How about a favorite Christmas memory from your childhood (houses, homemade, children)

[Jude1948]

I just told this to my GD yesterday.

I had an Aunt and Uncle who had no children, so they came to our house on Christmas Eve to watch me open my presents. Uncle Gene would always say to me......."Let's go see the pretty lights that are on the houses". Much to my disappointment, when we returned, Santa had already come and gone. I could never understand how that happened EVERY year.

[Alaskan Mutt]

The first Christmas I remember was when I was 4. We had recently moved from California to Montana. I remember hiding in an empty box so that I would catch Santa putting presents under the tree. Of course I fell asleep before Santa arrived. When I woke up, all of the stockings had been filled and a bunch more presents were under the tree.

I also remember my dad saying that Santa actually preferred brandy and fruitcake over milk and cookies. So every year we always left brandy and fruitcake for Santa.

[sun queen]

I am too crazed out of my mind with cooking details to remember the most touching Christmas moments, but one year my mother had a bright idea. She opened all our presents and laid them out on the sofa near the tree... I don't think I have ever been so disappointed in all my life. We got presents, but no boxes to open. I got a Baby Tender Love that year and I still have that doll today.

Gosh I miss my mom. The last Christmas we spent together we knew it would be our last. We celebrated on Christmas Eve. We exchanged gifts and each person had their 5 minutes. My mom told me something about life that I will never forget. She said "life is what u love and your living is in your giving." When things get tough I remember...

Thanks to the OP for taking me back there. And Alaskan Mut u have some great recollections too Merry Christmas Memories

[taigagirl]

My favourite Christmas memory is my Mom saving all the wrapping paper and bows from previous years, which she kept using year after year. She has a huge box of wrapping paper from years past stashed away. She started collecting wrapping paper in the 1950's. Occasionally she forgot to remove the gift tags or didn't want to cut into the paper even though the writing from the "donor" was written on the package.

Almost every year I have opened a gift that says "Merry Christmas 1966, Love Grandma and Grandpa and so on. Some of the paper is just amazing. The paper brings back memories of a simple time in my life of being raised on the Canadian prairie and being very thankful for those wonderful homemade mittens, slippers, pajamas or whatever.

We stopped using the paper a couple of years ago..we're all just really attached to the wonderful memories of the past, and the special times we all spent together. It was amazing getting a gift wrapped in 50 year old paper...