Christmas's of long ago.....

[NDNKIDZ]

Do you think christmas is to commercial today? What diferences (besides prices of things) do you see today vs when you were a kid.. Lets hear some stories of when you were a child things you remember...We were very poor when i was a child..you got one toy.so you better make it a goot one..back in the day you could order albums off the tv..Ktel records..lol i think this was 1975..i wanted this album really bad..ill never forget the feeling i had when i opened that up and saw it..I wore that album out..palying it over and over..lol Its Friday lets hear some goot stories..any kind of story

[hobbs49]

I remember when I got my first cassette tape recorder. Santa brought it :-) It was about the size of a laptop today but probably heavier. It came with a demo tape of "When the Saints Come Marching In" and that was the only pre-recorded music I had for a looooonnnnngggggg time. I used to record the sound tracks off of the Saturday cartoons on TV and listen to them all week :-) I also recorded the radio, especially Dr. Demento late at night :-)

I remember, shortly after I got it that I took it to school to show off (I was in 4th grade I think). In a stoke of brilliance, I decided to record the teacher, Mrs Lloyd, teaching. Things were going great until the buttons *clicked* off indicating the end of the tape. Man she was mad. Took me out to the hall. Wanted to know what I thought I was doing and how illegal it was to record someone. She threatened to keep the recorder. I told her teary eyed that I had gotten it for Christmas from Santa. That set her back. She's like, "You still beleive in Santa?" she asked. I still remember the tone in her voice. I admitted that I knew the truth but asked her not to tell my parents as I didn't want the "Santa" presents to stop. Ahh, the innocence of my childhood :-)

That was probably my most memerable Christmas present ever :-)

[Ginger]

Christmas is wat to commercial I don't even like to go shopping any more I do it all on line. it's such a pain in the a$$$ just to find a parking space then you have to deal with rude people what ever happened hi, how are you , have a great holiday's
we were very poor & we were little we would go to our neighbor hood store & they would give out candy canes & a toy I remember we use to run around around the neighbor hood singing & the neighbors loved or at least acted like thay did.
we didn't realy get presents we made them, & my Grandma always make us the coolest clothes one year me & my sister each a gift that we shared she got the doll & I got the stroler & my grand ma made clothes for our doll.
yeah we didn't have much but it was a happier time.

[kiowakat]

Christmas Orange

I remember when my grandpa James Silverhorn would give us a orange and some pepppermint candy for christmas I miss that very much it wasn't about the hustle and bustle of a holiday when we were with hiim and he didn't have much to give but it taught me not to be so commmercial about the holiday...MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!! Aho!

[bullberrybaby]

My mom still sends me a stocking every year full of treats, candy & nuts and a big orange in the toe. It's not Christmas without the orange!

[*Brown Eyed Gurl*]

Christmas is just too competitive..like gifts...they are more expensive and u, well I feel the need to compete with what my parents or brother or cusins buy for me..or for each other...i cant really say that we were poor when i was really little cus my dad worked then...but the gifts werent memorable..the thing that sticks out to me is goin to christmas dinner at my grandmothers...a little 2 bedroom house with a laundry room that served as the kids play room durring these dinners..she had 5 daughters and 6 sons and almost all of them would come to dinner with their spouses and kids..it was great..

[Josiah]

When i was a kid we lived in Shonto AZ
We were so far in the sticks we would walk up to the hill near our compound and cut a tree and drag it back to the house and decorate it. We had snow most years over xmas and those are my fondest memories. Since mom was school teacher working for BIA we did not have alot of coins but we always got something special and always a stocking full of nuts and oranges. I can still smell em!!

[yooperbear]

Christmas is so commercialized these days. Now the Christmas decorations go up in the stores before Halloween. I found out though that I apparently taught my kids well. My 15-year-old son came home the other day and was complaining about everybody being so greedy at Christmas time. All the kids on the bus were wanting expensive gifts. He has only asked for 2 inexpensive gifts. I have never been able to spend a lot at Christmas. All my kids learned to ask for 1 gift from Santa when they were growing up. I was a single mom when they were little. And now that most of them have grown up and left home, they still only ask for 1 gift. They learned that there was more to Christmas than the gifts.

[Annie Fawn]

Let's put it this way, when I was a kid we turned down the pages in the Sears Wish Book and left hints. 3 weeks ago my youngest (16yr.) handed me a printed out sheet that included pictures, web sites and order numbers by store.
There was also a little book of Lifesavers candy and a apple in my stocking as a child and I try to keep that up for my kids and grands.
The gifts that I remember best and actually still have stored away are Barbie clothes handmade by my granny and aunt. They would also make me a dress to match one they made for my barbie. And getting a gutair after 3 years of begging.

[suzyq]

Back in the day when you would ask for a Christmas gift list for the neices and nephews, you would get a short and simple list. Now, you get a long list of expensive items.

I grew up poor and my mother would chop and pick cotton during cotton season in West Texas. What little money she earned, she used for Christmas. Until I grew up and had kids of my own, I didn't realize what she went through just to make sure we had a nice Christmas.

I was also devistated when my brother told me there was no Santa Clause! I thought my world would end ha ha! But my mother told me that Santa Clause is whoever you want him to be. So, when my father passed away, my hubby became Santa and he always leaves me a present out for Christmas morning.

[scorpiostwin11_76]

A Christmas that I remember was when I found out for the first time that my mom's birthday was on Christmas. I think I was about 7 years old when I started realizing that everyone had birthdays and not just me and my twin sister. I learned that my mom was Santa when I was 10, which made me feel sort of guilty that knowing my mom's birthday was on Christmas and she was the one getting Christmas presents for all of us, and even my brother's girlfriend at that time. We never got expensive stuff, but things that we could enjoy. After that year I tried to consider my mom as an honored person for that day and even though she cooked with all my aunties, and grams, I took it upon myself to serve her first. Like someone mentioned earlier, in this thread that they remember the dinners the most. So do I. They are the true meaning of Christmas. FAMILY especially on the rez where you can walk into anyone's house where three even four generations of family are all squeezed into one little house, but still having fun. I loved those times.