Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: It’s Christmas Day (in the present or living memory) (11/27/08)
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TITLE: Country Christmas | Previous Challenge Entry
By Debbie Thorkildsen
12/04/08 -
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The only thing we were allowed to open before everyone was by the tree was our stockings. We used Dad’s big wool stockings. We always got an orange, an apple, a banana, a can of pop, a chocolate bar and a few other things. One year I got a jar of green olives in my stocking.
When I got a little older, I made my own stocking out of red felt and sewed it together with white yarn. This stocking had toes in it. I found a huge, round bubble gum in the big toe one year.
Usually one of us would peek out the window to see if there was much snow outside. Some years, there was no snow at all. It didn’t seem like Christmas with the grass showing. White Christmases were much more exciting than green grass or muddy brown Christmases.
When my parents finally made it to the tree, we’d pass out the gifts and open them. I didn’t like getting clothes, but I loved getting toys, crafts and things to do. After all the gifts were opened, we’d have to be coaxed to the table to have some breakfast. As soon as we finished eating, we would be off playing with our new toys again.
Usually in the late morning, we would call our cousins who lived next door to see what they got for Christmas. Every year, we called them before they were finished opening their gifts. There were seven children in that family, so I guess it took much longer for them to open their gifts than we took.
Some years we’d get to go tobogganing in the afternoon, especially if we got a new Crazy Carpet or a toboggan as a gift under the tree. This only happened if it was a white Christmas and there was lots of snow to slide down the hill on. Sometimes we’d go ice skating on the creek. This was a great way to break in new skates.
Sometimes we got to go and visit our cousins or have them come over and see our gifts on Christmas day. Sometimes we had to wait until later in the week because we were having company over for a big Christmas dinner. We always had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberries, coleslaw, jello, buns and a couple of different vegetables. For dessert, we usually had hot Christmas pudding with a sweet sauce. There were also lots of finger foods like crackers and cheese, olives, sweet and dill pickles, pickled beets, carrots and celery, butter tarts, rice krispie squares, and cake. We always had way too much food.
There was always a mountain of dishes to be washed after the Christmas meal, but even washing and drying dishes was fun with so many people helping and lots of interesting conversations and laughter.
We were usually still excited yet tired by evening on Christmas day. After being up so early and then having that big turkey dinner later in the day, we were ready to crawl into our beds with contented smiles on our faces.
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Since so many of these memories are common to lots of Americans, you might consider focusing more on the things that were unique to your Christmas. For example, I loved the olives, and the bubble gum.