Remembering Christmas

This year, for the first year, EVER, I was done shopping for Christmas by November. Oh, I've had to pick up a few items for stockings, and a special gift I ordered in September was hand-crafted and ready for pickup earlier this month, but for all intents and purposes, I was done.

I have always envied, and somewhat resented, the organized ladies (it's never the men) who smugly mention, "Oh, I've been ready for months." I berate myself: "we know on 26.December that another Christmas is coming; why can't I go on and get it done?" But for whatever reason, I never started (until now) til late fall. Sometimes, it was late, late fall.

All year I have anticipated having the PERFECT CHRISTMAS. I selected just the perfect gifts, made some, bought others. Envisioned lovely smells in the kitchen and sparkly lights throughout the house. DH and I bought a few Christmas gifts on our vacation in August. It's truly been a year of getting ready for Christmas.

So now of course our little Christmas is not perfect. DH has to work all day Christmas day. Other events have conspired to suck the joy from the season. Sheesh.

I have been thinking back to other Christmases. I remember 28 years ago when DS1 was 4 and DS2 was a 3. DD was a toddler. We had little or no money but somehow it did not matter a bit. I made slippers for all, red corduroy with white terry lining. Made a rag doll for DD, with a yellow gingham dress and embroidered facial features. Their dad made them a brightly-colored abacus from dowels and wooden beads. We built a puppet stage from plywood; I made curtains, backdrop and puppets, all animals. We even stayed up late one night and made homemade lollipops, cooking corn syrup, sugar and water to the hard-crack stage, separating it into 4 or 5 batches for different colors, and spreading it thin to harden. Then we rolled it into a fine powder with the rolling pin. Using washed tuna cans with both top and bottom lids removed, as a mold, on a cookie sheet, we sprinkled the colored powder into the circular mold, with little designs in the center. In one mold we sprinkled a green Christmas tree shape in the center, then filled the remainder of the circle with red. And so on. Once all our designs were made, we removed the cans, inserted shortened thin dowels, and baked. They were the most beautiful lollipops you ever saw. I remember wanting to hang them in the window. They were like beautiful little stained-glass windows. Thinking back, I can almost recall the smell of cooking them, there in that tiny little kitchen.

The children loved their gifts and I was so proud and pleased that we had made it all. It was a Christmas to remember.