Christmas BaublesUntil my daughter was born, my family celebrated Christmas by going to my parents home on Christmas Eve, then back Christmas morning to open gifts and a wonderful turkey dinner on Christmas evening.  My daughter was the first grandchild & when she arrived, I made sure everything changed.

To make sure my daughter could put out her milk & cookies for Santa before retiring to her own bed, Christmas Eve celebrations moved to my home.  Since my daughter was born in early February, her first Christmas she was already walking.  My family would arrive at my place around 7 p.m. so they could spend some time with my daughter before she went to bed.  I would prepare Chinese dumplings, meatballs, smoked oysters & other finger foods for everyone to snack on.  We weren’t a large family – it would be my parents, my maternal grandmother, my sister & her boyfriend, me & my boyfriend (who later became my first husband).  Everyone would generally stay until midnight because they were due back at my place by 8 a.m. to see my daughter open her gifts.

I would clean up, grab a quick sleep & get back up again to make sure the coffee was made when everyone arrived.  We were lucky because my daughter always loved sleeping late & Christmas morning was no different.  Her daycare was  just next door to me, so I always had the luxury of leaving her sleep, wrapping a blanket around her & dropping her off at daycare where my friend put her to bed so she would wake up naturally.   Everyone could arrive Christmas morning & have at least their first cup of coffee before I would go in & wake my daughter to come open her gifts.  No one had to miss any part of her enjoyment of Christmas.

My daughter was the only grandchild for over 5 years so she was always able to have her whole family with her Christmas morning.  When I got married, my first husband’s family celebrated on Christmas Eve, so we changed our celebrations so we could spend time with her other grandparents when they celebrated & still have Christmas morning with my parents.

Unfortunately, with divorce & moving, I don’t see any of my family anymore at Christmas.  My parents, my sister and her 3 sons still spend Christmas together.  My daughter has just recently moved back to Wpg. so she may be included in some of their celebrations.  Her father always lived in Wpg. so she has remained close to his family.

However you celebrate this season, I hope you have a wonderful time with family & friends.