Growing up a Malcolm: Christmas Morning

When I was home for Christmas this year it was so different because my brothers were with their new families so it was just me at home and I started thinking about all of the wonderful things that we used to do on Christmas Morning when I was a kid.

Me and Matt... many many years ago

On Christmas morning we would get up in our own bedrooms and wait until our parents came and got us. The boys would come to my room (with blankets over their heads) and we would all have some juice then they would go back to their own rooms and wait... We would all wait patiently until we could hear Amy Grant (or the Muppets Christmas) playing. When we were little it was from a record player so you could hear it before the music really started. Once they music started we knew that we could leave our rooms and follow the candy trail to the living room. Our candy trail was composed of nuts and candy and when the trails came together there would be candy canes... one for each of us.

Me and the boys and mom coming around the corner... so excited

As we entered the family room the tree was lit up and my parents would stand there watching us. All of our stockings were in our place (no fireplace so on a couch) and surrounding were unwrapped presents. I remember walking over to my place and just looking at all of the toys and starting to play with them. At this point we would look at the different things that we got before we would open stockings. There would usually be a puzzle and a game and some sort of stuffed animal for me. After a while we would open up our stockings which had more nuts and candy, as well as fruit, and a few small gifts. I remember that we would get batteries, which in the walk-man era were a high commodity in our household.

After this portion of the morning we would move on to the exchanging of gifts. We would all get a chance to purchase gifts for one another and then wrap them ourselves. I think this really taught me how much fun it was to give and it is almost as good as receiving. We would go to Toy'sRUs and one parents would keep the kids and the other parent would help one kid pick of presents for the siblings and the parents. Then you would try to hide the bag so that no one would look. I remember watching the boys to see if they would like the action figure that I picked out. Then we would go around and hug whoever got us a gift to show our appreciation.

Once the present portion of the morning was over we would have breakfast. I showed you a picture of the waffles that we used to have and still do. We would sit around and talk about our presents and scarf down from strawberries and waffles and then head back to playing with toys. When we were really little we would leave to head to the grandparents house so we could only take a few toys... that was hard how do you leave your new presents at home?

As I thought more and more about these memories I realized that I have been so blessed to grow up in my family. I loved being able to spend time with my family over the holidays and try out new traditions for just me and my folks. Now our mornings are more laid back with waffles but the I don't think I will ever forget hearing the music start and know that Christmas morning is finally here. Some years my brothers and I would talk to each other through the walls as we waited for the parents to wake and there was always so much excitement.

What did you do as a child? Was your Christmas as fun?