Memories and Christmas Traditions.

     Tis the season of memories, with Christmas less than 20 days away.  I don't remember any "Ralphie" Christmases where I just had to have a particular gift or I would just die.  But I do remember the Christmas I asked for and got a doll you could make up water bottles for and she would really "drink" the bottle and promptly wet her diaper. The year after I remember asking for her baby sister and adding her to the family on Christmas morning.  I remember the coolness of getting a lite brite from Santa as well as the Christmas there was a banjo under the tree (actually it was hidden under the table). I could always count on a whitman's sampler of 4 chocolates in my stockling as well as a stuffed animal under the tree.
     The elves always left us one present on Christmas Eve to start the festivities.  They always knew when we were headed out to look at Christmas lights because when we got home our one present was waiting for us.  One present was saved for after dinner as well, as we got older that usually became a gag-type gift with some sarcasm from the givers to the givee. 
     It didn't matter how early we woke up on Christmas morning.  The rule was you stayed in your room or a sibling's room and went through the goodies in your stocking until the parental unit awoke and granted passage to the livingroom.  I don't know if this was an actual rule or if we just didn't dare go wake up the parental unit to start the Christmas festivities. When my dad would have to work on Christmas, we'd be up extremely early so he could open presents and see us open presents before he went to work.
     I remember once sitting on Santa's lap at a department store.  I told him what I wanted and then he handed me a broken candy cane.  I was disappointed with the broken candy cane until he told me it was a special candy cane because Rudolph stepped on it.  Oh the naivity of a child..I was ok with the fact that a dirty reindeer hoof had stepped on my candy cane and crushed it to oblivion.
     Most years we headed back to Maine sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas to visit the family. There was always a pinata to break, some holiday games to play, great food to eat and tons of time spent with the cousins playing in the woods, hiking down to the beaver pond, playing football or hiking up to the big rock in the middle of the blueberry field to play or to sled back down towards the house if there was snow..  So many memories of being out at the rock, when all the cousins were together for Grampie's funeral we as adults trudged up the hill to sit on the rock and remember times past.
     Tradition of Christmas dinner became deep dish pizza.  A tradition followed even now, even though some of the recipes have changed.
     I remember 2 ways we counted down to Christmas, one was an advent calender.  Each day one of us would get to open one of the doors.  Some years it had chocolates, but my favorite calender was a scratch and sniff one.  I have always loved scented things and so the scratch and sniff of Christmas was no exception.  The other way was putting cottonballs in santa's beard.  Mom would draw a santa's face and 24 spots for his beard and by Christmas the man in red would have a full beard.
     Many happy memories come with this time of year and these are some of them.