So today I began to have my annual "Merry Meltdown", which comes right before Christmas, as I am rushing around trying to get everything bought, wrapped, mailed...you all know how it is. I had said that this year we are going to scale back, simplify, blah, blah, blah, however, as the big day grew closer I went into panic mode thinking that I just didn't have enough "stuff" for the boys. I actually found myself making a list to see just how big their piles would be. I was convinced that their holiday would be ruined and their childhoods traumatized if they didn't get everything they wanted. Then I thought back to my post from a few weeks ago about my Nativity Scene. Several of my cousins left their own comments about the memories that they have from my Grandparents and their childhoods, and it made me realize that the greatest memories that I have from growing up don't include things that I got for Christmas. In fact, the only significant childhood Christmas gift memory that I have is of a Barbie RV that my sister and I got one year. When we opened it there was an entire side missing (the door slid open so you could play within the RV). The odd thing was that we never returned or exchanged the RV. This wasn't even presented as an option, which years later made Staci and I ponder whether that item had been acquired from a less than legitimate source. Not to imply that our parents would ever knowingly get "hot" Christmas toys for their children, but we were broke and it was New Jersey. Anyway, that is totally off topic and not what I was going for here, so I will try to get back on point.
My point is that the best memories that I have from my childhood are crabbing and fishing from the pier with PopPop, going to the Dairy Queen in my Dad's convertible, playing Ghost In The Graveyard with bunches of cousins, making these chains out of soda pull tabs and hanging them in the cellar at my Grandpa's house, pounding the tar out of canned biscuit dough at the kitchen table with my Grandmother in Jersey City, and the excitement of getting to play "Pong" when Aunt Rosie was home. None of those memories include anything bought from a store. Looking back over the things that we have posted about since we started this blog made me realize that these are the memories that Sam and Ryan will have in thirty or so years. Things like Pie Day and camping with The General, the fishing trip with Uncle Jeff, zip lining at Grandaddy's house, and playing Ghost in the Graveyard with their cousins on warm summer nights (see we are continuing that tradition down South and I hope the same is being done in the Northeast!).
So I have put away my lists and my worries, and from this point forward I am going to spend the rest of the holiday making memories with my family.
SO FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS, HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!
2 comments:
You about made me cry. That was me today running around getting those last minute gifts. Even tonight at 8:00 I was at the Bi-Lo getting the last items we would need for our big dinner. I hope our children remember the good times for years to come.
Oh my gosh!!!!!! I was just today telling my boys about Ghost in the graveyard and how we played that at parties & stuff! Pong at Aunt Rosie's I remember too-she was one of the first to have a "video game". Had to laugh at the Barbie RV thing-kathy & I had all that stuff too. I think I even had a lunchbox that was someone's when they were younger it was black metal and had the old 50's barbie on it. It came form Grandma's house in jersey City. Remember when I tarred the doorknob? I thought it was too white and the brush and paint(tar) was just sitting there..poor uncle bobby-he got in trouble for leaving it out!
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