this is for the older generation on christmas?

Question

my daughter is 7 and I'm trying to tell her what Christmas was like for her great-grandma who was born in 1918. How she got home-made socks and clothes. If she got a doll she was extremly lucky since they were dirt poor. I'm also trying to get her to understand how to appreciate a gift like I did when I was her age.
So here is my question to you, I do understand about hard times from my grandmother stories, but please tell me (and my daughter) a short story on your favorite xmas as a youngster? We will also be copying these for a project she is doing in school. So sincere answers please.

THANK YOU, AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

also, can you tell me where you grew up?

Answer 1

Christmas My grandfather used to say was about being together so one year to help us understand what it was about he and the rest of our adult family schemed a plan to show us what it was to be at a family Christmas . There were no presents we had a meager Christmas lunch in the yard
( Christmas is hot as it falls in the middle of summer in Australia) .
all the kids and parents played games there was no TV or stereo my uncle John played a ukulele and we sang songs we had treasure hunts for small boiled lollies I cant remember laughing so much as we played silly games like ringa round the Rosy tag hide and seek I saw the adults dressed as they would have been as school kids in their day ,playing game like jacks skipping ropes I saw my Grandad in shorts and knee high socks my Nan in a pinafore and stockings and my parents dressed like some thing out grease the movie .
They sang and danced I had the best day and at the end of the day we were given a gift the boys a spinning top the real kind that you rap a string about the top and fling to the ground . the girls were given a knitting bag with needle and wool .
Yes It was a great day and as you can see i still reminisce over it . when we got home the presents were under the tree, and i ejoyed opening them but I cried when I realised I lost that top some time over the years .
Id like to say thank you to you and your little girl for jogging a long lost memory that brought a tear to my eye even today
Bless you both and MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Ps all my sisters and neices knitt because of that gify ,a simple gift of two sticks and wool can cloth you and keep you warm.

Answer 2

Well, I'm not that age, but I can tell you a story of a tradition that my Grandmother did with me when I was very young. It made an impact.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but let's not forget the TRUE meaning of this Holiday. It's to celebrate the birth of Jesus. We read the story of the birth of Jesus before opening gifts. . Sometimes, we forget how lucky we are. We have family, gifts and lots of food to eat. Did you know that there are many people who have no one at all to spend Christmas with or that there are children who don't get any presents at all? My Grandmother gave me $10 dollars and I went and bought a gift and wrapped it. I picked this gift with LOTS of care, because it was going to go to the nursing home to a person who had no family, no gifts, nothing. On Christmas day, we went to the Nursing home and I'll never forget the tears of joy in the person's eyes that opened my small gift. (We checked ahead with the staff for people that would have no visitors and made arrangements to go).
GIVING a gift to someone rather than receiving is something that really stayed in my heart. We would sit and read or just visit and it made such a HUGE difference to someone who would have just been alone. When we went back to visit, my little gift sat in a place of honor on a table in the nursing home patient's room. The frail shaking hands, the tears of joy, the hugs that were so heart felt. My little gifts over the years were not expensive, but the value of joy they brought to a lonely person's life was priceless.
That's a tradition that I try to teach my own children. Getting gifts is fine, but giving a gift to someone who is lonely and sad, makes Christmas much more special.

God Bless and Happy Holidays.

Answer 3

I'm only 20 so this didnt happen all that long ago but I will treasure the memory until the day that I die. My dad was in a car accident and messed up his back pretty bad, he was in the hospital and we didn't have the money for him to have the procedure that was necessary. Also, we were new to this little town in Kansas and didnt know anyone, but it appeared to be the worst Christmas ever. Well on Christmas Eve we opened the mailbox and there was a plain envelope and when we opened it there was a check for about 10,000 dollars. We didn't know who had sent the check or why but it was enough to cover my dad's operation and to buy us dinner and new clothing. We were so joyous and greatful that God had provided us with the means to have a decent, if not great Christmas. We later found out that our teachers at the school had heard about our predicament and went around gathering as much money as they could from the town and supplied the rest from their own pockets. I will never forget the way my mom cried when she opened that envelope. God really does work in mysterious ways.

Answer 4

I am one of four children I'm third and forty one years young.
All my life as a child we had very little, but fairly content with our lives. when i was eight years old around Christmas the power was usually out{unable to afford p.g.e} so my mom would set us all down in the living room by candle lite and a fire going and read us story's from Disney books. my favorite was the boy who cried wolf. We had a fake tree with glitter strands built in. and even as cold as it was there still was an abundance of warmth in that room. my father lived there also but we only saw him late night or early morning. But Christmas eve that year i will always remember.I got a basketball that year and my dad was home and both my mom and dad and I played basketball together till late that night. That was the best Christmas i ever had and i will never forget

Answer 5

I wasn't born in the really old days but I was raised in the 60's. My father was raised during the depression and he had stories to tell that were more funny than full of dread of the times.
He told me that they were so poor that he (being the youngest of 11 children) didn't know that shoes didn't come with cardboard in the bottoms until he got a new pair at Christmas.
He told me that for fun they would get barrel rings off of shipping barrels and a stick and would see who could roll the ring w/the stick the furthest.
That's about it.
Happy Holidays to you.

Answer 6

When I was 7 my mother took me to Hungary for Christmas to meet my grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins. They were poor people and lived life very different from what I was used to.

There were only 2 rooms, a kitchen and another room that was for sleeping at night and as a living room in the day time.

In the kitchen was a wood stove for cooking and it was also the only source of heat. My grandmother put bricks on top of the stove and left them there all day to get real hot. At night she wrapped them in old towels and set them at the foot of the bed under HUGE feather blankets. I remember jumping in the bed and rubbing my feet on the warm bricks.

I remember drinking strong black russian tea sweetend with sugar and lemon in the morning. Cookies my grandmother made. And special candies hung on the small Christmas tree to decorate it and to eat.

I also remember going to midnight mass with my mother, grandmother and aunt and cousins. My grandmother sang from her heart and I remeber watching her and my mother as they sang. I didn't really understand the language but the way they sang I knew they were singing for Jesus and celebrating his birth. I can still remember the refrain of the song and I sing it in my head when I recall my grandmothers beautiful face.

I may not have gotten the latest toy that Christmas but the memories that I have with me since that Christmas... will remain forever and it will always be the best Christmas of my life.

Answer 7

Hi. I'm 53 and grew up in Ireland. My favourite Christams memory is of the year I was starting to doubt the existence of Santa. That was the year when we were sent to bed early on Christmas Eve, probably before 8pm. At about 10pm, of course we were still awake. Then there was a loud knock on the front door. I heard my mum answer it, then she came into the room where my brother and I were supposed to be asleep! She said there's someone at the door". I got up. My brother didn't, I guess he was scared. And when I peeped down the stairs, Santa was at the door!! His face was hidden by the big red hood, but I could see his black boots. I got such a fright, I ran straight back to my room, and jumped into bed. The next morning, when we went downstairs, Santa's boot marks and sooty handprints were everywhere. Wow, did that teach me a lesson!

Answer 8

I am not that old yet---I am 28 still young----but also old enough to remember how to appreciate everything I got for Christmas. When I was 7 and my sister was 5 years old we were always taught to be appreciative and thank the person for every gift we received. So Christmas would go something like this. The gifts were under the tree with our names and the persons name who was giving the gift on them. Our uncle was in charge of passing out the gifts. that Christmas when I was 7 I still remember to this day. My sister and I both got a similar gift from our grandmother, so we were to open our gifts at the same time. Our whole family was waiting in anticipation on what our grandmother was getting us this year (she was known for giving unusual gifts at some times). I remember after we both got it opened I looked at my sister and she looked at me, and we both looked at grandma and said " thank you grandma" then we both looked at each other quietly and asked "what is it?" well i guess it wasn't that quietly grandma noticed her mistake---she said that we opend the wrong box first. The gift we had got from my grandma that year was a porcelain doll----but the gift we had opend was the stand for the doll-----everyone laughed. I still remember this to this day. Also tradiation for our family was grandma had got us a porcelain doll every year till she died. Our mom got us one after that a few times. And after my mom died unexpectedly I got one for my sister every year. I hope to one day have a daughter to pass this onto as well.


Hope this helps you.

If you need anymore storys I have plenty-----e-mail me at [e-mail] and put in the title christmas storys off of yahoo answers or something and I would be glad to share for her school project. Because I am a teacher myself.

Answer 9

This took place just a couple of years ago, my husband was not working and of course it was the holidays. My baby's were littler and we had no money so we made our own presents made from stuff around the house, i even had to sign up for local Charity's so we could have food and donated presents. We learned the real meaning of Christmas, it was love of family and the birth of the
Christ child.

Answer 10

My fondest memory was walking to town to pick up a live tree with the family. Dad,Mom my brother and sister I all carried it home . It was too snowy to drive. Now this was on Christmas Eve. We then popped popcorn and strung it to hang around the tree while singing Christmas Carols. Later on we hung our stockings by the fireplace and then went to bed to wait for Santa.