Homemade popcorn and construction paper garlands wrapped around a tree with different colored lights that took my Pop hours to untangle every year. Mom cooking Karo syrup into candy to make popcorn balls and chocolate squares. Real matchless crocheted stockings hanging over the radiator heater that shook the whole house every time it turned on. Hand knitted slippers. A turkey that got bigger every year. Home made corn bread stuffing, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes with real turkey gravy. Two or three homemade pumpkin pies. Mom stewed her own pumpkins and I can still remember the smell and the sound of the bubbles as they broke through to the surface of the sauce. We opened our new toys and posed for the family picture. Christmas cards were strung around the house. Seasons greetings from every family and friend that could and couldn't make it to our house for dinner. Santa would appear with a present that was ear marked for just one kid. The one toy we didn't have to share for one whole day. We got to stay up as late as we wanted and Pop would pick us each up and carry us to bed while we pretended to be asleep. He'd pull the blankets up to our chin and tuck them in all around us....
I remember Christmas...
December 20th, 2007 at 05:33 am
December 20th, 2007 at 05:57 am 1198130274
The memories are free, and what your mom and dad were all free or nearly so. Its a shame that we all expect to have to pull out the plastic for our "modern" memories.
December 20th, 2007 at 06:49 pm 1198176555
I am amazed I am doing many of these things purposely to keep things down to earth for my kids, i.e.
-Our girl scout troop 'party' featured 3 old-fashioned activities; stringing popcorn (the most popular), cutting paper garlands, and putting cloves into oranges. We did NOT make cookies
-I make homemade pumpking pie (with a whole pumpkin) most every year for Thanksgiving, and my kids help scoop out the seeds of course.
-It's been a couple years since making the popcorn balls. Messy! We cut out gingerbread cookies though a couple days ago in anticipation of a neighborhood piano recital tomorrow.
I live in the suburbs, not a farflung teensy place where time has stood still. I just want to decommercialize things as much as possible.