Why Christmas Means a Little Bit More To Me
Sharing some nostalgia, childhood memories, and joy
With Christmas around the corner, I couldn’t help but remember what fun this time of year used to be during my childhood. Not that it is so different now, but those days were quite unique.
The year was 1968. I was five years old and in the first grade.
Christmas was a magical time of year at our school, Little Flowers. We, especially the non-Christians, looked forward to it with great enthusiasm. The beautiful nativity scene with twinkling fairy lights and the fabulous Christmas tree we helped decorate were a delight to behold. We enjoyed practicing singing carols throughout the month.
And continued to hum after we got home, and long after Christmas ended.
Two weeks before Christmas, the teachers and their assistants were hard at work, making handmade gifts for the 200-odd kids in the school. Yes — Phew! They made little Santa Claus cutouts and colored them. These were stuck onto little square trays made of cardboard. One of the teachers would be busy baking cakes for the big day.
The “Santa” trays were then filled with a piece of cake, chocolates, pencils, erasers and covered with a pretty handkerchief, fixed to the tray with a safety pin. Yes, it is believed auspicious to gift a handkerchief with a safety pin.
Each handkerchief was lovingly made by our crafts teacher, who bought the cloth in bales, cut them out, and edged them with lace on her sewing machine. We loved watching her at work! She then embroidered something cute in one corner. We treasured them for years!
As Christmas day approached, we would go crazy with anticipation, even though we knew what was going on. We would try to get sneak peeks into the staff room for a glimpse of our “gifts” stacked on the tables.
Christmas!
On Christmas Eve, the teachers would be dressed in their finest. All the students would assemble for celebrations — with not a single absentee! There would be skits, singing, and dancing on stage by those who had been practicing to give us the perfect show! The event would wrap up with everyone singing Christmas carols together.
Predictably, “Jingle bells” was the favorite and as we sang it, a very jovial and large “Santa Claus” would come prancing into the hall and there would be chaos.
After letting us scream our heads off for a couple of minutes, the teachers would laughingly scold us — threatening us that we would have to miss our goodies! The noise level would instantly come down and we would eagerly file into our classrooms.
The trays with our coveted gifts would arrive and be placed on the table. We would be anxious with thoughts like — what color hanky will I get? how many chocolates? — running through our little heads.
Then the distribution would begin. A group of teachers would sing Christmas carols. As each child approached, she would receive a warm hug, a blessing, and her “Santa tray”. With a hurried “thank you” and suddenly obedient, the child would sedately walk to her desk in her classroom, desperate to check out the contents.
After everyone received their gifts, Santa would once again waltz in and out of each class to drive us all crazy again, leaving little necks craning to see him until he disappeared.
Some of us made greeting cards at home for our teachers and brought them. All of us shook hands with our teachers. And secretly tried to touch a tip of their dress or sari.
And after we went home, we would proudly show off our goodies and get mad if anyone touched them!
Yes, you can eat this Christmas tree — it is made of chocolate 👆
Have I told you my mom went to the same school as I did? Her fourth-grade teacher was my fourth-grade teacher too! Later, my mom was a teacher in the same school. Mom was also my class teacher in Grade 2. For me, it was a double celebration not just as a student, but also as my mom’s daughter with the teachers. My grandmother often invited the teachers home for lunch and they would spend the afternoon with us. Then they would all leave, with gifts from my grandma.
This was followed by a week off, from Christmas to the New Year before school reopened again on January 2. And we settled down to a cozy time at home, planning movies at the nearby theater, picnics at the nearby park, visits to the beach, lots of sketching and coloring, craftwork, learning new things, and…. growing up just a little bit.
A tradition of giving
As our own way of celebrating Christmas, our family would gather clothes, utensils, and other things we had been collecting over the past couple of months. Armed with these and food, we would set out — to give them to the street dwellers and those faithful workers who toiled to keep our area clean — and worked even on holidays.
My grandma would invite all the local street people in our area over for a home-cooked meal. At the end of the meal, each guest was given a gift — an item of clothing or bed linen. I remember accompanying my uncle to the wholesale market to buy these gifts where I loved to watch him shop for a good bargain.
Beautiful memories. Filled with love and happiness.
As we walk down memory lane, let me share a lovely song — Do they Know it’s Christmas by Band Aid 1984 — a fabulous collaborative effort among top music artists to raise funds for the famine in Ethiopia.
Today, I try to continue the tradition as best as I can, without waiting for Christmas or other festivals. Every day is a good day to give. We keep a giveaway trunk where we add things we’d like to give away. This makes it convenient for us to grab a thing or two each time we step out, or when someone visits.
The joy of living is in giving
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Ever wondered what is the reason for the Christmas season? Barbara Mac, who has been celebrating Christmas for decades, both as a child and an adult ponders over what Christmas is all about in her post and what is it we are really celebrating.
And Julian Cosky has some tips about how to solve cooking on Christmas day. Enjoy!
Merry Christmas, dear friends. Have a love-filled and happy one! And don’t forget to say your I Love Yous.
Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles ❤ Did you smile today?
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