Do you remember when you were a kid and you counted the days off until Christmas? You always knew exactly how many there were to go. Fourteen, thirteen, twelve and on. Well, I had to count them off on the calendar, but now there are ten days until Christmas Eve when many families will be gathering to enjoy the holiday with presents and glittering lights and delicious food. Kids everywhere will be ready to go to bed so Santa can come, but they might be too excited to sleep.
Such a different perspective when you’re Santa’s helper instead of just wishing he’d show up and soon! Still fun, but instead of wishing the days gone, you’re wishing for an extra day here and there to wrap those presents, to address those cards, to make that candy or those cookies. I needed two or three extra days this week since my family is coming early to celebrate this weekend. Being a Santa’s elf is not for the faint-hearted.
Someone asked me about the Shakers celebrating Christmas. They did observe Christmas but not as we do today. They gathered in their Meeting House and sang and danced as they worshiped. And they definitely had a good meal. The Shakers’ tables were always laden with the best foods. But in the “world,” as the Shakers called everyone outside their villages, the celebrations were probably not much different. Certainly not much like our celebrations today for the average person, but then Christmas celebrations have changed for everyone.
Think about your picture of an old-fashioned Christmas and compare it to the Christmas you and yours expect to have this year. My mom can remember getting an orange and candy in her stocking. She ate the orange one section at a time over several days to make it last. Back when I was a kid, oranges were still a treat, but we might have a whole box of fruit under the tree. Now a lot of children have oranges whenever they want one and have no conception of how an orange at Christmas could be a special treat while most of us older folks could never have imagined the sorts of things they find in their stockings these days – phones you stick in your ear so you’re never out of touch, music players that are smaller than your hand and don’t require tapes, CDs, records or anything to be inserted in order to play songs, and computers where one person can sit woolgathering and somebody half a world away can read the words and send a comment back immediately. Wonder what Christmas will be like in 2050. One thing I hope – that it will always be full of old-fashioned love and joy.
Here are some quotes on an old-fashioned Christmas and what makes the best presents to give and get at Christmas. At least I think so. I love getting books and I wish I had time to read all the books I’m giving my kids before I have to wrap them. Everybody always gets a book. It’s a long standing tradition in our house. And of course, love and your gift of time is always the very best and most valuable gift you can give.
- “Do give books – religious or otherwise – for Christmas. They’re never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal.” — Lenore Hershey
- “They err who think Santa Claus comes down through the chimney; he really enters through the heart.” — Mrs. Paul M. Ell
- “Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” — Hamilton Wright Mabi
- “Christmas–that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance–a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.” — Augusta E. Rundel
Hope you can take time to enjoy the special time of Christmas. And that you know a child with Christmas stars in his or her eyes.
Leave a comment about how Christmas has changed or maybe a Christmas memory you have to get your name in a drawing for your choice of one of my books.
Here are the giveaway details. I’ll pick a winner each weekend until 2024. (Wow, doesn’t that sound like into the future?) This is and extra busy time of the year, but don’t worry. I’ll give the winners I pick each week extra time to pick a prize book. To enter, a comment here is all it takes. The first winner won’t be eligible for the other two weeks, but I’ll still love seeing your comments. Everybody else’s name will stay in the drawing. And as always, a comment on a new post means an extra entry. Deadline for all entries is midnight EST Friday, December 29, 2023.
This post is mostly a copy of one I did in 2008, but I had forgotten what I wrote. So, I figured if any of you read it back then, you’d probably forgotten too. Now I’d better get back to getting ready for my family to come celebrate this weekend.
Comments 19
Years ago we would have a nice Christmas Eve dinner with family and extended family members. Then open some of the presents. Now with the loss of family members over the years and my parents being older, it’s now a Christmas Eve lunch.
Author
Traditions do change and the happiest families are those that can weather that change and still hold to the love and joy of getting together and staying in touch if too many miles separate them. And somehow we manage to hold onto some of those precious memories and traditions, Diana.
Christmas has changed for me with the loss of family members. It’s a small celebration for us now, but just us three. We have Christmas breakfast together and open our gifts. Still lots of love though.
Author
Our Christmas morning will be a little lonely without my daughter here this year. She was here this weekend and they are going to visit her brother-in-law in Florida this year. Only fair, but I’ll miss them being here on Christmas morning. We might go check out the gifts my nearby family gets on Christmas morning and have breakfast with them this year.
One of my favorite Christmas memories is of my daughter when she was a little over a year old. There was a house two blocks over from ours where she could see the roof top from her bedroom window and they had placed a Santa and sleigh up on top. She was not a big talker yet, but I will always remember the first time she saw Santa out of her window as she pointed and with great wonder and awe said “Ta”, meaning Santa. We still tell that story every Christmas.
Author
That’s so cute, Becky. That song about Santa up on the housetop was one she surely enjoyed.
I still count down to Christmas even though my fondest memories include family members that have long gone to meet Jesus, But new memories are now with my children grandchildren and great grandchildren. My the time goes fast, but enjoy every minute of Christmas with them.
It is funny to read your post because I saw a thing on Facebook that a friend shared about how when we were kids there weren’t “cell phones and tablets” to look at during breakfast-that we read the back of the cereal box. Life has changed a lot especially in the past two decades and gifts tend to be a lot different now, but like you, I hope that being together with family and enjoying the joy of Christmas together never changes. I hope you have a wonderful time with your family this weekend.
Author
Thanks, Hope. I used to read those cereal boxes too. You had to have something to read. 🙂
My favorite memory is gathering at my grandparents homes…we alternated which one we visited each year. One set was close by, but there were no cousins on that side to play with, but we always received awesome gifts. My other grandparents lived in Paint Lick, which was my favorite because I also got to see my great-grandparents and a bunch of cousins. The gifts there were usually handmade from Mamaw or something handpicked from Papaw….I still have many of them. The small things are always the best!
We no longer gather with cousins but my kids/grandkids all try to all get together. It’s hard to do sometimes with 2 nurses and a train engineer and all their erratic schedules. This year I have two grandkids that are turning sweet 16 on Christmas Eve and a new baby, so the celebration will be fun! We’re gathering this weekend because everyone is off. I am NOT ready yet! Good thing I work well (possibly better) under pressure. 🙂
Have a very Merry & Blessed Christmas everyone!
Author
We had our Christmas here yesterday, Lavon, which is why I’m slow reading these comments. I was definitely not ready with the Christmas meal, but my daughter and her husband helped. If they hadn’t we might have not gotten to eat until today!! I am getting slower or maybe it’s that the family is bigger and I have to cook more. I’ll go with that instead of the older and slower. LOL
I’ll go with a memory, because I still count down to Christmas with excitement!
My closest sister and I are only 15 months apart in age ( she’s older,ha,ha) so at Christmas we usually got the same presents, maybe a different color of whatever it was.
Every year for Christmas,we would sit with our backs to each other and open gifts, so we wouldn’t see the other person’s gift until we saw our own. Then we would see exactly what the other had gotten.
Funny thing is, our little brothers got the same gifts as each other also, but they never felt the need to sis back to back.
Thank you Ann, for taking me back to those days in my sweet memories.
Author
My twin boys open presents at the same time because of getting so many of the same things, Lisa. But I never had them sit back to back. That would have been good since sometimes they were opening different presents.
My Christmas has changed with the passing of my parents, my siblings aging and not traveling, and my kids never visit for the holidays as they live so far away. So we are alone.
I remember making tracks in the snow as my dad cut down a fresh cedar tree.
We used to go to my grandparents’ houses when I was little. Now that both sets of grandparents are gone we go to my parents’ home for Christmas.
My favorite memory is going to my grandparents’ houses. I now enjoy taking my children to grandparents’ houses. So much has changed but this is still a very special time for them and I hope it will be some of their favorite memories also.
Our family Christmas has changed the last few years. We used to gather and celebrate for several days. Now, everyone is scattered over the country and can’t make the trip every year. We’re a smaller group, but, nonetheless happy making memories for the young ones.
My family growing up was so large with all the aunts, uncles, cousins, parents and Grandparents. My parents and grandparents and just recently my aunts and uncles have all passed away. Now it is just my two children, their spouses, one grandchild and my sister and her husband. I so miss my grandparents and parents; Christmas has not been the same for me since I lost them. I still try to make it special for those with me.