Christmas memories...

[DDDVIOAUS]

I love Christmas, it can be the happiest of times for most of us, but it can also bee sad for some.... I want to remember the good....So I can up with a few questions to ask of the charms... about their Christmas memories and traditions.... I promise a Christmas tip to the the charm with the answer that makes us smile the most. I think it would be fun to share these memories and times...with others... Just think if we all could be round a huge fire, drinking cocoa or egg nog, noshing on cookies and treats and sharing our memories....

1. What is the oldest Christmas memory you can remember?
2. What is the best Christmas you have as an adult?
3. What is your favorite Christmas tradition you or your family had when you were a child?
4. What is the most favorite Christmas tradition you have now as an adult?
5 What do you miss most about Christmas from when you were little?
6. What would be your fondest Christmas wish for all your fans and fellow Charms.

[Dixie Summer]

1. What is the oldest Christmas memory you can remember?
I have a terrible memory so I'll pick a fond one from childhood. I remember one year I was at my grandparents with my sisters and cousins. I guess I was around 8? There were five of us cousins they deemed the Frisky Five because we stayed into everything. Well we decided that we were going to go around the neighborhood singing Christmas Carols. It was a small. rural town and people didn't worry so much back then. So, the five of us went around the neighborhood singing. One lady gave us some old Halloween candy and another $10. We took the $10 and bought her a light up house to give her. That made me feel so good!

2. What is the best Christmas you have as an adult?
I would probably have to say that last Christmas was the best I've had. My mom has ALS, so I help care for her. Last year she stayed with us for christmas along with our middle son, his wife, and my two grandbabies (I have 4 now!). This was the first Christmas in a long time that I got to experience christmas morning with children so young! I turned out to be the one putting everything together while everyone socialized, but I've never been so happy to do it! See, I have 4 stepchildren and none of my own. The three boys I have with my husband were around 12, 14, and 18 when we got together and my now 19 year old daughter was my previous husband's daughter. When you have kids, enjoy those Christmas mornings with the kids so excited! There is no better feeling in the world!

3. What is your favorite Christmas tradition you or your family had when you were a child?
My favorite family tradition as a child was decorating our stockings! My parents didn't have a lot of money, but they would buy us the plain red stockings and glitter paint! That was always so much fun and I've continued it with my own family. I even had my students do it in class a few times. Everyone loves decorating their own stockings!

4. What is the most favorite Christmas tradition you have now as an adult?
I think my favorite tradition now is decorating my Christmas tree! (You can see it in my pics!) Somewhere along the line, I got all Froofroo (is that a word?) and now I have decorating competitions with myself. I have to do it better than last year! I always get lots of compliments on it.This year is rose gold, gold, and silver....covered in ribbon and flowers! I'll probably leave it up till April like I did last year! Christmas tree, Valentines tree, Easter tree.....LMAO!

Wait I have another that my kids like best! The stockings! Every Christmas Eve, I take all the stockings into my bedroom where I have bags of candy and dollar tree toys. I meticulously divide all the candy up evenly among 8-10 stocking and fill them with silly stuff like flarp and light up pens or whatever (This is for my adult children also.) I get those stockings packed and this is always my kids favorite tradition!

5 What do you miss most about Christmas from when you were little?
I miss the excitement leading up to Christmas morning. Can we please just open one gift? Puhlease? I remember my little sister waking me up super early and we watched and waited patiently while my parents slowly got up, made coffee, got settled, and then it was GO TIME! Now, we never tore into them. All the gifts were handed out from under the tree first (which I still do...many pics of my butt while digging them all out too). After everyone had their stacks of gifts, mom and dad would direct us as to what to open first. I have 2 sisters, so they had us open similar presents together. Money did not matter at that time. Everything was perfect. Then, afterwards we would have fashion shows in our new clothes while dad worked on getting all of our toys open! Bliss!

6. What would be your fondest Christmas wish for all your fans and fellow Charms.
Remember that Christmas is about giving. I heard on the radio one day that a church was going to restaurants on Thanksgiving and buying say...a cup of coffee and then leaving a $50 tip! This would be great for Christmas also! Think of others and be kind. Even a smile, or opening a door, or giving a compliment can make someone's day. I always think of something nice to say to the people that are running the checkout. Your eyelashes are amazing or that shirt is super cute. That frown turns into a smile very quickly. We all have that power. This year I'm pretty low on cash due to covid, so I think I will start a new tradition. My husband and I sometimes like to drive up and down the interstate flashing truckers (with a sign asking permission of course). This Christmas I think I'll throw on my Santa hat and flash those lonely truckers stuck working on Christmas day! My way of making some holiday cheer!

I hope I was able to get a few smiles from this! Merry Christmas!

[SultrySerenaSC2]

1. What is the oldest Christmas memory you can remember?

I can't say it's my oldest memory, but it's one that stands out, probably because it was so hilarious. I was 16, my sister was 14. We had gotten a new dresser for Christmas. One of long wide ones, not the tall chest ones. We shared a bedroom, so the dresser was to be shared too. It had 3 smaller drawers on top, 2 larger ones in the middle and 2 on the bottom rows. After all the present unwrapping was done, my sis and I went to our room and started putting our stuff into our new dresser. We didn't close our door all the way, leaving it open about 4 or 5 inches. Everything was split even, EXCEPT for that danged third drawer up top. I figured since I was oldest, I should get the extra drawer. So I started putting my bras and little bikini panties in that drawer. Which my sister promptly began pulling out of the drawer. She had decided the drawer was hers. No reason given So she started pulling my bras and panties out and putting her stuff in! Well no way was that happening, I mean I called dibbs, I'm the oldest, the drawer was mine! So I yanked her stuff out and put mine back in. She yanked my stuff out and started throwing it at me, so I threw her stuff at her.......We're arguing quietly. I mean it is Christmas and we don't want our dad to hear us fighting. So we're throwing bras and panties all over the room, and whisper arguing. And one of the bras, can't remember if it was hers or mine, ended up stuck on the top corner of the door. And then there's my dad, looking through the partly open door, saying "What the hell is going on in here?" and the bra FELL! Right on our dads head! He didn't find it funny........We didn't dare laugh. So we promised to knock it off and he went back to the living room. My sis got a red felt pen and wrote her name in the drawer!!!! To this day I can't remember who ended up getting that stupid third drawer. BUT the really funny thing is that my sister keeps everything. And 34 years later, she still has that silly dresser! And her name is still visible inside that drawer!

2. What is the best Christmas you have as an adult?

My best Christmas as an adult would have to be a recent one. My grandson, who is 5 now, was born over 2 months prematurely. Because of this, he was intubated and in an incubator thing for quite awhile. For two months, he had all these tubes and lines and stuff. He had to stay in the hospital in NICU for two months. He missed his first Christmas....But the next Christmas was the best! I can't remember details of the day, but it was simply because he was home, and he was fine and healthy that made it the best Christmas I've ever experienced.

3. What is your favorite Christmas tradition you or your family had when you were a child?

We always opened one gift on Christmas Eve. Which was good because my dad would always have to take a shower, shave, get dressed etc on Christmas day and we had to wait. We could go through our stockings and see the unwrapped stuff "Santa" left us, but couldn't open any gifts til my Dad was ready. So on Christmas Eve we would pick the package that really had our curiosity up and open that one first

4. What is the most favorite Christmas tradition you have now as an adult?

Well, my husband and I no longer do this family tradition because we don't have kids at home any longer, BUT it has been passed down to our kids and their kids.
On Christmas Eve, we would have something easy and quick for and EARLY dinner, hot dogs, nachos or something. Then after dinner, we would dig out the VHS tapes of all the Christmas shows, and I mean ALL of them. And we'd sit there and watch every one of them. (I'd usually read or something because I'm really not a fan of cartoons, even Christmas ones) I'd make hot chocolate complete with marshmallows and whipped cream. We wouldn't go to bed til after midnight. Then the next morning, I'd be the first one up. Usually around 5 am. I'd start the coffee and when we had a fire place, light the fire. Then I'd go wake everyone up around 6 am

5 What do you miss most about Christmas from when you were little?

The FEELING of Christmas. The excitement. Unfortunately it's just not the same when you get older. I miss getting a real tree and making a day of decorating it and then counting down the days until Christmas.

6. What would be your fondest Christmas wish for all your fans and fellow Charms.

To enjoy every day like it's Christmas. To keep the magic alive all during the year and not let things get in the way. To make memories with your family and friends all year long.

[DDDVIOAUS]

Many grateful thank yous to Dixie and Serena the Sultry for taking the time to share their Christmas memories with us. Ladies some of your memories and traditions brought back fond memories for me. We grew up not having much, but mom always liked to share. She would always bake the weekend before Christmas , tons of cookies and things. My aunt would help and then her husband would deliver them on Christmas Eve, taking my sister and I along. Thought it was kindness which it might have been but also to get to nosy kids out of the house so our presents could be wrapped. We would start late afternoon and finish up around 8PM. We would listen to the local radio station and their tracking and following of Santa as we drove. See the faces of those people getting and appreciating something so simple as a tin of homemade cookies always stuck with me. I think that is where I got my sometimes insane desire to do for others. Has always been something that has driven me. So I thought up this "contest" if you will. I had hoped to get more than two responses. I thought I would add 10 dollars into a pot for each set of answers and the person with the best answers that impressed me the most would win the pot. So I think Dixie Summer wins the 20 dollars. Thank you Dixie and Sultry Serena for taking part... Serena for helping me with this and being so kind. Merry Christmas..........

[SultrySerenaSC2]

Wonderful memories , from you and Dixie
Thank you both for sharing yours.
I hope you all have a very magical holiday.
Wishing you and your families the very best

[Doris_Dawn]

1. What is the oldest Christmas memory you can remember?

Back in the 1970s, a Christmas tree 'needed' to have fake snow on its branches, and that was cotton-wool. Sure, then came the true candles which had to be lit, with matches, right on Christmas Eve. By me [13] and by my sister [10]. What could go wrong?? Well, dad was fortunately there when we candidly put the tree on fire and, opening the window, he threw the whole Christmas tree out, with a firm volley. We were living at the third floor. Though involuntary, that was quite a show. Not just for our family.

2. What is the best Christmas you have as an adult?

The Christmas of 2010, when mom came to visit.

3. What is your favorite Christmas tradition you or your family had when you were a child?

On Christmas Eve: decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols, finding the presents under the tree.

4. What is the most favorite Christmas tradition you have now as an adult?

On Christmas Eve: decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols, placing the presents under the tree, having dinner with all kids at home, playing Monopoly till early hours.
On Christmas Day: going to church in the morning, the whole family, having a festive lunch and then watching digitized mp4s of decades old VHS tapes from other Christmases, when kids were little.


5 What do you miss most about Christmas from when you were little?

My parents.


6. What would be your fondest Christmas wish for all your fans and fellow Charms.

To all our brave fans and to all my sister charms: stay healthy and confident, keep praying and hope because the coming year will rock! Like in heavily and crazily!!

Like in that song by Twisted Sister: We're Not Gonna Take It.

It will be epic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xmckWVPRaI

[Dixie Summer]

Thank you! I really enjoyed sharing! I love Christmas! Merry Christmas to all!

[Doris_Dawn]

Thank you! I really enjoyed sharing! I love Christmas! Merry Christmas to all!

A lovely Christmas Day we had, with all kids home, again, and even with a surprise visit in the morning.
God is good.

A very Merry Christmas to you all !!