Christmas. It truly is the most wonderful time of year. It always has been and I pray it always will be. So many childhood memories come from Christmas past.
For those of you that attend Family Church in West Monroe, then you heard my brother reenact Christmas around the dinner table when we were younger. In my defense, King James is hard to read from. I still struggle reading from Luke 2 in the King James Version so I know I took FOREVER to read one chapter when I was a little girl.
My best memories actually come from the dinner table. There is something special when a family gathers around the kitchen table. My mother always had it decorated as if Southern Living would be there to capture our Christmas ️memories. We always had blueberry muffins with some yummy crumbs on top of them along with sausage. It was my favorite and it was always the best on Christmas morning. That it one tradition that I continue as an adult. Today, we read out of the Bible my dad read from when I was little, his moms. It makes Christmas time extra special now, as if part of them is still with us.
It's funny how I don't remember much about Christmas except the food. I don't recall any ️memories with my oldest brother because of our age difference but I do remember he got me one of my favorite Christmas gifts, a Mickey Mouse chalkboard. I loved it!! Actually, my mom still has it. I know, surprise surprise!
One Christmas memory I can still remember involves Beck. If any of you know Beck, then you may know his son Hutson. Well, Hut acts just like his daddy. We were sitting around opening gifts. One at a time. Beck had recently unwrapped a nice fleece jacket and placed it on a table near by as he continued to open the rest of his gifts. Not long after he opened his fleece jacket, we smelled something burning. Then we saw a little flame. It was his jacket! He had put it on top of a candle and it caught fire. He quickly put it out and found a small hole. To my knowledge, he took it back and got a new one. It was the funniest moment.
As we got older, my mom didn't wrap our presents like she did when we were younger. So she invested in bags or more like one bag. She would bring out a gift and let us open it. She would then ask for it in return so she could "wrap" our next gift. One at a time. We took our gifts out of this one bag. This is still comical to us Payne's.
There were times we opened the wrong gift and mom would quickly grab it and give to the right person. We laughed mostly around the table though. That's where we all developed our thick skin. All we did was crack jokes on each other so by the time we were old enough to be on our own, we were tough! Gotta be tough to sit at a table with us.
My dad loved Christmas. It was his favorite and he made it fun. He would spend the exact amount of money on each of us. Down to the penny. I will never forget that. I remember one Chrismtas I really didn't want anything. I didn't expect anything. I didn't need anything. But of course one of my brothers did. So I got a check in the amount of the gift he bought my brother. I didn't want it but he didn't want to show favoritism. I loved that about him. He loved to give to others.
Christmas seems to pass by quicker now but it is so much fun with a little one around. I hope and pray that he has many Christmas ️memories when he his older.
Remember to maximize your moments this season. Celebrate the true reason and enjoy this Christmas season!!
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