Well, it's February already - a little late to be writing about Christmas! But I will, because just yesterday I starting using my last Christmas present from Mom - a new pair of knee socks!
I always remember that special feeling, of walking down the stairs on Christmas morning. It really was magical. The house looked perfect - everything had been tidied up. Our Christmas stockings, hung by the fireplace, were bulging - always with nuts and oranges at the bottom. Piles of presents awaited us under the tree. There were one or two years when we found Mom asleep on the living room sofa; too tired to go upstairs when she had finally finished all her work. I think that many women would agree that much of the Christmas work falls to mothers. That was certainly the case in our house. Sure, Dad was part of it all, but it was Mom who did most of the Christmas shopping, wrapping, cooking, baking, meal planning and decorating There are six children in our family so she was busy. At Christmas time she went into overdrive.
After opening our presents we were dressed up and hustled off to church. While we played with our new toys in the afternoon, Mom prepared Christmas dinner. For many years our cousins joined us for dinner. There were eleven kids in their family. So there were always over twenty of us for dinner. Many years it was closer to thirty.
Present giving was important to mom. She not only bought for us, but for all those cousins who came for dinner. Our other family of cousins, who were often posted in Europe - well, she sent presents to all those kids as well. It was Mom who taught us the lessons of gift-giving. Through her example we learned that it requires time, effort and thought. A gift says, "I took the time to think about you, to think about what might make you happy. Then I took some of my time and money and spent that on you." The amount of money spent is not important. It's the thought and effort that counts. The gift is an expression of affection. Mom taught us that there is actually tremendous satisfaction to be gained by giving.
As Mom grew older, her present buying got simpler. For many years she bought the women pyjamas and the men pyjama pants. Here is part of Brendan's pyjama pant collection.
In later years Mom made up a gift basket for each family. Each basket included monetary gifts, some of her Christmas cake, a tin of Quality Street chocolates and a bottle of Lubiderm lotion.
Everyone received a pair of socks. It doesn't sound like much - just some socks. However, those socks were purchased with great thought and care. As recently as a couple of years ago, Mom went with me to The Bay, in early December, to purchase all the socks for the family - about twenty pairs. If I was on my own, I probably would have made a quick selection and dashed to the cashier. Not Mom - she agonized about each person's needs. If the person worked outside, they got heavy, thick socks. If they worked in an office, it was thin, dress socks. If they played sports, they got sport socks.
She wasn't with us this Christmas but I still have 2 bottles of Lubiderm in our closet. She had already bought a few tins of chocolates in the summer, so we gladly ate one of those and talked about her with our grandchildren as we shared them around.
For her last Christmas, in 2019, I received my pair of socks but I didn't open them. I had a feeling it might be my last pair from her. When I took out my winter clothes this fall, there they were. I decided to wait until Christmas Day to open them. The day came and went, with me still not wanting to take off the label, with her writing.
Yesterday was cold, about -18 with the wind, but I decided to go for a walk. It's been so cold and I hadn't been outside for a couple of days. I needed to give myself a treat, to reward myself for venturing outside. I just felt like new socks. And so I finally took off the gift label and put them on - nice, thick, warm knee socks. Once again, mom was looking after me. My dear mother, who dressed us, tucked our snowpants into our boots, laced up our skates, and warmed our frozen toes with her hands after skating - what a caring mother she was. Thanks Mommy.
