When winter rolls around, and I feel the cold chill in the air, I’m reminded that my birthday and Christmas are just around the corner. This fills my heart with happiness. I used to not enjoy either my birthday or Christmas because my birthday is so close to Christmas day, so when it got close to my birthday I had gotten a german chocolate cake, my absolute favorite, and I would get to open one of my “birthday Christmas presents” and then we would go out and eat or do something. However, in all actuality I was just a little brat who had wanted more presents, but it made me happy to know my family loves me. Now looking back on it, it makes me happy that my mom had pulled through for me on my birthday as a single parent. I know that it made her happy to make me happy, and I felt the love. When Christmas came around my mom would get out the tree and my younger brother and I would decorate it while we clumped all the ornaments together on the tree and got glitter and garlands everywhere. Of course it wouldn’t be Christmas without a complementary candy cane in one hand and an ornament in the other! I remember my mom would tell us to go down stairs so that she could wrap presents. I walked upstairs one time to peek when she had gone to the bathroom because I am a mischievous kid and just had to see, and to my disappointment my mom had  gotten them all done before I could even peek!  Then, we would wait the grueling days till Christmas with so much anticipation. And then… CHRISTMAS! Two small kids and two teenagers running to the tree like a stampede– my poor mom… We would go from youngest to oldest and we would first open our stockings and then rip and tear till we got to our treasures, and we would take pictures of everyone opening their gifts and being goobs.

Me and my younger brother AJ loved the snowy days we would wake up in our jammies and we would realize we didn’t have school. Immediately we would run to the window and a sheet of snow would cover the ground, icy and fluffy. We would dress in our winter clothes and grab chunks of snow and throw it at each other full force. We would giggle then run and get our sled from the shed. Then we would go into our neighbor’s back yard because he had a steeper hill than us (he didn’t know about this) and we would take turns pushing each other down the hill. He and I would try to pull stupid stunts that got us inevitably hurt but we didn’t care– I was a surfer on a sled!!! One day our neighbor caught us sledding in his backyard, but he didn’t care. He said that he didn’t mind us playing in his backyard as long as we didn’t leave a mess. He was an older man, and he sat and watched us play for a bit then he went inside. When I was younger I thought that it was creepy, but now, I think that he had just missed his kids because they were all out of the house. He was a cool guy, and I appreciate him for letting me and my brother make good memories!

As I grew older my experiences with Christmas changed.  I moved in with my dad when I was 13, and Christmas felt a little colder and less like Christmas and more like another day to me. It was the same with my birthday. I would usually just end up being a little sad around that time because I had stopped getting cake for my birthday –just a happy birthday and a non heartfelt present bought at the last minute. I felt so alone around those times. However, life moved on, and now I live with my girlfriend and her family, WHICH ARE AWESOME!

Her family goes all out for Christmas because it’s their favorite holiday. A few weeks before Christmas, we get out all of the Christmas decor (aka me and her dad haul in all the totes of Christmas things and her mom and sisters look through the totes to figure out what’s what.) We then set up the tree and decorate it with all of the ornaments and all of the garland. Dad puts the angel on the tree and we make hot cocoa or cookies for Santa. We take shifts wrapping presents for everyone, unless you’re the one the presents are for of course! We get our elf on the shelf out. His name is Bobby Todd, of course named by the smallest one in the house, Bailey’s little sister Vivian; I’d say it’s a very good name for an elf! 

We visited her Grandma Joan and Grandpa Faron on Christmas day. We have a tradition of making a small feast and they roll up candy in saran wrap. The way we play is we roll dice and see who gets the highest number and whoever does goes first. Then we unwrap the ball as fast as possible without tearing it and whoever was up next frantically rolls for doubles and then if they by chance roll it they get to go and so on. Last Christmas Bailey’s cousin Haley and aunt Jamie came down to celebrate with all of us. All the kids have a fun and chaotic time with Haley because she’s the oldest one of us. She takes us on rides and tells us all of her college drama, which can be fun to hear the scoop about! Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Grandma Joan talking our ears off about everything going on around town and trying to take care of everyone. Then we all talk and eat and watch Opus and Bill: A wish for wings that Work Christmas special on CD. We then open gifts and get in our jammies. We usually stay the night  since they live further away, and we all sleep cozied up in the living room.  

Christmas with her other grandparents Grandpa Jim and Grandma Rhonda, happens on Christmas Eve and everyone comes over. Bailey’s aunts and her cousin, and sometimes Arlo, our dog. They also prepare a feast and we all divvy up our plates and eat together and talk at the table. Then we pass out gifts and go crazy! We eventually settle down, and we then all gather at the table. Her grandma gets packages of asian snacks from her brother, and we pass them around for everyone to try, and honestly it’s very hit or miss with what people like. Personally I love the fried tempura seaweed chips.

After decorating and getting everything ready we settle down from the long couple of days and then on Christmas day we open gifts around our tree and we listen to Christmas music sitting in our jammies, laughing and shrieking.  I call the family members that I can’t be with and talk to them for a while to wish them a Merry Christmas. Christmas is now one of my favorite holidays, thanks to the family I have. I’m happy that I have new traditions and old memories that I now have gotten to share with you, dear reader, so please, have a Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!