Remembering Christmas as a Kid | Blogmas Day 18

Konnichiwa! Happy Friday everyone. Finally right? Or are Fridays just like every other day for you? My days are all mixed up now but that’s beside the point. Today I’m going to share with you what Christmas day was like for me as a little girl. I’m so glad that I wrote it because I was able to let out some healthy cries. We moved out of our home when I was going to be a freshman in high school. I felt like my life was being ripped apart from me especially right before starting high school. It was nice to think of the good times my family and I shared there. I hope you enjoy this little trip down memory lane.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It truly is. The night before Christmas was always the hardest. I felt like I had no control and I just wanted it to be the morning already. I’d lie in bed scrunching my eyes shut so I could force myself to sleep. I wanted Santa to stop by and I knew he wouldn’t if I was awake. Sometimes I’d go and sneak down to the kitchen to see if any of the cookies had been eaten. Eventually, I’d fall asleep and the morning would come in no time.

Christmas mornings were always bright and cheery. I’d wake up smiling from ear to ear and immediately run downstairs to the smell of bacon, buttermilk pancakes, and scrambled eggs. We had not a single stress in the world.

After breakfast, my nephew and I planted our butts on the couch as we eagerly waited for our moms to pass us our gifts. Mom passed them out one by one and we weren’t allowed to open them until everyone got their set of gifts.

(This reminds me of when I was looking back at old family photos around Christmas time from before I was born. Mom had all her kids posing on the couch with their gifts. I love it!)

We started shredding gift wrap like wild animals. You could probably hear the tearing all the way from the basement. Smiles everywhere, people laughing, people talking, just pure joy.

I remember after I was finished I’d feel like I had just done some type of workout. I’d sneak back up to my room with my favorite gift and right away start using it. One year I got one of those secret password diaries. I was obsessed. Some years I’d take an afternoon nap and some Id stay wide awake from over excitement.

Let’s just say this time I took a nap. I’d wake up again to the amazing smell of my grandma and mom’s cooking. Grandma made my favorite meal which is Jamaican rice and peas with beef. Of course, there were others like shrimp, mashed potatoes, veggies, etc. but my heart was only set on that plate of rice and peas.

It was never a bad day at my house on Christmas. All of my family would hang out and spend quality time together in preparation for even more time spent together for our big Christmas dinner. We had one of those older dining tables that you had to add pieces to make it bigger. We always had to add all the pieces so that everyone could sit at the table. I always forced my nephew (literally forced) to sit next to me so that we can crack jokes during dinner. Mom would sit on the other side of me. Grandma was always the head of the table. My grandma is a strong-willed, beautiful, and powerful matriarch. She sat at the head of the table like a Queen. Always.

After dinner we’d have pies for dessert just like during Thanksgiving. 2 slices of pumpkin pie with extra extra whipped cream for me please! As you can tell, Christmas day was a fun-filled day. At the end of it, I would be exhausted. I always went to bed so grateful and happy to be apart of the family I have. Nothing has changed since.

Thanks, everyone for going down memory lane with me. I miss my childhood every day. I miss the home I grew up in. A dream of mine would be to buy back the home we grew up in and have my family all together for Christmas again with Grandma at the head table. All of the kids would play together and enjoy the magic of Christmas while we look back in time through their eyes. I can’t express how important it is to live in the moment and make memories. They last a lifetime.

If you or anyone you know is participating in Blogmas let me know in the comments so I can check them out and add their link to my original Blogmas post!

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As always, thanks so much for reading! Questions, comments, and feedback are always welcome. If you enjoyed this post, please comment, like and share! Make sure to check out my Instagram; @tianiangela_ and my latest video on YouTube💋