Community Chat

[Annabellethecat66]

I was always a do it yourself kind of person.  I stained all of the wood in my house, hung all of the wallpaper, painted every wall and on and on.......when I was young(er).

I'm about to turn 71 in a few days and have found myself (being unlike me) as in Yuck (getting old stinks)....So, I've been trying to give myself an attitude adjustment.

Due to a bad back I can't do much these days.  I'm in good health otherwise.

So, I've always tried to find the goodness in others and pluck out the joys of life these days.

My late husband and I waited 7 years to have our first baby.  We talked about how we were going to raise our children and that they'd have a wonderful, magical childhood.  They'd get to go places and do things we never got to do.  And...guess what?  We did it!

We'd be at a restaurant and suddenly decide to take a trip somewhere.  Within 2 weeks we'd be packed and on our way.  I didn't work and my husband owned his own companies and could pretty much do whatever he wanted. 

Once we were eating out and decided to go to Europe for 2 weeks....In a short time we were on our way.  We loved it so much we stayed a total of 29 days, 29 days and 19 hotels all through Europe.  The only ahead place we reserved was in London and when we got there I didn't like the place so we went immediately to another hotel.  You could never do something like that these days.

Anyway, I'm finally getting to the point.....I know, you're thinking...."about time".

Especially this time of year (all day long today) my 3 adult daughters are texting myself and their sisters sending pictures of what they've been up to.  

For instance my oldest daughter and her husband always takes her children (4 of them) to a holiday light show in the Northern Va area.  It's amazing and so beautiful.  It's so large you must drive around it.  She's been sending us pictures talking about how we always did that.

Then the middle daughter (she lives in Florida) today was showing us her Christmas decorations and in her neighborhood you decorate the golf carts and ride through the neighborhood.  She has so many blow up tacky decorations it's funny.  (Just like we did).

The youngest daughter this weekend lives in Colorado and is skiing in some little town.  She's been walking around with her boyfriend doing face time with us.

I guess my point is as we all get old(er) we can sit back and see how it was all worth the time and effort we put into making memories with our children.  They are now passing it on to their children.

One will say, "Mom, remember when Dad opened the sunroof and we stood up and saw the lights?  Remember decorating the wagon and walking through the neighborhood?  Remember on Christmas Eve we put on our PJ's and rode through neighborhoods and saw the decorations."

In old town where we live people put out milk jugs with candles all along the driveway and streets on Christmas Eve.  It's so magical.

I always baked cookies, cakes, you name it on Christmas Eve and the days leading up to it.  I believed in totally decorating everything.....

This Christmas my oldest daughter is going to spend Christmas with her sister and family.  They are going through a difficult time and she's spending Christmas Eve, Day and the day after with them.  It was her idea and I think it's wonderful.  

Take a few minutes and tell us what some of your holiday (be it Christmas or Hanukkah) or whatever kind of celebrations you did.  It's fun to reminisce.

With each text my girls send out it triggers memories of wonderful times and let's me know it was all worth it.

[roxxy1]

@Annabellethecat66  Your daughters are lucky to have a mom like you.

One of my favorite Christmas memories is when my parents would wait till we all went to sleep on Christmas Eve to decorate the tree.

We woke up to find a beautiful tree with all the presents under it.  They told us Santa decorated it, and we truly believed it.  Magical !!

Peace be with you ~~~~~

[AuntG]

They certainly are making memories using the things you did as a guide. That has to make you feel good.

[spud188]

Only C'mas memories I have was when I was sent to live with an Aunt and Uncle. Have zero memories with my own family on Christmas. 

My husband comes from a big Catholic Polish Family with lots of food traditions which we have carried on. Like making Pierogi,hundreds of them every year. Some of their friends have coming since they were kids and now bringing their kids.

Our Grandson is traveling in Europe and is at our Nephews home in Vienna right now. Just today they asked me to email them the Periogi recipe. Really touched me those young men are wanting to continue the tradition together. 

You had/have a very fine life with lots to be thankful for.  So nice your girls have great memories too. I also have 3 girls.We are blessed.

[QVCkitty1]

When I think back, I must have driven my mom crazy, about Christmas. I would get so excited, and I would say, " let's talk about Christmas "   this would involve getting all of the cookbooks out, and especially planning what cookies we would make. My mom worked, and lots of times she would probably have rather relaxed, but she always made the time for a little girl who loved Christmas, because she did too. 🎄🎅🎄

[chrystaltree]

My first thought was, thank you God for keeping my girls close to home and close to me. Honestly, I don't know how mothers cope with having their children and grandchildren hundreds or even thousands of miles away.  I'm fortunate.  I think every family has it's holiday traditions; some big and some small.  Some specific to each family and some that everyone does during the holidays.  My grandmother and my mother always made a big deal of the holidays but not in commercial way.  My mom tried to tone down the commercial aspects of Christmas and I did the same with my girls.  They had gifts galore but that wasn't the focal point of Christmas.  We always took the girls into Boston to see the lights on Boston Common and to ice skate on Frog Pond.  Then we would walk around Beacon Hill and look at the lights and decorations.  We'd look at the displays in the department store windows.  There was a cul de sac in our town, the houses had the most amazing displays of lights.  We'd always do that drive my, we all still do it.  Our big Christmas celebration is Christmas Eve.  Christmas Day is much more casual and relaxed.  When the girls were growing up, we lived in big house and I hosted a formal Christmas Eve dinner for family and friends.  We got all dressed up and I used the good china and silver and we had champagne and very special Christmas cake.  We'd all have dinner and then we would go midnight service at church.  Christmas Day, hubby got up early and prepared Daddy's Special Christmas breakfast.  He's good cook.  Breakfast is his speciality.  We'd eat, open presents, laugh, take picture, eat some more...all in our pj's.   We did that until the girls got engaged.  Even though they were in their own apartments, they always came home and spent Christmas Eve and all of Christmas Day with us.  Both girls are married with babies and they have their own homes and their inlaws so our family tradition now is that we have them on Christmas Eve.  We downsized to condo and things aren't as dressy and formal as they once were.  We don't go to church as a group now but I do invite close friends and I do prepare a big dinner and we exchange gifts and sing carols.  The girls will, of course, build their own Christmas Day tradions for their own families.  Your children were very fortunate to have a mom who made the holidays special, as I did, because that carries on from generation to generation.   You talked about travel.  I always regretted that I didn't travel as a child so when my sahm days were over and I returned to work, we made sure to include travel in our girls' lives.  We wanted them to see the world beyond their own backyards.  

[qvcfreak]

Christmas Eve and making tamales. We laughed and just had a great time. Lots of work but lots of fun. 

[Annabellethecat66]

@roxxy1 I have posted before that from the time I was around 13 until I was 18 I lived with my sister.  She was single with 4 young children.  It was just the two of us and the children.  It was very hard times but we made it (no government assistant in those days.

Anyway, after the children went to bed we decorated the tree.  Sometimes the tree had a few branches in it, but once we hung all of the ummmmm stuff?  Ha!  It looked wonderful!

Then when I had children my late husband and I would decorate (and say Santa did it).  But as they got a little older, it just took too long so we'd decorate it together.

We'd go with another couple out in the woods (tree lots) and cut down the trees.  We were mainly interested in the wonderful meals and fund we'd have.

We have some funny pictures of my youngest daughter acting like she's taking notes as my husband was tying the tree on the top of the car (a few 'choice'? words).  We never cussed in front of them except at times when he'd get frustrated about something.  Then they'd go flying and leave the room!  Ha!  He was a perfectionist and could fix and do everything but ..... good grief!  He definitely wasn't calm about it!  Ha!

I have really funny stories about our escapades that you'd think were from a movie.  One day I'll post some of them.  Everything I say here is true and did happen.

Take care.  I love reading everyone's stories too.  The people here are so kind.  It's too bad everyone isn't kind to each other.