Favorite Holiday Memory

I'm guessing that our members probably have some pretty good stories. What I remember the most is being so pumped up that I couldn't even sleep the night before. It was the only night of the year when I wanted to go to bed. I also need to mention how much I miss those pajamas with the feet in them.

Best gift I ever received was a puppy.

Boomers.

In keeping with European tradition, Santa comes on Christmas Eve and not morning. My sisters and I would stay in the downstairs flat with my great aunt while SAnta would come upstairs. My parents had a bell (which I still have) to signal Santa is leaving and we could go upstairs. One Christmas my sisters and I all looked out the window when we heard the bell and we all "saw a blur of Santa's sleigh and reindeer". It was the only time it happened and we all saw it. Not sure what exactly it was, but to this day I believe in Santa.

Ana

When I was young and lived on Long Island, we had a two story house with the bedrooms upstairs and the tree downstairs. We always left Cookies and Pepsi for Santa (Mom said Santa didn't like milk). One Christmas Eve, my sister and I sneaked halfway down the stairs and there was DAD eating the cookies and drinking the Pepsi. When we caught him, he panicked and promised to put out more for Santa. Naughty Dad. Never will forget the look on his face when he was CAUGHT.

Ana,

What a great memory.

Santa rocks!

UK tradition is that Santa visits once all the children are asleep. So, the Christmas Eve warning was always .... No sleep ?? No Santa !!

I can't tell you how many times it was 4am or even later before Santa was able to gain entry

And then us parents were awakened (awakened ??) at 5am to screams of "He's Been !!" He's been !!". And all the mad unwrapping started !!

Ahhhh. Those were the days

I remember the Christmas hubby had 4 bikes, a Pinball machine, and Basketball hoop to put together. He barely got finished before the boys were up. No sleep that night.

It seems like no sleep is a common theme.

I remember one Christmas finding some presents my Mom had hidden.

There was a big box with my name on it!

I couldn't resist. I opened it carefully and then rewrapped it. She never knew.

Santa always came on Christmas Eve at our house too. As we were all leaving for the Christmas Eve church services, dad always "forgot" something. My younger brother, sister and I never did catch on! So Santa had always visited while we were in town at church. Although we stayed up late, I'm sure my parents got lots more sleep that way!

When we lived in Austin, Texas, we had a skinny black cat named Shetan and she was a shetan. Anyway Christmas morning I was comming downstairs to laughter,unwraping, kids fighting -all this not unusual but there precariously clinging at the very top of tree where the star used to be was Shetan. Gasp!!! and at that moment tree and cat slowly at first tipped and then crash bang -all my family ornaments rolling around the floor, most broken for good. Oh well nothing lasts forever. Kids never noticed it. And oh yes, the tree was artificial and the fall bent the trunk but wee used it anyway for many more years.