What's your favorite/best childhood Christmas memory?

[Eve]

I remember being so excited with the Christmas lights on and the tree lit up, and listening on the radio to find out where Santa was before bed. I loved that feeling of excitement and wonder. My parents were both happy and smiling, my brother and I were close and enjoying each others company... and it truly felt magical.

What is your favorite/best childhood Christmas memory?

 

[Mum21boy1girl]

I think my favorite memories, are looking up at the colourful twinkling Christmas lights, i still feel nostalgic when i look at colourful lights now!
Also sneaking around with my older brother looking for hidden present stashes lol
And going to my dads work Christmas eve with him to watch the outdoor Christmas carol's by candlelight (Its summer in Australia at Christmas, so was nice to do this as the sun was setting)

 

[DCS]

We always used to go to my nans on Christmas eve. I used to love it. All the family would gather together and the grown ups would sit around chatting and cooking. Me, my brother , and my cousins would be playing. It was great. Then we would do it all again on Christmas day.

On year on the way home, I saw Santa sleigh in the sky and I heard bells. Me and my brother were so excited. I remember rushing through the front door and trying to get changed so we could get into bed before Santa left our area.

It was magical.

 

[faith82]

Our local garden centre has an amazing winter wonderland. There's a train ride to start with then you walk around and there's loads of different christmas scenes to look at then you visit santa at the end. Santa has his reindeer there also. We used to go every christmas eve. It was so magical. It's one of my favourite memories. In fact I've never missed a year since I was a child. I used to go with mum before having the kiddies, just the two of us on our own lol. Now I get to take my two and watch their faces light up.

 

[Bevziibubble]

The big Santa's grotto we used to go to. It had so many lights and decorations, it was magical

 

[hopeandpray]

I remember going to christmas mass once and the electricity went so the whole mass was by candlelight, it was really magical.
I also remember being really young and getting a christmas tape to listen to on christmas eve.
I loved waking up on Christmas and being so excited to realise that it was finally here!

 

[Mummy May]

We lived in a dorma bungalow and me and my brother were upstairs and there was a glass door at the bottom. I remember waking my brother up, then going down to check if 'he' had been, then shouting my brother down! The tree was just the other side of the door. xx

 

[Scout]

Several of my aunts and uncles and cousins would come to our house on Christmas Eve and the adults would sit around the table and play cards and is kids would play and watch tv. We'd order pizza in.

Also, seeing what Santa brought. Our tree was in the family room off the kitchen, so I'd wake up and go downstairs and into the kitchen and look thru the pass thru window into the family room to see everything. I never went directly into the family room, always stopped in the kitchen to look thru. I don't know why. Anyways, our santa presents weren't wrapped, so I could see what it all was and I remember feeling so excited I was shaking. It was so fun.

 

[purplespecs]

I used to love going to the children's crib service on Christmas Eve with my sisters and cousins (plus mum and aunt). We'd then walk back to my cousins' house where my dad and uncle had lit the fire and made everybody hot chocolates or snowballs. We'd all sit together and watch a Christmas film while we waited for the local Lions Club to come down the road with Santa on the back of a trailer! Once we'd seen Santa go down the road we'd head home for an early night. It was always the same every year... I miss it so much. I haven't seen my cousins since we grew up and moved to opposite ends of the country.

 

[Amarna]

I loved Christmas Eve with my mom's side of the family. We'd all go to my grandmother's house and later my aunt's once my grandmother had passed and have a big potluck meal, get huge bags of presents from all our relatives and the adults would have some wine and chat while us kids all took turns playing video games (mostly Mario) on my uncle's old Nintendo console and hanging out.

Then Christmas Day we'd head over to my other grandma's for dinner and more presents with all the aunts and uncles on my dad's side. Grandma would make a huge meal, great-grandma would make the world's best cookies and the kids would all play until we ate, then go downstairs to open all the presents together as a family in one giant gift exchange.

Now I'm nostalgic and a bit sad. We haven't been able to do these things since we moved to NY and while I'm happy we've made our own traditions I miss doing what I did as a kid. Especially Christmas Day at my grandma's, she's got Alzheimer's now and just moved into a care facility this year, to think there will be no more Christmas's at my grandma's...

 

[Eve]

^

We used to come here (I live in my grandparents old home) and visit every Christmas Eve. Once grampy passed away in 2013, my grandmother moved in with my brother and we took over the house. Our first Christmas here was very bittersweet. We missed him terribly and all the memories that went with Christmas Eve here. Last Christmas we asked my grandmother to come stay with us, and it was so lovely but we had a few moments of tears missing grampy. You will always have your memories at her house Are you able to visit or are you too far now?

 

[Amarna]

My Grandpa still lives there because he wouldn't go to the facility with her but can't see anything (his eyes are going) which means he doesn't plan parties or anything obviously and my grandma was always the one to do all the planning anyway. So I do still visit when we do visit the area but we don't typically visit for Christmas because money is so tight for us (even tighter this year than normal) and it's about a 6 hour drive with iffy travel conditions.

 

[Eve]

Awe sorry to hear that

 

[Sarah lo]

Between the ages of 4 and 9 I lived in a little village that was really close-knit and Christmases there were just lovely. There were always Christmas fairs and plays to watch in the village hall, there were carol singing nights, I used to be in the Sunday school and we always put on a nativity play and on Christmas morning we used to go to the service in the tiny church. Our house had a coal fire and we used to put it on in the evening and my mum would read us Christmas stories by the firelight.

Every Christmas there was just magical and it was never the same after we moved away from that village.

 

[Eleanor ace]

Putting up the decorations and then coming downstairs the next morning and seeing the house looking all magical
Going to visit family and getting excited on the drive over spotting houses which had gone all out with decorations
Going for a walk on Christmas eve to look at houses which with fab decorations (I think I have a Christmas decoration fetish )
Going to a department store to see the big train set there and do some shopping

 

[Rhio92]

I remember, as a kid when my parents were still together, we'd do the decorations all day, then in the evening we'd sit in the living room with our pjs on, the Christmas lights and candles on, the light glittering off the shiny decorations, with Christmas music on. I remember feeling so happy and at peace.

 

[topsy]

Going up the city Christmas shopping with my dad on xmas eve I loved it xxx