ok, I mean like, if you don't have cut out cookies, or russian tea balls, or choco chip cookies, you just won't be satisfied with Christmas! 
  Where oh where was my mind?  I was so wrapped up in the stuff of Christmas that I actually was worried that if I didn't make or bake each of their favorites, their Christmas would be ruined!!!!  
 TRADITIONS!!!  They can be wonderful and yet, they can ruin Christmas when seen through the twisted mind of a mother bent on making memories for her children. 
   Come along on my memory lane on my Christmases past and present.   

Gifts

Oh and gifts galore!!! I remember one Christmas when hubs and I were up till 5:30 wrapping the gifts only to get two hours of sleep before the first kid was awake.  ME!!! I couldn't wrap a single present for our children and hubby until Christmas Eve after they went to bed.  I had to lay them all out on the bed in piles, one for each person in the family.  For each of two years, we had a fourth child, a teenage girl.  I'd have a pile for her too.  Every present for one child had a 'corresponding' present for the others.  Pricewise, that is.  We(I) somehow made sure that the cost of said presents and the number of presents was the same for each and every child.  We've been known to switch some things around from child to child and just simply not give one or two if it was unbalanced somehow!! They each also got some clothes, underwear and socks.  Usually a pajama outfit also. They even had to get the same number of stocking stuffers, again, spending roughly the same for each.
   Hubby would be the one tracking the money most of the time.  He always wanted to include the taxes and I didn't want to cause it took too much of my budget up.

Stockings

One tradition that came out of the age old problem that everyone runs into I think.  There are those who just would rather sleep a while longer than get up and open their presents!  This was our family tradition on both sides, one we liked keeping.   Probably about the time my oldest was 16, we started a new tradition in our family.  Those (many years we had grandparents with us also on Christmas Morning) who were up and ready to descend those magically lit stairs before everyone else was ready; could run down and cut their stocking off the banister.  (no fireplace back then).  That gave you one peek at the massive pile of gifts under the tree.  Then you scampered back up the steps to open your stocking stuffers.  Some years my kids were more enthralled with their stocking gifts than anything big under the tree.  I used to, BRSD (before RSD, know how to choose great stocking stuffers.  I don't remember what I'd put in them, but after I was told that, I never quite met the mark again! 

Ornaments

Another tradition that I used to do was make an ornament for the teachers as a Christmas gift. I'd also make new ornaments for our every other year Theme Tree.  Our offspring didn't appreciate them much, but I did. I got bored with the same old ornaments each year! Just think of how many teachers etc this could entail in one year for three kids!!   There were three school teachers, but also the gifted teachers, three more.  Sunday school teachers...three,s ometimes more if there were helpers or co teachers.  Pioneer Boys and Girls leaders...two boys, one girl and there were usually two teachers in each group. Total for wednesday night...six.  Then the piano teacher, coaches, riding instructor...neighbors...friends.  EVERYONE absolutely HAD TO GET A GIFT!!!!

Baking/Candy

  I already mentioned my questioning of my semi grown children about their memories of what made Christmas for them when it came to the things I baked each year.   At one point in my madness, I was making Nestle's Choco chip (that's the only cookies my family ever had so it's a must for me! :) Russian Tea Balls (me again), Green Spritz Trees (for my hubby), Peanut Butter (again, hubs), more Nestle's Choc chip cause we'd have eaten all the rest before the week before Christmas! YES I froze them!!  Do you have any idea how wonderful Chocolate Chip cookies are frozen???? Almost my favorite way to eat them!  :)  Lets see, can't remember if there were any other cookies...I wasn't a cookie queen, left that to my MIL.  She could have won awards with her cut out cookies which were near perfection!  I found out her secret to perfectly baked cookies! She washed the pans each and every time they came out of the oven.  Oh of course she would take the cookies off first!
   I had to make mini loaves of banana bread, cranberry bread and pumpkin bread to give as gifts also and regular size to have Christmas Eve and through out the week after Christmas. I also made fudge.  For many years, I made Moravian Sugar Mints And towards the end, BRSD, I added Chocolate covered Pretzels which were undoubtedly everyone's favorite item from my kitchen! They were also the easiest, so I dropped all else in favor of the pretzels! 

   Christmas Trees

   I could go on and on about Christma Tree traditions but let me just say.  We have bought trees from every type of purveyor of Christmas trees.    We had a good thing going when the kids were little and BRSD.  We went out and hiked around fields of growing trees to find the perfect one to chop down!  It was a really fun family tradition that bit the dust the year after (A)RSD.  We moved soon after the onset of RSD.  That first Christmas in our new area we took the kids to one of those corner Christmas Tree Lots.  Our wonderful teens were enthralled!  You mean, you don't have to go walking around among live trees looking for the perfect tree?  This is cool! So, thus ended another tradition!
 

Triming the Tree

The thing about Christmas trees is that no one in our family actually LIKES decorating them!  When we had our first child, I told my husband that we were going to have a tradition in our house!  I was going to be in the kitchen baking cookies while Dad and children decorated the tree.  It was brilliant!! The house would smell heavenly with the scent of baking cookies and Christmas music in the air!  Well, it really is better to have these plans when the main person doing the work, dad, is on board. 

    A few years ARSD, to walk my fine line I realized I needed to get my family to help more with getting the house ready for Christmas. So, I said, I will not be decorating the tree. We purchased a tree, my hubby put the lights on the tree and NOT ONE OF MY FAMILY PUT ANY ORNAMENTS ON THAT TREE!! Guess they showed me that they weren't going for this bit of mom needing help!

  That's right, we didn't have any ornaments on the tree that year and we had another year like that.  The year we moved to PGH, our realtor and her boss brought us a Christmas Tree on Christmas Eve! What a lovely gesture since we had moved on the 10th and had decided no tree.  We never did decorate that tree either!

   

Christmas Morning

    I also remember a Christmas morning when my boys, probably ages 3 and 2, SLEPT IN on Christmas morn! The joke was on me!!! I was awake by their normal time to rise and yell BREFAST READY MOMMY? But, they were not up!! Hubs held me off from waking them up for half an hour and then I could stand it no longer! hahaha!!!!

Traditions!

   Traditions are wonderful! Don't get me wrong, I love Traditions!  However, to walk my fine line, I"ve learned that it didn't matter if I got everything done, if the tree was even decorated. It didn't matter if I hadn't slept for a couple of days...Christmas morning still rose and we sang Happy Birthday Jesus at breakfast over a coffee cake.  That's what made Christmas.  Our family tradition was to have a coffee cake (Entenmens) for everyone's birthday. So, it seemed natural to have one for Jesus too!  If I forget the coffee cake I feel like I've been gyped. Or rather, I've gyped the ONE who came to save my soul by giving His Life! 

Happy Birthday Jesus!