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Christmas memories consisted of mum and dad, my three brothers their wives and kids, my Hubbie and our two kids having Christmas lunch on the trestle tables set up in our garage. It was fun, afterwards the kids would jump in the pool. Mum made the christmas cake and plum pudding. We have ham and salad. Sadly all the grandparents have gone. The kids are all grown up and have their own kids. I am thankful my two and their families spend the day together with me. No pool, but all the fun we can have. Looking forward to Christmas this year. Merry Christmas.
I love Christmas and I am looking forward to it this year as the last two years were Christmas free as the long lockdowns and Covid-19 were a horror story and the family could not see each other. This year will be very different. Thank Goodness.
When my sister and I were little Mum took us across the road on Xmas morning to Mr and Mrs Lea. They brought out two dinkies, one for each of us. Nothing was ever explained. I grew up thinking what lovely people they were for giving us a dinky. Years later on our first Xmas in our new home the neighbours asked my husband and me if we could mind their kids' bikes in our spare room and collect it Xmas Day. It got me thinking and when I asked Mum she said yes, she had bought the dinkies. That's why I always overexplain things.
Living in PNG had it's own set of problems at Christmas in 1973, getting presents for little kids being one of them. Anyway, managed a train set, and a few other things for them. Spent Christmas Eve setting it all up, and when the youngest woke on Christmas Morning started feeding her and managed to rein in the oldest in and keep him in the bedroom till I was ready to let him run. Well, thinking of the surprises out in the lounge I started him down the passage , husband was down near the kitchen, told child 1 that we'd better go and get breakfast so He set off as fast as he could run, down the passage through the lounge room, past the Christmas tree etc, and into the kitchen . Didn't see the tree, presents etc, missed the lot ! I still recall our chins hitting the floor !
My fave Christmas memory was about 50 years ago, my dad, who was very straight laced with a dry sense of humour, was sitting at the table with everyone after we had all eaten, waiting for our tummy's to settle before having dessert, picked up a pea that was left on his plate and threw it at mum!!! Well she picked one up and threw it at someone and then everyone started. Dad came up with some rules that day tho. Only 1 pea to be thrown by each person, if it lands on the floor it gets picked up right away, if it lands in someone's mouth u get let off doing cleanup duty lol. To this day I always have peas for Christmas Day lunch and still allow 1 pea each person, tho some try to sneak in more lol The best shot that's ever been done was one year one of my sons' was getting ready to throw it at another son and that son moved his head at the right time and the pea went into his ear!!!!! The thrower got off the kitche duty for his effort lol
Mum had 1 rule for Christmas day, the women cooked and served the meal and the men cleaned and washed up etc. Ahhhh memories.......Christmas these days just aren't the same really......
Mum had 1 rule for Christmas day, the women cooked and served the meal and the men cleaned and washed up etc. Ahhhh memories.......Christmas these days just aren't the same really......
I remember Christmas as a kid was so exciting for me. We never had much but we would put old nylon stockings of Mum's under the tree, which we had helped Dad get from the bush, usually a She-oak or something similar. Christmas day was the only time we ever had stone fruits. Quite a novelty in our house. My brother and I were excited Christmas morning to find our stockings filled with stone fruits with a sixpenny coin right in the toe. I have a happy memory of us both sitting in a corner of the room together gorging ourselves on fruit so we could get to the sixpence in the toe. I seem to remember I also got a small colouring book and a little 6 pack of coloured pencils from Father Christmas that year. They were the days before "Santa Claus", it was always "Father Christmas" back then.
When we lived in Zimbabwe & my children were small, we never bought a Xmas tree because we had very tall Cypress trees growing along our fence line - we lived on 2 1/2 acres so it was a long fence line! All we did was cut a suitable large branch & stand it in a bucket of sand. Then my children helped me decorate it. Well, one year we did this for our nearby sports club & my husband also offered to be Santa that year! He arrived all dressed up in Santa's red clothes in his red Alpha Romeo sports car and my five year old daughter still did not realise it was really her dad in his car!
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Posting on behalf of one of the members, Julie A.
My favourite Christmas memory is back in 2018 when my husband and I took our boys, their wives and their children (our beautiful grandchildren) to New Zealand, where both my husband and I grew up, for Christmas.
It had been some time since my elderly parents had seen the grandchildren in person.
We rented a house large enough for us all as well as my parents.
We, my husband and my parents, got to spend our first-ever Christmas seeing the children set up Santa’s supper and carrots for the reindeer. As well as see them open their presents in the morning.
The joy on their faces and the excitement were totally unforgettable. We spent the whole day together playing and watching Christmas movies.
My dad has since passed away and my mum has dementia so as it turned out it was the last time for them to spend time with my four grandchildren (their great-grandchildren). By the way, the children were 8, 7, 6 and 5 at the time. This time will remain in my memory forever.
My favourite Christmas memory is back in 2018 when my husband and I took our boys, their wives and their children (our beautiful grandchildren) to New Zealand, where both my husband and I grew up, for Christmas.
It had been some time since my elderly parents had seen the grandchildren in person.
We rented a house large enough for us all as well as my parents.
We, my husband and my parents, got to spend our first-ever Christmas seeing the children set up Santa’s supper and carrots for the reindeer. As well as see them open their presents in the morning.
The joy on their faces and the excitement were totally unforgettable. We spent the whole day together playing and watching Christmas movies.
My dad has since passed away and my mum has dementia so as it turned out it was the last time for them to spend time with my four grandchildren (their great-grandchildren). By the way, the children were 8, 7, 6 and 5 at the time. This time will remain in my memory forever.
My favourite christmas that I can remember happened about 40 years ago, in South Africa. My parents owned a cafe, and they helped to raise the children of a family, after the mum and dad died in a house fire. These kids all served in the cafe or looked after us 4 kids when our parents could not be there, due to the commitments they had in the cafe.
When these young people grew up, they were all part of the church choir or the children's ministry in their church. (Sunday school). Every christmas time, these choirs will come to serenade us at home. We will e.g. be sleeping, and got woken up by the most beautiful singing of christmas carols! I still remember the beautiful harmonising...be it the men's choir, Sunday school children, or the normal church choir. They all came to sing for us.
Then my parents would go to the cafe to fetch some ice creams or cool drinks for the singers. Once the singing was done, the children will all be told to sit in rows and we (as children) will walk through the rows to hand out the ice creams. We did the same for the adults who came to serenade us.
Where I grew up in South Africa, Upington, was VERY hot in summer time. It is on the Orange River and on the southern boarder of the Kalahari desert. Even the winds blowing at night time, was warm. Christmas came around during summer...so ice creams and cool drinks were very well accepted as a gift!
That was Christmas for me as a child. Now both my parents and most of the people of that family that my parents helped to raise, died already, but the memories are still so fresh...it is packed away deep in my heart.
When these young people grew up, they were all part of the church choir or the children's ministry in their church. (Sunday school). Every christmas time, these choirs will come to serenade us at home. We will e.g. be sleeping, and got woken up by the most beautiful singing of christmas carols! I still remember the beautiful harmonising...be it the men's choir, Sunday school children, or the normal church choir. They all came to sing for us.
Then my parents would go to the cafe to fetch some ice creams or cool drinks for the singers. Once the singing was done, the children will all be told to sit in rows and we (as children) will walk through the rows to hand out the ice creams. We did the same for the adults who came to serenade us.
Where I grew up in South Africa, Upington, was VERY hot in summer time. It is on the Orange River and on the southern boarder of the Kalahari desert. Even the winds blowing at night time, was warm. Christmas came around during summer...so ice creams and cool drinks were very well accepted as a gift!
That was Christmas for me as a child. Now both my parents and most of the people of that family that my parents helped to raise, died already, but the memories are still so fresh...it is packed away deep in my heart.
My son has just told me he wont be coming to christmas lunch this year as they're are going camping. While disappointed I know how hard he works, he only gets that time of the year to really relax, so good luck to him. Oh well I guess they will be jumping in the creek instead.
My Favourite Xmas Story
My sister Annette always made Christmas special when myself and my three children visited mum's on Christmas day. She would spend days setting up the tree , decorating it and mum's house and wrapping presents. But then she died in year 2000 from breast cancer. To make things worse Dad died the day before what would have been Annette's 40th birthday , six months after Annette passed.
Christmas was never the same.
But then a wondrous thing happened. My youngest daughter Vanessa has started hosting Christmas at her home. And she spends days setting up the tree , decorating it and her house and wrapping presents.
It is as if my sister left a small part of herself in my daughter , her Christmas spirit. So now once again, I love Christmas .
My sister Annette always made Christmas special when myself and my three children visited mum's on Christmas day. She would spend days setting up the tree , decorating it and mum's house and wrapping presents. But then she died in year 2000 from breast cancer. To make things worse Dad died the day before what would have been Annette's 40th birthday , six months after Annette passed.
Christmas was never the same.
But then a wondrous thing happened. My youngest daughter Vanessa has started hosting Christmas at her home. And she spends days setting up the tree , decorating it and her house and wrapping presents.
It is as if my sister left a small part of herself in my daughter , her Christmas spirit. So now once again, I love Christmas .
My fav memory is our home was always open on Christmas Day. Breakfast was with the family and after that the door was open to all friends and family up till evening. Always happy, entertainment with music, plenty of food and laughter. A great memory.
When my older sister was about ten and I was eight, our parents informed us there would be a new baby joining the family soon.
We were both really excited!
They had waited to tell us until December, when Mum was eight months pregnant.
Christmas morning I snuck out of bed early and went into the lounge room to get a sneak peak of what Santa had left us.
The rule was to stay in bed until our parents got up, then we had to endure eating a healthy breakfast before we were allowed into the lounge room to open our pillowcase ‘stockings’, so I had started sneaking in for a quick look a few years earlier, then returned to bed full of excitement, knowing I was getting a new doll or set of Barbie clothes etc.
This Christmas, to my surprise, under the tree was an almost full sized pink woven cane baby bassinet on a stand with a frilly pink liner, a net hanging from a crock, and of course, I immediately assumed Santa had brought us the promised new baby, and clearly it must be a girl! Just what we were hoping for!
I rushed over and lifted the net draped over the basket and peered in.
There was a pink coverlet and pillow but no baby!
I let out a wail of disappointment which brought our parents into the room so I got caught out!
Mum asked me what was wrong. Clearly she had expected a devoted doll lover like me to be beyond excited to get such a magnificent doll bassinet but to her disappointment, all I could do was cry over the fact Santa had forgotten to bring our baby sister!
( She arrived in January so it all ended well,)
We were both really excited!
They had waited to tell us until December, when Mum was eight months pregnant.
Christmas morning I snuck out of bed early and went into the lounge room to get a sneak peak of what Santa had left us.
The rule was to stay in bed until our parents got up, then we had to endure eating a healthy breakfast before we were allowed into the lounge room to open our pillowcase ‘stockings’, so I had started sneaking in for a quick look a few years earlier, then returned to bed full of excitement, knowing I was getting a new doll or set of Barbie clothes etc.
This Christmas, to my surprise, under the tree was an almost full sized pink woven cane baby bassinet on a stand with a frilly pink liner, a net hanging from a crock, and of course, I immediately assumed Santa had brought us the promised new baby, and clearly it must be a girl! Just what we were hoping for!
I rushed over and lifted the net draped over the basket and peered in.
There was a pink coverlet and pillow but no baby!
I let out a wail of disappointment which brought our parents into the room so I got caught out!
Mum asked me what was wrong. Clearly she had expected a devoted doll lover like me to be beyond excited to get such a magnificent doll bassinet but to her disappointment, all I could do was cry over the fact Santa had forgotten to bring our baby sister!
( She arrived in January so it all ended well,)
I'm in my seventies and remember going to my Grandparents house for Christmas lunch.
It was held in the hallway of their house which was about ( if I can vaguely remember about 8ft (2.4 mt wide
22ft (6.7 mt ) long.
It was a grand affair.
Me being the youngest always got the silver coin which was I think a threepence or sixpence.
Great memories.
It was held in the hallway of their house which was about ( if I can vaguely remember about 8ft (2.4 mt wide
22ft (6.7 mt ) long.
It was a grand affair.
Me being the youngest always got the silver coin which was I think a threepence or sixpence.
Great memories.
There is no Christmas more exciting than to have Christmas with my GrandMa and all the family, when being only 5yrs old. The War was ended 3 yrs earlier and almost out of conversations, but never forgotten. Before we opened any presents GranDad would say a prayer for those who didn't come back from the war.
There was a Christmas Tree with Lots of presents and we all were up early to find out what Santa brought us all. I GOT A NEW STYLE SCOOTER WITH A BRAKE ON THE BACK WHEEL. I was so excited because it had large rubber tyres and it was the latest scooter that one could buy. Within minutes we had the scooter downstairs and ready for a test run. My Younger Brother was standing on the front holding the steering handles and away we went.
It was similiar to this one, only it was RED. It had to be red LMAO.
Grandma always made Horehound and Ginger Beer for Christmas and the BIGGEST Christmas Pudding that she would pour Brandy on and light is up.
Mum and Dad and my Two Uncles and an Aunty would all sing and be merry. Grandad would recite Poetry about the bush and the bushrangers that he had met in the district when his dad and brothers were Bullockies (Australia's first Semi-Trailers).
Well, the beautiful two storey house was moved to Charleville in the 1980s and Monamby Park was sold.
I still remember the excitement of those Christmas Days and would attempt to mimick them with my Family in Canberra with my two girls and Family we built there. It was definitely the "The Good Old Days" that we and many other people talk about today. Although half of them have passed on God Bless their Souls.
Now it is simply 'A Time to Remember.
There was a Christmas Tree with Lots of presents and we all were up early to find out what Santa brought us all. I GOT A NEW STYLE SCOOTER WITH A BRAKE ON THE BACK WHEEL. I was so excited because it had large rubber tyres and it was the latest scooter that one could buy. Within minutes we had the scooter downstairs and ready for a test run. My Younger Brother was standing on the front holding the steering handles and away we went.
It was similiar to this one, only it was RED. It had to be red LMAO.Grandma always made Horehound and Ginger Beer for Christmas and the BIGGEST Christmas Pudding that she would pour Brandy on and light is up.
Mum and Dad and my Two Uncles and an Aunty would all sing and be merry. Grandad would recite Poetry about the bush and the bushrangers that he had met in the district when his dad and brothers were Bullockies (Australia's first Semi-Trailers).
Well, the beautiful two storey house was moved to Charleville in the 1980s and Monamby Park was sold.
I still remember the excitement of those Christmas Days and would attempt to mimick them with my Family in Canberra with my two girls and Family we built there. It was definitely the "The Good Old Days" that we and many other people talk about today. Although half of them have passed on God Bless their Souls.
Now it is simply 'A Time to Remember.
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Christmas Competition!
We are so excited to launch our final competition of 2022! This one is extra special because it’s Christmas themed for the holidays AND we are drawing it in the first week of December, so the winner can use their $100 voucher to either Coles, Woolies, ALDI or IGA to help with the Christmas shopping!
Entering the competition is simple! All we want is to hear about your favourite Christmas memories. It can be any Christmas you remember. Maybe it was your childhood Christmas. Or maybe, it was last year’s Christmas. Whatever it was, we want to hear about it! The person with our favourite Christmas memory will win a $100 voucher to the supermarket of their choice (Coles, Woolies, ALDI or IGA!)
So get storytelling members; it’s time to get into the Christmas Spirit!
In the 70s my mum worked at Fletcher Jones factory in Warrnambool and every year we would have the most fabulous Christmas party. Tables lined with all sorts of goodies. Santa would visit and every child received a gift before running through the beautiful gardens. Happy innocent times
I have so many Christmas memories those in England when I was a little girl in the cold of course and the ones in Australia in the heat Visiting the two grandmas the games we played the food the presents the smell of grandad’s cigars Being at school and there was a fairy high up in the school hall we were told if you made a wish under it it would come true Our dog had recently died and I was so excited about the fairy I made the wish our dog would come back Sadly it did not happen I will never forget the sadness of that Christmas At school again and the teacher telling us to look out of the window because Santa was up in the sky with his reindeers All the children were delighted saying how they could see him I was asked if I could see him but I couldn’t so I said I could It wasn’t until years later I realised the teacher knew I was and the other children were lying because he doesn’t exist!
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