Memories of Christmas Past by a Mum of Teenagers

We received this lovely email from a mum who’s children are now teenagers – in it, this mum tells us of her memories of the ‘santa’ stage and it is a lovely article.  Read on and enjoy it.  

All of my children are grown past the Santa stage now but I enjoyed every part of the Christmases when they still believed! I think that I myself was so into the excitement that my children were lock, stock and barrel convinced of the existence of this wonderful, kind and generous man. Although they still get excited at the prospect of Christmas, the gifts, new outfits and so on, the magic of Santa is something I really miss!  Forgive me if I indulge a little with my memories….

I loved when they believed that Santa had a list of children who were being good and not being good. I loved how they strived to be the best they could, their faces shining eagerly if there was a robin outside our window as they were sure to get a good report back to Santa. Of course, I made sure to get good value out of the time leading up to Christmas. One of my favourite advantages of that time of year was to tell them to tidy up their toys because Santa won’t bring more if he thinks you have too many now because you can’t tidy them away. Well, it was a couple of weeks of a tidy playroom and bedrooms that I enjoyed!

Each time a helicopter passed in the night sky, I would point and say ‘hey look, it is Santa’s sleigh’. They believed this whole heartedly. I remember one evening we were driving and I had just ‘collected’ the magic reindeer food that day. It was still in the car. As we drove, we saw the ‘sleigh’ in the sky and I am sure that you have noticed before how sometimes it seems like a plane or helicopter are moving at the same pace and in the same direction as your car? Well my lot were so excited and a bit scared because they believed that the sleigh was following our car because the reindeer could smell the magic food. The fun and excitement we had on that journey home was fantastic. They still talk about that evening and how they were excited but at the same time, a bit scared in case the reindeer would land on our car!

The ‘letter night’ was another big occasion! This was the night that they would make final decisions on what they wanted and set about the very important task of writing to Santa and asking for their gifts in the politest tone ever. No one wanted to appear greedy or cheeky! I have kept all these letters and often smile when I go through them again. Always decorated with carefully drawn pictures of Santa and the reindeers, they usually started with the words “Dear Santa, first of all, thank you for my lovely presents last year. I really enjoyed playing with them…..” If only we could all be so polite when we make a request!

Each year, it was a major family affair to pay our visit to Santa. We usually went to Arnotts and no matter how well we timed it or how early we arrived, the queue was always at least one hour long. It never mattered however, as the children would be on their best behaviour because Santa was nearby and their excitement stopped them from getting bored. After our visit, a trip to a café for some nice treats followed and then we would walk through the lights and stalls in town, soaking up the Christmas atmosphere.

In the lead up to Christmas, we would bake our cake and pudding. The pudding was a big affair and each of them had a job to do to help making it. This ranged from cutting the cherries, beating the eggs, sieving the flour and so on. There would often be little arguments – “hey, she got a longer stir than I did” but it was always a very happy time. We all took a turn to wish on the Christmas pudding and the sight of their little eyes tightly shut while they took on the very important job of stirring and wishing at the same time was delightful.

The decoration of the Christmas cake was a nightmare! Each of them had to have some icing and they would make special treats to leave out for Santa on Christmas eve. Icing sugar, as you know, is very sticky. I can tell you that it took quite a lot of cleaning up to remove the final stickiness from the surfaces and floors. They would proudly display the little cakes they had made (maybe a snowman or a Christmas tree) until Christmas eve when they were put out for Santa’s snack. Of course, the reindeer were not left out of this - a few carrots were left for them also.

New pyjamas were a must in our house! These were proudly worn on Christmas eve night when they would lay their stocking out on the bed and climb in with a mixture of excitement and anxiety about waking up while Santa was there! My happiest memories are of kissing them goodnight, hugging them tight and telling them to wait until they were sure Santa was gone before they woke up! Of course it took ages for them to go to sleep but once they did, it gave us the chance to get into action with the special deliveries from Santa.

So what of Christmas morning? Well I am sure you all know what that is like! They always wake up really, really early when you have probably only managed to get to bed a few hours before that yourself. My children always brought in their Christmas stockings in to me and opened in my bedroom. This was like a ‘taster’ of the gifts under the tree. When this was all done, we would all go down the stairs together and my oh my, what a wonderful moment to share when the children rushed into the room delighted with their gifts! There was always some evidence of the big man’s visit – maybe a footprint, some fake snow left around and the sweets and snacks they left were always eaten. The reindeer’s carrots would also have been eaten so there was no doubt that Santa himself had paid the visit! The next few hours would be spent unpacking toys (why oh why do manufacturers insist on sewing the dolls hair to the cardboard??), helping to insert batteries, stick on stickers, assemble games and so on. All in all, some of the happiest moments of my life were when I sat on the floor on Christmas morning with my children opening their presents.

I know this all sounds so sentimental and you are probably wondering if I have been partaking of the Christmas festivities a little early! Not so, I have just got such wonderful memories of Christmas that I enjoy reminiscing about them. I also want to encourage you, as parents, to really treasure every moment of this time with your children. It really only lasts about 12 years and when Santa is gone, it is a little sad to have that part of your parenthood at an end. So keep all the memories, embrace all of the traditions and enjoy and relish every moment of this wonderful season with your children!

Have a very happy and peaceful Christmas. 

Mum of Teenagers ~(who misses Santa......)