Magic Lost and Found: Christmas Then vs. Christmas Now

There isn’t a particular holiday gift I got as a child that stands out in memory as being the best. None have become stories told to my own child, or are laughed about over Christmas dinners with my brothers. One year, I got the Barbie Dream House and pool, but that may have been for a birthday and not a Christmas gift. Back then, making a wishlist for Santa was different. It was a magical process that involved letter writing and months of preparation. We watched commercials between Saturday morning cartoons, and earmarked the Sears catalog.

My grandmother used to send us an LL Bean catalog, saying we could ask for one thing, and she’d get it. If we didn’t decide, we’d get $10 and nothing else. I loved finding the most stylish and expensive sweaters from that catalog. She didn’t care about the price, only the deadline.

Magic Lost and Found: Christmas Then vs. Christmas Now

“Tucker, I need some gift ideas for your aunts and uncles,” I said. “But I don’t know,” he said. “I only want a four-wheeler and I know I can’t have one yet. Maybe when I’m 12 years old.”
“Maybe then,” I said. “Anything you can think of now?”
“I’ll think about it.”

Perhaps the problem is that he didn’t receive a Sears catalog back in September to pour over, page by page. Maybe it’s that he sees All The Things online and doesn’t have to wait until the commercials shown between Saturday morning cartoons. Does that mean the magic in choosing Christmas gifts is lost? Yes, and no. Christmas (and the wishing for particular gifts) is magical no matter what.

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Here are some things that have changed from Christmas Then to Christmas Now. You tell me where the magic has been lost and found.

Christmas Then: Mom shopped all year long and hid gifts in secret spots, and was mostly done by Thanksgiving. Magic lost?
Christmas Now: Amazon rings the doorbell, and your kid sees “hovering soccer ball” on a package and asks if it’s a gift for him. You lie, and say “No, that’s for your cousin.” Magic found.

Christmas Then: We poured over catalogs made out of paper.
Christmas Now: Kids see ads on YouTube, and tell you what the coolest toys of 2018 are. Magic found.

Christmas Then: I was the kid who snuck downstairs in the darkest hours of the night to see what Santa had brought. He didn’t wrap our gifts. Mine were placed on the couch to the right, my brother Mike’s on the sofa that faced it, and my brother Tom’s on the Lazy Boy chair in between. One year, I went down too early and saw my mom doing Santa’s job. That was the year I knew that she was Santa. “Don’t tell your brothers,” she said. And I didn’t. I think that was the year Mike got an electric ride-on four-wheeler. He must’ve been three or four, and I remember it because I was jealous.
Magic Lost.
Christmas Now: I am Santa, and Tucker believes. I hope it lasts as long as possible because hello magic. I also hope he finds out before somebody makes fun of him or something. Please, nobody make fun of him ever for believing in Christmas magic.

Christmas Then: We left milk and cookies for Santa, and carrots for his reindeer. There were always crumbs left. Evidence.
Christmas Now: We leave milk and cookies for Santa, and carrots for his reindeer. There are always crumbs left. Evidence. Some Christmas magic never changes.
Magic that’s always there.

Christmas Then: One year, my dad left a note from Santa in our dog Kali’s stocking. It said “I’m sorry you have no gifts, but try harder to not shit on the carpet this year.” We still laugh about that.
Christmas Now: Nugget has a stocking that Tucker’s already put things in “in case Santa forgets we adopted her, Mom.”
Magic lost and found because dogs and pets are magical in themselves.

Christmas Then: You were mostly good from the day in September the Toy catalog arrived.
Christmas Now: Mommy loses to Elf on the Shelf after years of winning, even though he’s creepy AF, and does stuff like this.

And this.

And has a party because my FB friend Christie suggested it:

I’ve become one of those moms. I have to set an alarm to do so, but I’m her.

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This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday post. My fabulous co-host Kenya Johnson of Sporadically Yours and I host a prompt each week and this week’s is a list of the “10 gifts of my childhood.” I know I didn’t do a list of 10, but certainly there are ten things related to childhood gifts in this post. Also, HELLO and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KENYA! WISH THIS AMAZING WRITER AND HUMAN A HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY AND ALL THE DAYS REALLY.