With the Christmas season upon us, I think it is only fitting to take a break from my usual “Friday Fotos” or “Friday Food” to post a favorite Christmas memory. Christmas has always been a big deal in my family. To this day, I get really excited mid-October because I can feel Christmas approaching. And I am convinced that my excitement over the Christmas season, and all of the traditions surrounding this time of celebration, is rooted in the fact that my mom worked hard to make Christmas special. There are very few presents that I remember specifically through the years. But I do remember one thing—Christmas was about our family celebrating Jesus and enjoying each other. That is what has stuck with me all of these years. My mom labored, on a tight budget, to make our family traditions meaningful and lasting. Presents become outdated, food spoils, but memories last for a lifetime. And I’m so thankful to have them.
When I stop to think about all of my favorite memories of Christmas’ past, it’s hard to pick just one. So for the next three Fridays leading up to Christmas I am going to post a favorite memory from my family’s Christmas celebrations. If you have one as well, feel free to leave a comment. I love other people’s memories too!
The one that comes to mind most clearly is from when I was in middle school. I have three younger brothers and we all LOVED getting up early on Christmas morning. I’m not so sure my parents loved the fact that we got up when it was still dark outside. But they never really let on. Until this one year. My dad had the smart idea to set everyone’s clock back an hour so we would think it was really 5:00 AM when it was 6:00 AM. The rule was we could not get up until it was 6:00. Because seriously, it’s just plain crazy to get up any earlier on Christmas, right? Not to us. But, being the obedient children we were, we waited until the clock turned 6:00. There was one flaw in his brilliant plan.
He didn’t change my clock.
My dad was worried that I would wake up when he came into my room, so he chanced it with me. But my brothers, who were so anxious to open presents, came into my room at “5:00” and said, “Courtney, we really want to go wake Mom and Dad up, but Dad said we can’t come in the room until 6:00 and it’s only 5:00!” Groggily, I looked up at the clock, looked back at them, and tried to register the time in my head—my clock said 6:00. In that moment we all realized that Dad had changed the clocks. His plan failed! And he knew it immediately as we all ran into their room screaming that it was Christmas morning!
Now it’s just my youngest brother and Daniel and me on Christmas morning at my parents. My other two brothers have children of their own to make memories with and get up early with. We’re lucky now if we get up by 8! My how times have changed.
So what’s your favorite Christmas memory?
When I stop to think about all of my favorite memories of Christmas’ past, it’s hard to pick just one. So for the next three Fridays leading up to Christmas I am going to post a favorite memory from my family’s Christmas celebrations. If you have one as well, feel free to leave a comment. I love other people’s memories too!
The one that comes to mind most clearly is from when I was in middle school. I have three younger brothers and we all LOVED getting up early on Christmas morning. I’m not so sure my parents loved the fact that we got up when it was still dark outside. But they never really let on. Until this one year. My dad had the smart idea to set everyone’s clock back an hour so we would think it was really 5:00 AM when it was 6:00 AM. The rule was we could not get up until it was 6:00. Because seriously, it’s just plain crazy to get up any earlier on Christmas, right? Not to us. But, being the obedient children we were, we waited until the clock turned 6:00. There was one flaw in his brilliant plan.
He didn’t change my clock.
My dad was worried that I would wake up when he came into my room, so he chanced it with me. But my brothers, who were so anxious to open presents, came into my room at “5:00” and said, “Courtney, we really want to go wake Mom and Dad up, but Dad said we can’t come in the room until 6:00 and it’s only 5:00!” Groggily, I looked up at the clock, looked back at them, and tried to register the time in my head—my clock said 6:00. In that moment we all realized that Dad had changed the clocks. His plan failed! And he knew it immediately as we all ran into their room screaming that it was Christmas morning!
Now it’s just my youngest brother and Daniel and me on Christmas morning at my parents. My other two brothers have children of their own to make memories with and get up early with. We’re lucky now if we get up by 8! My how times have changed.
So what’s your favorite Christmas memory?