Childhood Christmas-time memories?

[TripperFan]

Originally Posted by PZelda

It just so happens that my very first memory takes place on Christmas of 1986... Almost 21 years ago, when I was 16 months old. We celebrated Christmas at my paternal grandparents' house. My grandpa gave my four-year-old sis (now 25) a really nice and very big dollhouse that he had built all by himself. It may have looked plain, but it was pretty ****ing awesome and certainly held up WAY better than the dollhouses that are made today, plus our Barbies could comfortably fit in the rooms he had made. We still have it. At least, my dad does in the attic at his house. Me being 16 months old at the time, remember thinking to myself how big it was because it towered over me.

As for the grandpa who made that dollhouse... He recently passed away about 1 1/2 months ago (I made a thread here when he died). So the dollhouse is a nice way to remember him. He put a lot of hard work into building and painting the dollhouse and all the little details. It seriously looks professionally done... That's how skilled he was.

My best childhood Christmas was the year my dad made me a dollhouse. It was something else - even the walls were wallpapered, the floors carpeted, except in the kitchen where he laid linolium (sp?). I saw him building it in November but he told me it was for his boss's little girl. I was so envious! Then the huge surprise of it in front of the tree on Christmas morning. They even had put cotton on the roof for snow and a Santa stuck by the chimney.

Years later when I was about 14, we ended up fixing it up so it was as good as new and gave it for another Christmas to our housekeeper's daughter to enjoy. (They were fairly poor). She lit up as much as I did when I got it.

[Ohio8]

When my family was living in Mayfield Heights, we had Christmas parties and one of the food items served was cheese balls.