Memories of Christmas

My memories of Christmas include ...

Food, food, SO much food.
Breakfast, lunch & dinner. As a youngster my Grandparents lived only a few houses apart so we would spend lunch with one & then wander up to the other.
When we were little my Pop & Nan used to put money in the pudding. I didn't like the pudding but used to say yes to a small piece so I could have a go at hunting for the coin. At my Nan & Gramps' house I just used to skip the pudding and go straight for the yummy yummy custard which my Nan would scoop into a bowl in big serves. mmmmmm.

Kids galore.
I was the eldest grandchild so I was surrounded by younger cousins. On my Dads side of the family there are about 20 grandchildren & on my Mum's side there are 9. Of course now there are great-grandchildren as well!!
The mad dash to a great spot in front of the tree when someone yelled "present time". All the kids would sit at the front with wide eyes, trying to see their name on the tags of the pressies.

The cricket match after lunch. Littlest to biggest batting order and the littlies always got to "go out" over & over before they had to hand over the bat. The backyard cricket was an awesome event coz we had enough people for a good sized field! Everyone would yell "Howzat!!" when someone was out. If the Mums felt that enough time was not given to a child at this point there was an overturning of the result from the crowd. LOL

The Santa Pillow case.
We'd carefully lay it on the end of our bed on Christmas Eve. I would be sure to flatten it out beautifully for Santa (wish I had a photo of that).

The December 1st event of Putting Up the Christmas Tree.

Mum always encouraged us to help (just as I do with my children now). There were pretty lights, tinsel, decorations new & old and always many hand-made by us (usually at school) wonderful creations.

The gathering of the grass for the reindeer to put in the lounge room with the cookies & milk (or beer) for Santa.

The big hug from my Gramps as he gave me my pressie. He would walk into the room saying "Ho Ho Ho"and get us all excited.

The year that we all stuffed into my Nan's little unit so that she could have a turn at hosting Christmas. It was one of the best so far! We even managed the after-meal cricket match in the car park!

Recent Christmases have required a 560km trip to Melbourne to get together with the family. This means missing one party altogether (which is held early) but is extra special because we don't see our family as often since moving away.

It's bittersweet. We moved to the coast 6 years ago. We LOVE our town and I am so happy with the environment we are providing for our kids to grow up in.

Because it is a small coastal town we rely on our tourist seasons to keep our businesses going.

This means that we can't get away to spend Christmas with our extended families (we have only ONE day off).

So how do I give my kids Christmas memories like I have?

Can you offer suggestions? I need your help. Share your family Christmas traditions.