Your childhood Christmas’s

[ROBBOTOO]

We always woke up to a pillow case full of presents at the end of the bed. That’s my lovely memory for most Christmasses.

But my mum would always be stressed with it all with relatives coming and she would take it out on us on the lead up to Christmas and it would be horrible.

I remember going to pick my grandparents up from the coach station at Victoria with my dad and my mum for no reason had had a go at just me for days.

My grandad then had a go at me once they got to ours based on my mum’s issue which he actually knew nothing about. My dad just said to go out.

I went to the pub with my friends and even my dad joined us in the end.

My mum apologised christmas morning and said she didn’t know why she’d had a problem with me for days.

Sadly I’ve never forgotten that and sadly for all the lovely Christmasses we had, it’s the one I remember the most for the wrong reasons.

[sam7]

My mum was German so we always got the present on Christmas eve in the evening. Mum would clean the house all day - the sitting room would be shut off so it didn't get dirty before santa came, then we would have a special dinner, then mum would somehow get me out of the way and while I was upstairs santa would come and ring the special bell.
I remember one year me and 3 or my friends got dolls where they cried when you pulled the dummy out. When we got together (our mums were friends so that was often) it was bedlam with 3 x screaming dolls. Think our parents regretted that one.
We always had a real Christmas tree, loved the smell - and santa always left a plate of biscuits (German ones), still go out of my way to buy them, don't even like the taste, just love the smell

[Tinks2014]

I remember getting my first chocolate advent calendar and sneakily eating all the contents because I couldn’t wait. My youngest son sort of did the same thing but not just his own he also demolished his brothers. He loves to remind his brother of how he opened it from the bottom and removed the contents without opening the doors . They are in their 30s, although youngest is in Australia.

[Floridatilly]

Originally Posted by enjibenji

You all had some lovely happy times.
The Christmas eve I remembered the most was my alcoholic father coming home and ruining it, so my mum, me and my brother got into a taxi to stay at my nans. Mum sat with the turkey in the tin on her lap and I had the goldfish on my lap in a flask as I was worried he would slosh over the sides of the goldfish bowl lol.
Can laugh about it now lol.

See more...

My husbands mum was an alcoholic 😥 there are some sad tales regarding Christmas. One Christmas everyone sat down to eat Christmas dinner and she got into a drunken rage, tipped the dinning table over with the turkey and all the trimmings on it. The food went everywhere including all over the three boys. His dad took the boys to their nan’s for the rest of the day 😥
Addiction is a terribly sad thing x x

[Princess Ariel]

Some of these stories are so sad. My mum and dad drank every single weekend, mainly resulting in violence afterwards and either the police being called, my dad ending up in A&E or all of us being thrown out of the house by my mum. She was also violent towards me during childhood.
However I have to be honest and say Christmas Day was the one day they didn’t drink and we always had a really happy day together, that’s why it’s always one of the fondest memories of my childhood, and I still love Christmas even now and I am so grateful that I have those memories, it’s those that I hold onto especially now mum has passed away.

[Goldia]

Some wonderful memories and some that are far less so...I'm sure you've all tried to create wonderful Christmas memories and traditions with your families now.

My ghost of Christmas past tale is a happy one...

We also had pillow cases with presents. We all went to my grandma's for lunch, she had four children and I was one of the eight grandchildren so with partners and extended family there were usually 20 odd of us all crammed round a dining table made for 6 in a 2 up 2 down terrace. My grandma made a great effort, pennies in the Christmas pudding for all of us kids, and lots of treats. She would cut up the Radio Times to use as clues for charades and put them in one of grandads old pipe tobacco tins. She would do a music playlist...things like The Birdie Song, Agadoo etc. The festivities would continue on boxing day which was always a fancy dress party. One year she came as Carmen Miranda with a whole fruit bowl on her head, my family came as The Wizard of Oz, I was Dorothy, mum was the wicked witch, three brothers were the straw man, tin man and lion, dad was the wizard. As kids we used have a brilliant time.

[Pumpkin Pie]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Some wonderful memories and some that are far less so...I'm sure you've all tried to create wonderful Christmas memories and traditions with your families now.

My ghost of Christmas past tale is a happy one...

We also had pillow cases with presents. We all went to my grandma's for lunch, she had four children and I was one of the eight grandchildren so with partners and extended family there were usually 20 odd of us all crammed round a dining table made for 6 in a 2 up 2 down terrace. My grandma made a great effort, pennies in the Christmas pudding for all of us kids, and lots of treats. She would cut up the Radio Times to use as clues for charades and put them in one of grandads old pipe tobacco tins. She would do a music playlist...things like The Birdie Song, Agadoo etc. The festivities would continue on boxing day which was always a fancy dress party. One year she came as Carmen Miranda with a whole fruit bowl on her head, my family came as The Wizard of Oz, I was Dorothy, mum was the wicked witch, three brothers were the straw man, tin man and lion, dad was the wizard. As kids we used have a brilliant time.

See more...

Your gran sounds like she was great fun.

[Goldia]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin Pie

Your gran sounds like she was great fun.

See more...

She really was, so thank you.

In her 20s she had tuberculosis and at that time there wasn't much hope. She refused to marry my grandad until she was fully recovered and I think that gave her a real joie de vive.

For her 80th birthday in the year 2000 she paid for us all to go to DLP for the weekend. A few years later when I had my son and was on maternity leave she would have me round for lunch with him every Wednesday and make a 3 course lunch of salad (with mint sauce as the dressing - I know it sounds odd but it was yummy) shepherd's pie and then a pudding. She wouldn't let me get up and do a thing, she was 84 then. She died a couple of months after my daughter was born at the age of 87. She was wonderful and she also made the very best tinned tomatoes on toast! Lol.

[Pumpkin Pie]

Originally Posted by Goldia

She really was, so thank you.

In her 20s she had tuberculosis and at that time there wasn't much hope. She refused to marry my grandad until she was fully recovered and I think that gave her a real joie de vive.

For her 80th birthday in the year 2000 she paid for us all to go to DLP for the weekend. A few years later when I had my son and was on maternity leave she would have me round for lunch with him every Wednesday and make a 3 course lunch of salad (with mint sauce as the dressing - I know it sounds odd but it was yummy) shepherd's pie and then a pudding. She wouldn't let me get up and do a thing, she was 84 then. She died a couple of months after my daughter was born at the age of 87. She was wonderful and she also made the very best tinned tomatoes on toast! Lol.

See more...

My mother’s mum also had TB in her 20s but she was not so lucky and died when my mother (and her twin) were only 4 years old. It’s great to read about someone enjoying life so much from that time.

[Floridatilly]

I also remember that my mum used to give my sister and I a pound note on the lead up to Christmas and take us to the Top Shop (the big, posh shop at the top of the hill, not the clothing shop lol) and we would buy my dad a box of maltesers for Christmas. That was every year and every year he looked surprised 😂😂😂😂 he would shake the present and hear the maltesers and say ‘I wounder what this could be’ 🤩🤩
Oh how I miss my dad 🥰