For old times sake!

Yes I do. We all should look back and see how far we have come once in a while. I have had both types of Christmas/ Hanukkahs. The last Christmas my mom was alive, things were great. I had the money to give out a lot of presents and everyone was home and it was the best time. Looking back I am so glad her last Christmas was a success. But there was Christmas 1988. We had just moved and there was no money for gifts but I had a great time anyway. That year Christmas fell on a Sunday. There were football games on Christmas eve and I got to see Camelot on t.v.I was just as happy as I was with Christmas 2005.This year we have just moved and money is tight but I think it will be a great holiday season.I love it when Christmas and Hanukkah are together.being the only Jewish member of the family we get to celebrate together.so the celebration will be small but I think it will be nice.Happy Holidays.

This year ther is nothing under my tree as we have no money for that. I'm not done with the afghan yet. and the scarves nobody wanted. As they went out and bought some. But my son still does. And his present is the Ham.He ate half a ham the other day as well as my roommate. That is all he wants is the tree and the ham. Got to love that. Your friend onlydia. I will get back on my feet. But yes I agree with you.

yes, we do! Those cheeries always remind me of my mom . She loves them and this year she asked me for a fruitcake.lol I was surprised she didnt say those cheeries. We do need to step back and look to have appreciation , because no matter how little you may feel that you have there are many with much less in our world and many who are hungry, and we should never lack that appreciation!

Hello jillhill. I love your discussion. I hope everyone will read it. Yes! we all need to step back from time to time and check how we are right now and then. While reading your discussion it really reminds me of my past. I would say that we encounter a very challenging life in my childhood. My father is the only one that work and my mom is the one that taking care of us and we are a very big family,we are 5 children indeed. Tough to look back but we make it as our foundation every day and we are very proud of it. We cherish what we have now and all the success that we have. Thank God we have a very good parents and i thank them every now and then, for everything they've done. I wish you and your family a very merry christmas, indeed your a beautiful parent. Happy mylotting.

Ohhh that it is so sweet of you. When I was young we dont have anything in the world. We somtimes no food in the the table as in absolutely no food, probably we have rice but thats it and no more. Christmas to me when I was young ages from one year old to probably till I was sixteen was a jar of instant coffee, one kilo of sugar, a loaf of sliced bread and a star margarine. Yeah.... that's all we have every Christmas. Its sad to think now that I am older... but before I have no worries with that... I am actually super happy wwith what we have. Its a huge treat to me to have coffee and star margarine. But nowadays.... things have changed loads to me. I have ten times more than I have before. I have atleast some of the things I want for Christmas now. We have lots of food. I even give things and gifts to people now. Looking back my life before.... dont bring tears but smile instead. I was so satisfied then with nothing. I am soooooo thankful to Jesus who made my life a so interesting and better. Thanks... you made me think of my life before...and shared it with you. Merry Christmas to you. May you have joy in seeing your children.

I think that you have absolutely nailed it on the head. Most people in todays society take everything in there life for granted. Especially the ones who never had to struggle, and always had everything handed to them, but it's not just them who do it. Even people like you and me who have spent most of there life struggling, sometimes forget where they came from, and what there life was like before their prosperity. I completely agree with needing time to reflect. Which is why I keep things certain items, that symbolize certain times in my past whether it be my aunts necklace that has never left my wrist since she passed, or a letter from the love of my life explaining why we couldn't be together because of, me disappearing when she needed me instead of waiting around for her while she figured out what she wanted. Neither of these items let me forget my regrets. I keep them right in front of me as a constant reminder of who I was then, and who I am now. What's in front of me now, are my family and friends that have become absolutely precious to me, because of the hard times we have been through together, and replace them I could not.

I know what you mean about seeing how good you have it. I was getting all stressed trying to fit all our family's in with the boys for the holidays and was getting mad cause its not possible and suddenly i thought why am i upset at least I have family that wants us around even if we cant make it to them all.

That will be wonderful to have the boxes of chocolate covered cherries for you kids under the tree. I also think we need to step back, take a deep breath and take a walk down memory lane and then try to bring some of that back ever so often. I used to always get my kids a box of life savers for their stockings. That would be something neat to do one year, give them each a box and see if the smile comes across their faces again. They used to love them.

When I was little my dad worked three jobs to make ends meet. For Christmas we would each get one sorta big gift and a couple of small ones. But when we grew up we let our parents know that the most fun part of Christmas morning was the little inexpensive things we got in our Stockings, the primary thing being a mesh bag of "gold" foil covered chocolate coins. In a day when gifts for kids costing a hundred dollars or more are commonplace, it's nice to remember how much we enjoyed the little things. Hey...sometimes the best toy was a cardboard box big enough to sit in and imagine it was a car or rocket ship.

Yes I do think that we need to step back sometimes. In fact I have because it is only recently that we have become more comfortable and we were starting to spend more too, since I left home I never had two pennies to rub together and so finally being in a comfortable position was heaven. At the beginning of the year I drew in the reins and took us back to basics, we survived on it before and it was fine so why not stay that way and then save all the extra money for other things. Luckily I did because of course the recession started and I would have had to cut back drastically anyway but doing it that bit sooner has meant that I am in a better position now. I reckon your kids will be thrilled with their chocolate covered cherries!

I have bought my son his box of chocolate covered cherries, but alas, one night when I couldn't sleep, I was watching TV and thinking about something sweet, so I opened them and ate them.. I told him about it and told him that I did it because I was mad at him, he said "why were you mad at me", I said "Because you had a box of chocolate covered cherries and I didn't", so now I have to get another box for him.. This is his second Christmas as a married man and his second without his Nanny and his Nanny, my mother, had so many grandchildren that she could only afford to buy the boys socks and a 10 pack of chewing gum, so now he has let me know that he is going to miss his 10 pack of gum, so I will have to find that also.. I do remember the old days when all we received were paper dolls, an orange and a few pieces of peppermint, but we never knew we were poor, we were rich ont his wonderful day.. I wouldn't take a million dollars for the memories.. Have a great Christmas..

I think that is a wonderful idea and is probably something your children will tell theirs about. I think we all need to step back and remember when we did not have it so good. My parents had 6 of us girls to buy for and I don't know how they were able to give us such fond memories yet I have them. I think your children will love it and would not be surprised to see a tear or too.

Jill, This is the most difficult Christmas my hubby and I have ever gone through. The economy, no job for him in over a year, I can't get a job because I am disable now and many other financial problems. But the good part is that his Son and my Son are grown and do not have to endure our finacial problems. That I am thankful for. As adults we can endure hardships much easier. Children shouldn't have to. We still put up decorations and will make our Christmas Day a wonderful day just being grateful for all we have, especially each other. We love the chocolate covered cherries too, so there will be a box under our tree. Hugssssss leenie

Yes, that would be a good way of looking back to your roots. A successful person always looks book at her past. Remembering the past would put proper perspective in the present. Lessons learned and knowledge acquired are products of old time experiences. We should always remember the past, especially the good memories and learning we obtained from it. Happy mylotting.

What a wonderful and thoughtful discussion! I think the idea of giving the chocolate covered cherries is splendid. It will remind your kids of the times when they were happy and yet had so little. It will remind them that Christmas is not about mountains of expensive gifts. You are a super thoughtful person.

What a great idea. I think your kids will really appreciate the box of chocolate covered cherries as it will take them down memory lane. Remembering the past is a good thing. Brings us forward to today and how much we appreciate what we have in this day and age. I don't recall buying any one specific gift for our girls. Their likes were so different. Enjoy time with your kids and have a Merry Christmas, carolbee

I know I'm way late on responding to this one but it's always timely to evaluate our lives and "see" all the elements of it. Sometimes, the most simple times are truly the best. I bet those chocolate-covered-cherry Christmases were just as fun for you and your kids as it sounded like you went the extra mile to spend time and do activities with them. To me, that's what it's all about. What a great way to prompt your kids to remember a simpler time in their lives.

your right!! i some times look back and think about how yeah i may not have money right now but i am richer in a sense that my hubby has a good job instead of the stress hell he was at.. we own our home instead of throwing money away in rent.. paid off car.. so even though we are still poor certain things have gotten better in a sense.. which is better than nothing!!