GETTING READY FOR SANTA

GETTING READY FOR SANTA

by Fred M. Allen

As children growing up many years ago, the excitement of getting ready for Santa was almost overwhelming. In those days we made many of our decorations rather than buying them in the store. We searched for a Christmas tree to cut and carry home. Sometimes we had no cedar trees on our farm so we had to get permission to cut a tree from our neighbor’s farm.  

It was a real challenge to make the tree stand up straight without metal stands that were invented later. We all got involved in making decorations for the tree and for the whole house including making strings of popcorn to wind round and round the tree. 

We actually used old socks to hang near the tree for we never had a fireplace with a mantle. As Mama searched for socks for all six of us kids, we all wanted the biggest one she could find. We all wanted Daddy’s socks! Since we had no electricity, we had no Christmas lights. But we always had boxes of store-bought icicles for the tree, and we made all sorts of pretty things to hang on it. We always had to save up boxes in advance because, in those days, you could not buy gift bags like we do today. We had to buy wrapping paper, ribbons, etc. We made our own bows from the ribbons. 

Mama and my sisters always baked plenty of cookies in advance for we had to have some ready to put on a table to feed Santa Claus. Since we had no chimney for Santa to use for entry, we had to make sure that one door was left unlocked. The morning of Christmas Eve, we all tried to be the first one to yell, “Christmas Eve Gift” as we woke up early that day in anticipation of the arrival of Santa that night and our getting up early on Christmas morning to see what Santa put in our stockings and under the tree. Wow! How we ever went to sleep at all, I don’t’ know. Finally, Christmas Day arrived and we all got up in our pajamas and gathered around the tree. In our own family when our children were young, we usually left one gift unwrapped for each child and put his or her name on it so they could find it first. The excitement was almost uncontrollable as the children grabbed their special gift. We always checked the cookie plate to see how many cookies Santa ate. Usually at every Christmas someone would give a prank gift to someone just for fun. I recall the first time Duane’s bride-to-be, Norah Lee, had Christmas with us, someone gave her a neatly wrapped dry cow chip, but I don’t dare tell who did that for I might be in deep trouble!

Usually, after gifts were opened, we had breakfast and then read the Christmas Story from the Bible, sang Christmas carols and had a prayer together. before playing the rest of the day. Special foods were enjoyed by all including popcorn balls, fudge, cakes & pies, and, of course, all sorts of Christmas candy, nuts and fruit. Then it came time for fireworks, especially at night, when sparklers were fired up. As the sparklers were brightening up the night, we ran around and around with them, waving them and making beautiful pictures. When all was said and done, we kids spent our holidays from school enjoying our toys and eating many of our favorite foods. And who remembers the boxes of chocolate-covered cherries, and roasting marshmallows on the open fire, then chasing fireflies and putting them in a jar for a while. We call those days MAKING MEMORIES!