My Favorite Childhood Memories ~ Part One

Merry Christmas, Friends!

This will probably be my last post for 2018 simply because the Christmas season is officially here and I am taking some time away from Blog Land to spend time with my family and friends for the remainder of the year. I'm sure you understand. We've had fun kicking off the season and I'll be sharing all that at some point in January, I'm sure, but for now, I just wanted to say, thank you to my friends and readers, who for some crazy reason, still read our family blog. Apparently, much joy comes from reading my written "therapy sessions." Ha! I hope you and your family have a VERY Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year! 

Today I'm sharing some favorite childhood Christmas memories in lieu of the season.  I even went over to my mom and dad's SPECIFICALLY to find the pictures I needed to go along with the memory. I've decided to break this post up into two parts, so you'll have to come back in about 365 days to read part two! Ha! This post is a little long, but stay with me. Here we go!

My earliest childhood Christmas memory is from 1978. I was five, which means that my brother, Michael, was one. We lived in a moderate sized home that had a formal living room with a huge front window that over looked the main street of our neighborhood, and yes, avocado green shag carpet! Our Christmas tree was about five feet and it stood in front of that huge window. I asked Santa for a kitchen set that year. Up until then, Daddy had taken cardboard boxes and drew circles on them to resemble stove burners and I wanted no part of that anymore. I wanted an "official" kitchen with "real" dishes. Santa came through with the goods.

A few weeks before Christmas 1979, Mama bought me some lavender tweed pants and a velour top to match. She must have ordered them from Sears or JC Pennys because I remember her taking the clothes out of clear plastic wrap and making me try them on to see if they fit. I complained so much about the pants itching. I guess Santa overlooked my groaning because those things showed up with the pram that I asked for and needed for all those dolls I had. I loved that pram and it was probably my most favorite childhood gift from Santa. I got a pink and white roll top desk that year, too!

My mom worked for a huge insurance company and every year, they had a Christmas party for the employees' children. In this kid's eyes, the party was massive with gifts and toys and cookies and red punch. And of course, Santa was there. You attended the party based on what area of the company you worked in and since my mom worked in the biggest area, our "shift" was chaos! Wrapping paper flying, kids screaming and crying, punch spilling, but I thought it was bliss! I remember the year my Mom showed me her desk where she worked and I just thought that was the coolest thing ever to get to sit in her chair!

Eventually, Mama put a six foot Christmas tree on lay-a-way for one hundred dollars at a local store. I used that tree as our family tree until a few years ago and the receipt is still in the box! With the new tree came a new display place and so we moved it into our den, which was off the kitchen area. I can only remember one Christmas of having a real tree and it was the ugliest thing I'ld ever seen! Daddy complained about the needles getting stuck to the shag carpet. 

Looking back at these pictures makes me realize how, even as a young girl, I had a love for red dresses (and white tights!). The first dress was red velvet. The dress with Santa was long and the pinafore was embroidered with red cherries. When the dress got too short, Mama cut and hemmed it to make is shorter so that I could wear the dress for another season. The last dress was red with white polka dots and a rather huge white collar. 

One more story. In the picture with Santa, do you see how short my hair is? That was the shortest my hair ever was until the fifth grade. My mother, for some CRAZY reason, sent my dad and I to get my hair cut. I remember when we got home, my mother was mortified. She was SO mad at my dad for getting my hair cut that short. I didn't think anything of it, but she didn't talk to him for a while because of it. Too funny. 

God bless you all and may your Christmas be full of wonderful holiday memories, too!