Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Pajamas, Hazelnuts & Camp Fire Girls

Cecilia, Cindy Gail & Charlotte circa 1968 (I'm in the middle just turned 6)  at the Big House, Jackson, Louisiana.


 Here we are Christmas, 1972.  The prince has arrived!   Carlton was almost 1 year old.  No matching gown for him..good old footie pjs!!


I LIKE to give my momma a hard time about having so few photographs of us as children.  I know it was the early 1960's, but really?  Video cameras had been invented for quite a while, albeit expensive.  Couldn't you have purchase a few less barbie dolls & invested in one?  lol  All kidding aside, I know she was a very busy lady...raising a house full of princesses (and later a prince), whilst being a career woman (a rarity for mom's back then), cooking hot breakfasts & dinners for us every night, all the while keeping the house clean and holding up the world on her shoulders.   So, I DO understand.  That being said, I also wish I had more photographs to treasure.   The older we get, the more old memories are held so dear to our hearts.  I've been remembering my sisters & I and our cute little Camp Fire Girl & majorette uniforms, wishing I could see a picture.

This is one of those rare photographs that I will always treasure.   My momma made some wonderful Christmas traditions.  One of which was allowing us each to open one gift on Christmas Eve night.  We could always count on it being new matching pajamas, mostly those precious little flannel gowns. Then we would all take baths, put them on & take a photo in front of the mantel of our 150 year old house.  This is a tradition that I continue to this day with my sons & grandchildren.  Although not matching... (brothers/boys are not nearly as excited about matching ANYTHING as my sisters and I were-haha).    
Another tradition that my momma had for us was ALWAYS having fresh fruit & nuts in our stockings.  I think this was something she carried over from her childhood.  It's probably all they had in their stockings on some Christmas mornings.  My boys used to give me a hard time about throwing the occasional orange or hazelnut in the bottom of their stocking, but it makes me happy.  It makes me think of my momma & how blessed I am to still have her.

These are a few of the precious "gifts" my momma gave to us as children.  A holiday tradition is not something you can purchase on Black Friday, or wrap under the tree, but it is indeed PRICELESS!!!

If you have young children, go make some of your own.  It's generally the mother who establishes these wonderful blessings into a family, but it doesn't have to be.    I've laughed this week at a friend who gets annoyed by all the Elf on a Shelf goings on... but I sort of like it.  It's a cute tradition that I was blessed to be able to gift to my grandsons this year.   My son & daughter-in-law have enjoyed the fun they've had with "Fredzart" the scout elf.      

Go out & make a holiday tradition today. If you don't have children, make one with your next door neighbor who doesn't have family or your favorite Aunt or Uncle.  AND please, please don't forget to snap a photograph.  Sometimes I realize we're all too busy LIVING our life, but your kids will love you for it later!!

Happy Christmas!!
Cindy

6 comments:

  1. ALL MY readers are saying it's confusing to post a comment..so I'm trying this out to see what the deal is.. lol

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  2. OKay.well mine posted right away..so I'm not sure what the dealio is.. PLUS my sweet BFF Charlene posts them all the time... lol thanks honey bunny.. you always make me feel so good!!

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  3. lol- i always got oranges in my stocking! yes- we are loving fredzart. Last night i forgot to move him from where he was tangeled in the garland on the wall and the boys said that he was stuck and that i should help him out so that he could report to santa tonight. :)

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  4. I am loving, loving, loving your blogs. You are a treasure my friend......

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  5. Your blogs are amazing and this one certainly touched my 'motherly heartstrings' for sure! WE've sooooo much in common and what a blessing our family is to each of us... The traditions, OH, how I LOVE THEM!!!! I too consider my and those traditions of our families PRICELESS and well we all know pictures, elf, etc. we've just so much of the same in common...don't all Mom's?!!!

    Great read - you've a great talent and I'm THANKful you share your blog although I'm not so timely in reading...I do eventually catch up and truly ENJOY each post you make!

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  6. Cindy, I asked my mom one time why we always had an orange and apple in our stocking. She said, "To fill it up".
    There wasn't alot of money for candy and trinkets in the stocking, so walnuts, apples and oranges were the deal! We also got pj's every Christmas and that is a tradition that my grown kids still love today. We all have so many Christmas themed pjs that we need more drawer space! I enjoy your blogs so much!
    Donna Gray

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Thanks for your comments!