Christmas is my favorite time of year.I think it's partly because my Mom and Dad made it so much fun when I was a kid. Mom especially worked hard to make it a magical time. Dad's contribution was to read us the Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas eve. Then he would read "The Night Before Christmas" to us, making it up as he went along. I particularly remember the line " Away to the window I flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and fell out on my ass!"
One year Mom took us to Rikes in downtown Dayton to Tykes which was a place children could shop for gifts for their parents. I remember I spent 25 cents and bought my Mom a handkerchief which I wrapped in an empty metal bandaid box. Typical boy- my brother way overspent and had to put lots of things back.We sneaked peaks at what we had gotten each other. He got me a plastic bird that came with paints for you to paint it. It was pretty cool.
Mom and Dad always hid the presents- wrapped- on the very top shelf in their closet. We could hardly wait for them to go outside or somewhere so we could snoop. We would get a chair and stack things til we could climb up and reach the gifts.I'm surprised none of us ever broke our necks. My sister would be the lookout person.Then it was my job to carefully unwrap each thing. We would look at the stuff then I would carefully wrap them back up. I was REALLY good at it. They never caught on.
We kids would wake up at about 4 AM on Christmas morning, grab our stockings and usually all climb into my bed and dump them out. There were always chocolate gold coins which were a big hit. I remember Mom and Dad were always grumpy because they had stayed up late putting something together. But we were always all up by at least 6 AM. The excitement was too much!
Switch to 30 years later- I'M still excited but MY children wouldn't wake up early! I always had to go wake them up!! I couldn't wait! They did not like that...One year I made a trail of candy kisses from their bedrooms to the Christmas tree. That was fun. I always love trying to find new ways to surprise everyone!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Dolls from Christmas past
My brother and I used to wait with excitement for the yearly Sears catalog to arrive. We would have a truce and sit down together and look at it. We would take turns "picking " the toys we wanted on each page of the toy section. I mainly wanted dolls. Somehow started thinking about dolls I used to have that are long gone- all of which were Christmas presents.
The first was a terry cloth doll that looked like an elf. It had a pointy hat and a vinyl face. My brother got mad at me for something and mashed its face in and it wouldn't pop back out. I cried buckets and he got spanked. Then there was Sweet Sue. I carried her around all the time. Her face - like mine- was permanently dirty. She was also missing a lot of hair . I had probably cut it at some point. like mine.
The next one I remember was my Betsy doll. She would cry "Mama" when you turned her over. My brother and I decided to play hospital. Gathered scissors and paring knife. (I don't know where my Mom was) He must have been about 7 and I must have been about 4-5. We worked like the dickens to remove her voice box (his idea). I was the nurse. He would say "scissors" or "knife" and I would hand them over. I remember there was lots of sawdust involved. When the operation was successfully completed. I looked at him and said, "Now put it back." He simply looked at me in disgust and said, "I'm done here." I think we both got spanked over that one.
Then there was the Bride doll. Oh how beautiful she was that first week. Then for some reason she was divested of her clothing for the rest of her life. (like all my other dolls). My Mom spent hours sewing beautiful doll clothes. But alas....my dolls were always naked.
An aside- my sister got mad at me that summer and blew her nose on every piece of doll clothing that I had and threw them all over the yard. Creative thinking that was.......
The last doll I ever got was the "Suzanne" doll. I was maybe 11. It was my heart's desire to have a "Barbie" doll. To my parents it was all the same. She looked like a Barbie doll but she was NOT a Barbie. I hid my disappointment well. But my heart was broken.
Lived vicariously for many years through my daughters dolls. They had scads of Barbies who all lived in the basement. We set up boxes as stores and created a Barbie shopping mall. There was a Barbie party barn which now serves as the stable for the nativity.
The first was a terry cloth doll that looked like an elf. It had a pointy hat and a vinyl face. My brother got mad at me for something and mashed its face in and it wouldn't pop back out. I cried buckets and he got spanked. Then there was Sweet Sue. I carried her around all the time. Her face - like mine- was permanently dirty. She was also missing a lot of hair . I had probably cut it at some point. like mine.
The next one I remember was my Betsy doll. She would cry "Mama" when you turned her over. My brother and I decided to play hospital. Gathered scissors and paring knife. (I don't know where my Mom was) He must have been about 7 and I must have been about 4-5. We worked like the dickens to remove her voice box (his idea). I was the nurse. He would say "scissors" or "knife" and I would hand them over. I remember there was lots of sawdust involved. When the operation was successfully completed. I looked at him and said, "Now put it back." He simply looked at me in disgust and said, "I'm done here." I think we both got spanked over that one.
Then there was the Bride doll. Oh how beautiful she was that first week. Then for some reason she was divested of her clothing for the rest of her life. (like all my other dolls). My Mom spent hours sewing beautiful doll clothes. But alas....my dolls were always naked.
An aside- my sister got mad at me that summer and blew her nose on every piece of doll clothing that I had and threw them all over the yard. Creative thinking that was.......
The last doll I ever got was the "Suzanne" doll. I was maybe 11. It was my heart's desire to have a "Barbie" doll. To my parents it was all the same. She looked like a Barbie doll but she was NOT a Barbie. I hid my disappointment well. But my heart was broken.
Lived vicariously for many years through my daughters dolls. They had scads of Barbies who all lived in the basement. We set up boxes as stores and created a Barbie shopping mall. There was a Barbie party barn which now serves as the stable for the nativity.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Taylor Family Christmas 2011
I love my crazy dysfunctional family. Our annual family Christmas party would rival the Griswold's any day!
This was the first year that we didn't draw names, but instead took either a generic guy or gal gift. It didn't work out so well. You first have to understand that the modus operandi of this family is to spend as little as possible even though it is a "$20" exchange. We all like to get good value for our money.
I was the lucky recipient of a faux fur leopard skin scarf. While I'm sure it was very nice. It just wasn't "me."
I brought a set of snowmen mugs in a box that I had received the day before at a Christmas party with friends. My niece got them, to her dismay.
Well, as soon as all the gifts were opened the trading and dealing began- very matter of fact- no hurt feelings.My niece traded 2 of the 4 mugs to Grandma for her bag of miscellaneous stuff that she didn't want. She then traded the box they came in for a fabric bag that someone else's gift had been in. Mom and Dad had shopped at CVS and gotten boxes of candy (it was B1G1 free) My sister got one. She is diabetic but still would not trade for the scarf.
My brother leans over to me and says "We got a really really incredible deal on that scarf." I'm thinking, "I'll bet you did!" My sister pipes up, "I paid 25 cents for that gift at a garage sale; it was brand new. And that fabric bag came in the mail yesterday; it was a freebie." I myself had stopped at CVS this morning and the machine spit out a coupon for a zhu-zhu pet for 99 cents. (they're normally $9.99) I took it as a sign from God and got it for my 7 yr old great nephew. During all the trading and dealing my brother says, "You know I really think this family should be celebrating Hanukkah!" ( My grandmother- Dad's side- was Jewish)
Then came the best part- the gag gifts. That is a Chinese gift exchange- draw numbers, then take from the pile or steal. Once everyone has a gift we open them one at a time and roar with laughter. A sampling of the gifts; a glass block holding a bride and groom that lights up in different colors, a toilet gasket changing kit, etc.There was a really nice set of wooden napkin rings. Being basically a blue collar family no one wanted them. So I finally took them with the intent of turning them into something else. My contribution was a canister of "Trap a Crap." Which by the way, my nephew should have borrowed. He used the bathroom off the family room and as my Dad said "must have gone in there and killed a goat." It was prettty awful. At that point the party began to break up.
I'm proud to say that I did not pass go but drove straight to Elder Beerman in Huber Heights and parlayed that faux fur leopard skin scarf into a nice necklace for my daughter and earrings for me! :)
Looking forward to next year.
This was the first year that we didn't draw names, but instead took either a generic guy or gal gift. It didn't work out so well. You first have to understand that the modus operandi of this family is to spend as little as possible even though it is a "$20" exchange. We all like to get good value for our money.
I was the lucky recipient of a faux fur leopard skin scarf. While I'm sure it was very nice. It just wasn't "me."
I brought a set of snowmen mugs in a box that I had received the day before at a Christmas party with friends. My niece got them, to her dismay.
Well, as soon as all the gifts were opened the trading and dealing began- very matter of fact- no hurt feelings.My niece traded 2 of the 4 mugs to Grandma for her bag of miscellaneous stuff that she didn't want. She then traded the box they came in for a fabric bag that someone else's gift had been in. Mom and Dad had shopped at CVS and gotten boxes of candy (it was B1G1 free) My sister got one. She is diabetic but still would not trade for the scarf.
My brother leans over to me and says "We got a really really incredible deal on that scarf." I'm thinking, "I'll bet you did!" My sister pipes up, "I paid 25 cents for that gift at a garage sale; it was brand new. And that fabric bag came in the mail yesterday; it was a freebie." I myself had stopped at CVS this morning and the machine spit out a coupon for a zhu-zhu pet for 99 cents. (they're normally $9.99) I took it as a sign from God and got it for my 7 yr old great nephew. During all the trading and dealing my brother says, "You know I really think this family should be celebrating Hanukkah!" ( My grandmother- Dad's side- was Jewish)
Then came the best part- the gag gifts. That is a Chinese gift exchange- draw numbers, then take from the pile or steal. Once everyone has a gift we open them one at a time and roar with laughter. A sampling of the gifts; a glass block holding a bride and groom that lights up in different colors, a toilet gasket changing kit, etc.There was a really nice set of wooden napkin rings. Being basically a blue collar family no one wanted them. So I finally took them with the intent of turning them into something else. My contribution was a canister of "Trap a Crap." Which by the way, my nephew should have borrowed. He used the bathroom off the family room and as my Dad said "must have gone in there and killed a goat." It was prettty awful. At that point the party began to break up.
I'm proud to say that I did not pass go but drove straight to Elder Beerman in Huber Heights and parlayed that faux fur leopard skin scarf into a nice necklace for my daughter and earrings for me! :)
Looking forward to next year.
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