My favorite holidays.
Christmas is my favorite. It’s not as good now… but when I was younger…

Christmas was magical.

I totally believed in Santa, and my parents were amazing about it. My dad [who we very sadly lost in 2012] had a Santa suit that he used to wear while putting gifts under the tree after my sisters and I went to bed on Christmas Eve. I’d stay awake [too excited to sleep] and peek down the stairs. I could see him from about knee down, and I was convinced that he was really Santa. I never went downstairs and discovered it was my dad because I didn’t want Santa to be upset that I was awake when I should have been asleep. I really believed.

My mom is an amazing decorator. Christmas was in nearly every room of our house—not in a tacky way, but a classy and tasteful way. It has evolved over the years with old things tucked away in the attic and new, more modern things taking over. But it is still beautiful.

On Christmas morning, we’d wake up, rush downstairs, look around at the gifts, and yell, ‘Santa came!!!‘ Some years, there were special things like bikes or a Barbie dreamhouse. It’s not the materialistic side of it that made it magical, though. It was that feeling of utter joy at seeing the cookies we left for Santa eaten and a storybook picture of gifts awaiting us. They could have been the least expensive things, but seeing them magically appear while we were asleep was priceless. And don’t forget the stockings filled with candy.

Yes, my childhood was amazing. I have the best parents ever.

•  •  •  •  •

I loved Halloween, too. It’s not very special now [except for the chocolate], but when I was a kid, it was great. We lived in a small-ish town, and in our neighborhood, the houses were kind of far apart. My mom used to pull down the back door of her station wagon and we’d jump on and off as she stopped at each house along the way. I know—I’m aging myself with both the station wagon and the complete disregard for motor vehicle safety. But it was the best! So fun!

Just picture kids sitting on that open back door with their legs dangling. Yeah… safe.
I don’t know what the hell year this car is from but it looks older and uglier than my mom’s.

Oh… and my dad was a doctor and everyone knew and loved him. You could almost say he was famous in our town. Some of the people who lived around us were my dad’s patients, and when they saw that we were Doc’s kids, they would go back inside and get the ‘special‘ chocolate bars [full-size].

When I was in college, there was a huge Halloween party every year on what we called the ‘cool side‘ of campus [no jocks and the girls who love them]. I loved those parties. Everyone went all out with their costumes. The year I went as a bride, but everything was black instead of white—that was beautiful. And having a black veil over my face meant I could check everyone out without anyone noticing. Bonus!

p.s. — Valentine’s Day is ridiculous. It’s not just because my husband is about as romantic as a stick. I just don’t think anyone should need to be reminded to acknowledge the people they love. And I *hate* the jewelry store ads. Nauseating.

Is New Year’s Day a holiday? It’s so stupid. Nothing changes overnight just because a gaudy ball drops and the year kicks up by one. And New Year’s resolutions? So very stupid. If you want to make a change and you’ve got the motivation to do it, go ahead. Do it now. The first of January doesn’t make it special or somehow more valid. Besides, no one keeps their resolutions. So it just makes you feel like ass when you fail.

         
©2021 what sandra thinks