I think, i got very lucky with my family, christmas was just... the most amazing time in my childhood, not for the presents but the feeling of... i cant explain it, tbh my chronic depression coincides with 'growing up'... *ponders*... i miss christmas! it isnt the same any more
We used to write letters to father christmas saying thank you for the presents last year (and as we got older 5+ starting to include what good deeds we did this year and what we planned to do) and writing a list of a few things we would really love to have and why.
The letters would take weeks to compose, usually with lots of sparkly pens, glitter and pictures!
Then on christmas eve we would all bundle up and drive to a friends house (with our faces pressed against the window looking for father christmas!) and we would carefully fold our letters into 'aeroplanes' and (with a lot of help) we would fly our planes up the chimney with a fire going... always a few practises with plain paper first then our parents would make sure the real ones went right the way up... it was magic!!
We always left out a Mince Pie for father christmas (and one for him to take home to his wife), a few carrots for the reindeer and a small glass of wine or shot of whiskey in a special little christmas cup and a cup of milk to make sure father christmas didnt get too tipsy!
We always checked to find a few crumbs on the plate and a few carrot crumbs on the floor and the drinks gone... it was proof!
Then it was early to bed with no complaints and we would hang our stockings at the end of the bed.
5 am and we (my two brothers and i) would be rushing in and out our rooms sharing our new stocking gifts (they gradually became more complex gifts meaning we had to sit down, be quiet and concentrate on them LOL).
Then we would all gather in the living room round the tree oggling at the presents, the smell of th real tree we had decorated... the room decorated (was a huge part of the excitement!) and we werent allowed to be dressed and we had probably already eaten a weeks worth of chocolate... and once my parents had got the camcorder set up, we got to start opening presents...
It was seriously the best time in my life and some of the memories are what keep me going when im in the "my whole life is pointless and bad, nothing good ever happens to me" mood, i think back to times like these and remember how good it felt... the memories alone are worth living for!
Its all a bit different now, younger brothers keep it alive a bit but its much more adult now and I find christmas really hard, we all do because we all knows its just not the same any more (we really need a kid in the house!!).
I envy those of you with kids because you have the power to create the mst amazing memories for your kids....