It's not really Christmas until the cat barfs up some tinsle
Inspired by Rozanne, I will recall some Christmases past. I read her very wonderful recollections and my friend Diana's response and had to laugh at the contrast. They both wrote about sneaking some Christmas cookies.
I'm confused, weren't there tons of cookies, candy canes, blocks of fudge and pieces of divinity just freely there for the taking? I mean was this stuff monitored? Hey, not at our house...want a holiday sugar high? no problem.
Here I recall the zenith of Christmas memories for me. The years '75-'79 the years when I was still young enough to be totally spastically excited about everything related to Christmas. After '79 I was headed to junior high and my parents had divorced, and things weren't really the same.
Mom, as I have related in earlier posts, was pretty free-wheeling when it came to sugar in general, so in the spirit of holiday generosity, we were allowed EVEN MORE at Christmas. She had a huge hanging "Noel" banner that came out every December 5th - it was the countdown banner with a little pouch for candy canes for me and my sisters and everyday of the countdown in the 20 days before Christmas we got our candy cane- want a candy cane before breakfast? Oh sure, why not!!
This was merely a warm up to the actual family get togethers where Grandmas on both sides showed off their baking skills with huge plates of cookies, fudge and divinity- for those of you that don't know- divinity is candy made of whipped sugar and light corn syrup dyed in pastel-like Christmas colors. Plates and plates of this stuff was left out for the taking by me, my sisters and cousins- there was no adult supervision, I don't recall anyone ever saying "you can have one piece of candy" or anything like that. The adults visited, we snagged candy and ran around like whirling dervishes, manically on a sugar high.
The Christmas debauchery didn't end there. My parents had no problem with holiday consumerism...bring on the presents! We were pretty spoiled and had tons of gifts which we tore open with reckless abandon, leaving wrapping and ribbon strewn all over the room.
One area though, where my mom really excelled was Christmas decoration and her tree decorating philosophy. She was and still is a very talented artist, and She hand-painted a whole ceramic Christmas Nativity scene, and I was incredibly obsessed with it. It sat on the table attachment of the "harvest gold" sectional (it was the '70s) and I loved to re-arrange it and play act the wise men's arrival and move Mary around and the donkey and the sheep and the cow. However, the most entrancing piece was the baby Jesus who I often lifted out of his manger crib and held in the palm of my hand. He was really a perfect little baby- blond hair, and as befits his stature- the most serene and peaceful face. I loved this baby Jesus piece and realized, that he was the perfect size to be Barbie and Ken's baby in my new two-level Barbie dream house!! So, our Lord and Saviour was transported from the homey manger and serene prayerful Mary to the hot pink and blue two story deluxe "dream house" and his new mommy, dressed in hot pink, "Malibu Barbie" and his new dad, Ken. With his new family Jesus had many adventures including riding with Ken in the Malibu Jeep and swimming with Barbie in the inflatable pool. That was until Mom noticed Jesus' conspicious absence from the manger scene.
It was relayed to me in no uncertain terms: "These are breakable Christmas decorations. Baby Jesus is NOT A TOY!"
Mom also made sure the tree was a work of art as well. It was always full and millimeters away from the ceiling. We had tons of lights, and my favorite was of course, the bubble lights. Mom also allowed us to literally throw tinsle on to the tree, which I must say was a total blast.
One year, and I don't remember which cat, decided tinsle would be good eatin'. We came home one day, tired and bedraggled from some Christmas related event to find a cat (we had many) heaving and wretching in the entry way. Mom, my sisters and I stood entranced in fascinated horror as the cat barfed up a lumped combination of cat hair, half digested Meow-Mix and Christmas tree tinsle. My mom let out an exhausted moan/sigh and told me to put the cat outside. Mom went upstairs to get a rag to clean up. I threw the poor cat out the sliding door. After tossing out the kitty, I couldn't help but stoop down and take a closer look at the shiny braids of Christmas tinsle in the kitty barf.
Ahhh...Christmas memories.
I'm confused, weren't there tons of cookies, candy canes, blocks of fudge and pieces of divinity just freely there for the taking? I mean was this stuff monitored? Hey, not at our house...want a holiday sugar high? no problem.
Here I recall the zenith of Christmas memories for me. The years '75-'79 the years when I was still young enough to be totally spastically excited about everything related to Christmas. After '79 I was headed to junior high and my parents had divorced, and things weren't really the same.
Mom, as I have related in earlier posts, was pretty free-wheeling when it came to sugar in general, so in the spirit of holiday generosity, we were allowed EVEN MORE at Christmas. She had a huge hanging "Noel" banner that came out every December 5th - it was the countdown banner with a little pouch for candy canes for me and my sisters and everyday of the countdown in the 20 days before Christmas we got our candy cane- want a candy cane before breakfast? Oh sure, why not!!
This was merely a warm up to the actual family get togethers where Grandmas on both sides showed off their baking skills with huge plates of cookies, fudge and divinity- for those of you that don't know- divinity is candy made of whipped sugar and light corn syrup dyed in pastel-like Christmas colors. Plates and plates of this stuff was left out for the taking by me, my sisters and cousins- there was no adult supervision, I don't recall anyone ever saying "you can have one piece of candy" or anything like that. The adults visited, we snagged candy and ran around like whirling dervishes, manically on a sugar high.
The Christmas debauchery didn't end there. My parents had no problem with holiday consumerism...bring on the presents! We were pretty spoiled and had tons of gifts which we tore open with reckless abandon, leaving wrapping and ribbon strewn all over the room.
One area though, where my mom really excelled was Christmas decoration and her tree decorating philosophy. She was and still is a very talented artist, and She hand-painted a whole ceramic Christmas Nativity scene, and I was incredibly obsessed with it. It sat on the table attachment of the "harvest gold" sectional (it was the '70s) and I loved to re-arrange it and play act the wise men's arrival and move Mary around and the donkey and the sheep and the cow. However, the most entrancing piece was the baby Jesus who I often lifted out of his manger crib and held in the palm of my hand. He was really a perfect little baby- blond hair, and as befits his stature- the most serene and peaceful face. I loved this baby Jesus piece and realized, that he was the perfect size to be Barbie and Ken's baby in my new two-level Barbie dream house!! So, our Lord and Saviour was transported from the homey manger and serene prayerful Mary to the hot pink and blue two story deluxe "dream house" and his new mommy, dressed in hot pink, "Malibu Barbie" and his new dad, Ken. With his new family Jesus had many adventures including riding with Ken in the Malibu Jeep and swimming with Barbie in the inflatable pool. That was until Mom noticed Jesus' conspicious absence from the manger scene.
It was relayed to me in no uncertain terms: "These are breakable Christmas decorations. Baby Jesus is NOT A TOY!"
Mom also made sure the tree was a work of art as well. It was always full and millimeters away from the ceiling. We had tons of lights, and my favorite was of course, the bubble lights. Mom also allowed us to literally throw tinsle on to the tree, which I must say was a total blast.
One year, and I don't remember which cat, decided tinsle would be good eatin'. We came home one day, tired and bedraggled from some Christmas related event to find a cat (we had many) heaving and wretching in the entry way. Mom, my sisters and I stood entranced in fascinated horror as the cat barfed up a lumped combination of cat hair, half digested Meow-Mix and Christmas tree tinsle. My mom let out an exhausted moan/sigh and told me to put the cat outside. Mom went upstairs to get a rag to clean up. I threw the poor cat out the sliding door. After tossing out the kitty, I couldn't help but stoop down and take a closer look at the shiny braids of Christmas tinsle in the kitty barf.
Ahhh...Christmas memories.
posted by moegirl at
12:50 PM
3 Comments:
Heeeeeelarious about kidnapping the baby Jesus and transporting him to Barbie's Dream House. Who wouldn't prefer that to a drafty old stable or whatever it was.
We *totally* played with all the animals and people in the nativity set, too. There was an ox, I recall, that had horns made out of tightly coiled springs. Sounds weird, but that was the deal. Anyway, we liked to tweak and twang that ox's horns. They both had a slightly differnet tone--kind of like a Jew's harp. (Is it politically incorrect to use that term?)
By
Rozanne, At
3:02 PM
I dont remember the kitty barfing at that particular event but I dont doubt it none the less. I do recall some of the Christmas items and had forgotten. Thanks for re-freshing my memory. Mom knows how to throw a party and always kept up with the food and fun. Good times, good times. Tina
By
Anonymous, At
8:27 PM
Oh, to be raised in Athens, rather than Sparta! All sweets doled out. Grandma had bubble lights, though, from the 50's. Santa also left pleanty of candy in the stocking.
By
Diana, At
10:22 AM
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home