Day 4- Some Christmas Memories

 I had another post planned for today but with two sick kids and a sick husband I've decided to give myself a break from a somewhat more difficult topic that requires a functioning brain and write about something easier instead. As of right now this is going to be a hodge podge mix of different memories but there may end up being a theme at the end- only time will tell!

I remember Christmas as a kid feeling like such a magical peaceful time. Any memory I have of Christmas immediately makes me feel warm and cozy. I'm honestly having a hard time picking just one memory from my childhood, partly because I'm starting to wonder if some of them are a weird amalgamation of multiple Christmases. The image that keeps coming to mind is a church that is pleasantly dark, lit by candlelight and the warm smell of evergreen trees and melting wax fills the air. There is the happy murmur of conversation as congregants and families and friends all chat after the service. In this compilation of  memories I'm always wearing some sort of velvety dress or dressed up in some sense...and my feet are usually cold. I remember being squished in between my cousins who were happily or at least passionately discussing/debating one topic or another. I just remember feeling...peace...even in the excitement I felt as a kid for Christmas morning it was an excitement tempered by peace. 

I think Christmas got even more exciting as I got older to be honest, especially once I reached university because Christmas time also meant rest and hopefully restoration. Christmas meant coming home and watching endless episodes of whatever was on the FoodNetwork, eating all the delicious snacks that my Mom had stocked up the cupboards with (or consuming far too much of her homemade nuts and bolts), chatting with my brother while we ate shortbread cookies, reading as many books as possible for fun and spending time with good friends. With the lead up to Christmas always being full of so much studying and essay writing and stress it always felt so good to be done and know that I was heading home to relax. I remember on multiple occasions- once my brother and I were much past the point of Santa- where he would still insist on putting out cookies for Santa. Once we put the cookies out on the fireplace and headed up to bed I would hear him happily singing some Christmas songs in his room. If you know my brother you know that all this is slightly "off brand" (though to be fair he's always been a bit silly...so perhaps it's right on point) and it always made me laugh when he seemed like an excited little kid. The summary of this is that coming home for Christmas during university was the best.

Another memory that randomly comes to mind is going Christmas tree shopping. I remember always trying to convince my parents to buy one that was "less than perfect". Typically that meant that it was slightly cooked, missing some branches or a classic "Charlie Brown Christmas" Christmas tree. I don't think I ever succeeded in convincing them of this and inevitably argued for a more traditionally perfect tree of my choosing. The best thing about Christmas tree hunting on a farm where you get to cut it down yourself is wandering around through the snow (hopefully) and having your cheeks get rosy in the cold. In our family everyone was always in good spirits outside hunting for the perfect tree and generally there was fun conversation and inevitably a snowball thrown. I love that when you get back into the car at the end with the tree strapped to the top that you know you're heading home to a nice warm meal with the smell of pine filling up the car and house. It's just so great. 

When we were little I think my Mom often used to make her shortbread cookies around this time too and I remember running around the little main floor in circles from the living room to the kitchen to the dining room with my brother- around and around. Each time we would run through we would grab a tiny piece of raw shortbread dough believing that my Mom never noticed that chunks of her dough went missing. My Mom makes the best shortbread cookies and every year we pull out the cookie cutters with some of the ones that we've used since I was a kid and I'm brought back to every time we've made cookies throughout the years. I remember which ones I always avoided when I was little because the dough would get stuck and I would always try it once more convinced that this was the year that I was going to succeed at making the perfect cookie with it only to have it fall apart again. I still don't think I've been successful with some of them. There is nothing like a simple, delicious shortbread cookie and my Mom's truly are the best I've ever had and while I'm sure nostalgia has something to do with it...I also just think they are super tasty.

Christmases have definitely changed since having kids. Even though we were never ones to sleep in too late in my family (partly thanks to my Mom very loudly playing a Christmas morning song to get us out of bed and partly because we have a couple of gift love language people in our house)- Christmases are definitely a much more sleep deprived affair than they used to be. Simultaneously, it is so fun to get to experience Christmas again through my kid's eyes. One of the gifts Covid quarantine gave to us in Christmas 2020 was having a lot fewer places to be and it was one of the best Christmases we'd had since becoming parents. We went out on this great wintery walk (it had snowed a lot that year right around Christmas) and it was just so magical. We had time to just slow down and enjoy playing with their new toys, watching movies and playing outside. It was a good reminder to head into our next Christmas more intentionally and to not fill it up too much with events and activities. 

Now I tend to look forward to watching certain Christmas movies (You didn't ask but here at the must watches on my list in no particular order; White Christmas, The Santa Clause, The Grinch/How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Family Stone, Little Women (not a Christmas movie but says Christmas to me), The Holiday and Family Stone), eating delicious Christmas baking and getting together with good friends to chat by the light of a Christmas tree.

Christmas time is such a great time of year to reflect and just soak in the extra boost of peace and joy that often seems to build up everywhere you look (unless you work in retail...).

Do you have any specific memories or activities that stand out to you and bring you joy? I'd love to know!

(P.S I am being serious...I really DO want to know! Please message me, comment below, text me. Please! I love hearing people's thoughts...yes! Yours!)

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back with a post that's a little less "thrown together". See you then!