I've experienced Christmas at so many different stages in my lives. The magical Santa years, the childhood years where there is so much anticipation and hope that your parent will buy the most wished for present. The teen years where you'd just rather be celebrating with friends rather than being driven all over the state to visit family. The magic started again when I became a parent. Doing my best to make each year special and memorable for each of my kids.
For me as a very young child I can't recall any gifts I wished for. The first present I clearly recall finding from Santa was my "Cry Baby" doll that would make a crying noise when you flipped her over. She came placed in a small doll size crib and a little dresser (I think was made of cardboard). She had a few different outfits. I had that doll well into my adult years. She was always my favorite. The last time I saw her she was at my Mom's house in the antique baby cradle. She was there for years... then suddenly she wasn't. Mom did not know what happened to her. I still get sad not knowing. I now have the cradle in my home, but it looks sad without her in it.
Barbie dolls and Barbie accessories dominated the next few years as she became all the rage. Barbie, Ken, Midge, Skipper, Francie, and I even had Tutti and Todd with their playhouse. My sister Ginger had the first Dreamhouse - all cardboard including the furniture. I rarely got to play with it until she felt like she was too old for it. We had a box full of outfits for them that we all had to share. My mom would sew some of the clothes for them. I even made a few outfits myself - nothing fancy mind you, nut it was a good way to use up fabric scraps from my mom's sewing projects.
Once I was too old for Santa, I dove into the Sears Christmas Wishbook. I probably drove my Mom crazy showing her everything I wanted. I would even go through it with a pen and circle everything I wanted. I rarely got anything from it, but it sure was fun to dream.
There was one Christmas that lost it's magic. Just a few weeks before the big day my parents wet to a football game with my two older siblings and left me home with Ginger. I was maybe eight or nine. Ginger knew where Mom had hidden the presents and convinced me to go have a peek at them. Well she went through nearly everyone of them, so we knew what we would be getting. Mom figured it out pretty quick what we had done and made me feel even worse. There was no anticipation that year. No magic. I don't think the true magic of Christmas ever fully returned in the years that followed.
As I entered my teen years the presents were mostly clothes. Maybe a portable radio, the days of walkmans and Mp3's were still a decade away. I always looked forward to Christmas morning. I was rarely disappointed in the clothes my mom picked out.
Christmas became magical once I had my own kids. I loved buying for them and then seeing the excitement on their faces on Christmas morning. We created our own traditions, yearly pictures with Santa, A big Christmas eve dinner and the opening of one gift. On Christmas Day we would go out for a brunch buffet after all presents had been opened and played with for a bit. We didn't spend too many Christmases away from home as it was too much to take a family of five and all the presents to the grandparents. I think we did one year in New York at Steve's parents and one at my parents house in Gatesville. We did have each of them to our house for a Christmas.
I will never forget one Christmas after we had moved into the House on Woodland Lane. It was a big two story. I had hidden the presents in the attic that year. We put very few presents under the tree prior to Christmas eve. I had thought the kids no longer believed in Santa, but I still loved to see the joy on their face when they came down the stairs and saw all the presents that had magically appeared overnight. Well we had thought the kids were asleep before we went up to the attic to retrieve the presents but they heard the noise. They didn't get up but stayed quietly in bed. The next morning when they came down they were so excited and were telling us about how they had heard Santa on the roof. I don't think they ever figured out that the attic was where I his the presents every year. That was a great Christmas.
Christmas in Ireland was usually a quiet holiday that Alan and I celebrated together, alone. I loved how at that time Christmas in Ireland was more traditional and less commercial. It really was more a time of celebrations and family. Christmas Eve Mass, a few drinks in the pub with friends, and on St. Stephen's Day (the 26th) was still a holiday that was celebrated by visiting friends and family. Even after returning to Texas we kept our celebrations fairly low key. The only change was is that Alan really got into the spirit of decorating the outside of the house and yard. He eventually took over half the shed with all the decor and lights he had accumulated. If it didn't move - it had lights on it! When first Caleb was born and then Abate and Fantu joined the fun, Christmas became a family affair again. It was a true blending of cultures. It was also a difficult time for them as the celebrations here were so alien to them compared to what they had in Ethiopia. The emotions were often conflicted and at times stressful. But on their first Christmas in Texas it had snowed overnight - A WHITE CHRISTMAS IN TEXAS!! Never had I ever seen one. It was magical and they believed it had snowed just for them.
So now we are back to all the kids being grown. Is there still something magical about Christmas? I do really enjoy how the Christmas spirit seems to touch everything and everyone. There is something in the air this time of year that maybe is just a bit magical.
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