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Christmas Traditions I Remember

As I head out to visit family this week for a celebration, I think about past Christmases we had together… when I was a little girl. I remember Christmas dinners at my grandmother’s house and my mother’s house. House full of people. Local family and family from out of town. One of my uncles would tease me and say, “Uh oh! Uh oh! Here comes trouble!” I would get so riled up at him! Another one of my uncles would ask me my where my red glaces (glasses in a silly way) were. My mom’s family has a slew of funny words and isms that crack me up.

I remember one Christmas at my grandmother’s house. I had to be 3 maybe. It was around the time the Oopsie Daisy doll came out. One of my cousins had one and I remember hearing it crawl around the kitchen and the chatter about the doll that ensued. I remember hearing a loud tumble down the basement stairs, exclamations, and commotion. One of my older cousins had fallen down the stairs. He landed safe and sound with a plate of cake unharmed. That story would be told for years. I remember my grandmother’s smile, her graceful voice… vaguely now :(. She would stare off and talk to herself at times. She was tired.

My grandmother passed away when I was 9 years old. I remember my mother getting a call from an uncle saying that she was unresponsive. We rushed to the hospital. Family gathered in the ER. Bawling, hugs, and tears. I remember looking up at my mother and saying something along the lines of, “Mommy, does this mean that the family won’t be happy anymore?” It seems like ever since that day, it’s been hard to get all of the family together in one spot. I understand we all grow older, take on more responsibilities, and wander our ways. It is what it is, but I miss having all of the family together for celebrations.

A little backstory, my grandmother and grandfather (he passed away before I was born) had ten children. Ten. Seven girls, three boys. Part of me wants to have a large family… me being the only child and all. I can’t even count the the amount of cousins that I have. There are so many of us, me being the youngest. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s me becoming more aware of my age or having a little family of my own. I worry about my aunts and uncles as they grow older because I don’t want to lose them. I fear that Jayden and our future children won’t get to know them. Two of my aunts and an uncle have passed away already and it kinda puts things into perspective.

So without thinking, I would say my favorite Christmas tradition would be putting up the tree and gazing at its clear and multi-colored lights. Feeling like a kid again and reliving my childhood through Jayden’s eyes. But after being reminded of my childhood and reflecting, I’d have to say my favorite Christmas tradition (that I miss) is just having bunches and bunches of family in one place… cracking up, playing video games (Sega and Nintendo at the time), watching movies, and stuffing our faces. As much of an introvert I am… I actually enjoy it.

So while I try to create new traditions for our little family, decorating early, baking, stuffing stockings, and picking up cool ornaments each year, it’s the large family gatherings I enjoy the most. Now if you excuse me, I have a plane to catch. And here’s to hoping that I don’t lose my tough shell and go all best cry ever (Google it) all over the place.

Tell me, what are some of your favorite Christmas traditions and memories?

Rockin’ around the Christmas tree

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Yakini

Wednesday 14th of December 2011

The bests Christmases are definitely the ones where we all get together as a family - meaning, my three sisters and my mom and grandmother. I have so many special memories of celebrating the holidays together in one place, growing up - it's kind of sad now that we're all "grown up" and so spread out, including on different coasts. I hope we can all get together like that again soon.

Loved this post. I got choked up when you talked about the part about your grandmother. Aww! And love the last photo of your son in front of the tree. That is beautiful!

Shanice

Wednesday 14th of December 2011

Being from North Carolina, I can definitely relate to the isms and funny words that your family has. Mine has a lot of them too!

My favorite, and somewhat traumatic, Christmas memory involves the legendary fall of our Christmas tree. I was 8 years old, and I wanted one of those Vtech kid laptops so badly! I knew my parents bought it for me that Christmas, and I even knew which present it was under our Christmas tree. I had been studying this box for weeks. I studied the box so much that I could see the Vtech logo on the box through the wrapping paper. But my mom, trying to keep my gifts a secret and a surprise, told me that I did not get a Vtech laptop for Christmas. She said she just used a Vtech box to put another one of my gifts in it. I was determined to prove to her (and myself) that I got that laptop for Christmas. So one day, I was trying to pull my Vtech laptop from under the Christmas tree, but unbeknownst to me it was stuck. Next thing I know, our 7 foot Christmas tree came tumbling down. I still thank God to this day that that tree did not fall on me! LOL

The Suburbanista

Saturday 10th of December 2011

I used to the cut the hair off of barbies when I was younger so one year mcdonalds was giving out barbies during christmas. Still to this day mom pulls out what we now call Susan Powter barbie on a sleigh for the tree. She is bald with lots of random hair popping out of her head in the holes that used to hold all her hair. LOL

tracey kenard

Tuesday 6th of December 2011

My fave memory is of my parents going to get the tree; us decorating it; my mom filling huge bowls with fruit, nuts, & candy in each room (downstairs) and playing Christmas music on the 'stereo.' Then when all the Holiday cartoons started coming on, I was SO excited! I, too, have only 1 child & he's a grown young man now, so I really miss the excitement of the 'wait for Santa." My family doesn't all gather, either :-(. The only tradition I can say I stand by is always having a live tree.  By the way: I DIED @ "best cry ever" - hilarious. :-)

Melissa @ ConsumerQueen

Monday 5th of December 2011

Christmas is my favorite time of year. When I was little we would all go to grandmas house and open Christmas presents. Now that I am married and have Children of my own, part of me wants to have Christmas at our house to enjoy those special moments alone and part of me wants to continue the tradition we started a few years ago which was to spend the night and Daniels mom's house and open presents in the morning. My kids getting older now and I know it's only a matter of time when they will be gone.   I was so sad this year when my kids did not want to help decorate the tree :(

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