Santa Clause
I recently came across a hilarious website of kids crying on Santa’s lap (it’s right here in case you’re interested) & this got Laura and me talking about our Christmas memories–the good and the bad. Sadly for Laura (and happily for us), she has a really funny but bad Santa memory that I just can’t help but share:
Laura: As a child, I always love the idea of Santa, but never ever ever wanted to meet him. Yes, I was the child who would scream and scream and scream during the beloved Santa snapshots. All of our family Santa photos have my sister happy as can be on one of Santa’s knees and I on the other screaming bloody murder. One year, my mom had a “great” idea to make Christmas a little more special. Putting baby powder on the bottoms of her shoes and bright red lipstick on her lips, she walked through the house. On Christmas morning, as my sister and I woke up, we found that Santa had not only dropped off our gifts, but walked through the house leaving his snowy foot prints behind, and gave us a kiss on the cheek with his bright red jolly lips. This was a bit more than I could handle and I totally freaked out and started crying. I mean, who was this strange old man walking through my house to kiss me? As far as I was concerned, leave the gifts and go.
My memory relates to Santa but is far less traumatizing:
When I was about 5 or 6, my mom took my brother and me to go see Santa in a shop. It was set up like a winter wonderland, beautifully decorated for Santa. There were elves milling about while Santa was “running late from the workshop.” All of a sudden, I heard a “Ho! Ho! Ho! Where is Elise?” Santa had come out and that magical man somehow knew my name! It took me years to realize that my mom had given the elves my name who gave it to Santa, but for a little kid, that was a pretty amazing and magical memory to have.
I polled everyone else in the studio on their favorite Christmas memories & here they are:
Tim: When I was preteen and teen, I lived with my mom and step-father in Akron, OH. The rest of my family, my father, grandparents and many, many cousins I have always been close to, lived in Lexington. Every Christmas, we enjoyed Christmas morning together in Akron, celebrating Christmas as a family. Then, we made the long haul (about 6 hours) to Lexington. The trip went fast due to the great new games and gifts we could play with on the trip. Then, when we arrived to Lexington, it was both Christmas and a regathering with all the many I loved so dearly. It seemed like 2 Christmases with a drive in-between.
Bev: Most of my childhood was spent on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, so on Christmas day, we always played outside or went to the beach, and palm trees replaced Christmas trees for decorating. My favorite gift was a pack of Lifesavers in all flavors that opened like a book.
The first year we moved back here to Kentucky, they had record snow for Christmas, and we didn’t own coats or any shoes except flip flops! It was quite a shock! However, I have come to love the feeling of Christmas in the air and the wonderful smells of Christmas goodies baking. And I am one of the few who know what Mele Kalikimaka means!
(Elise’s Note: I looked up “Mele Kalikimaka” and it means “Merry Christmas.”)
Shelly: One thing I know is that my mom doesn’t mess around when it comes to Christmas. My dad jokingly tells her that he is going to sneak a few boxes out of the house. Growing up every year around my parents’ house was filled with snow globes and all sorts of Christmas decorations and ornaments, from the Christmas moose to angels to Santas of all sizes. My favorite memories came from the excitement that my parents brought throughout the house and hearing my parents giggle to each other as we all came together to share our gifts.
What’s your favorite (or least favorite) Christmas memory?
Merry Christmas from everyone at Walden’s!
