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TaoUrso recalls his best Christmas:

Xmas day1987 I married Karen
1. we were both Pastors of our Temple...
2. We were also licensed to perform marriages
3. But, couldn't marry each other
4. Had to personally escort one of our members (Dora)to see: Ms. Judge at the NYC Marriage Bureau and register her as a cleric so Dora married us
5. We were married in our sanctuary with two other members as witnesses
6. Fifteen years later (well, almost) we are still together and going strong

Mingching recalled her earliest Christmas Memory:

This is cool. Let's see...I was about 2 yrs old. My mom and her parents took my sisters and I to Texas to visit their relatives. From what I was told, we went thru the Mojave desert and the Grand Canyon. I guess that trip was memorable because we didn't travel much. It was nighttime and I woke up with my grandpa watching my baby sis and I started crying because they told me earlier we would see Santa , but I fell asleep. I cried....... and my Grandpa tried to appease me with sugar donuts. How's that for remembering at two years old? I don't remember the presents that year.....just missing out on Santa and Grandpa giving me sugar donuts...you see, we weren't allowed sweets."

Thank God for Grandparents. You heard why God made them, didn't you? Cause Santa couldn't be everyplace at once!

Firecreek told us about Christmas in Germany...

We have three Christmas holidays in Germany.
First, Santa Claus comes to Germany the 6th of December. That is the catholic patron's day of Santa Claus, St. Nick. He only brings nuts and chocolate. Kids put their boots at the windows or doors and next morning they find sweets. He carries a big sack full of nuts and pretzels :) In Bavaria they hang pretzels and nuts on the tree as decorations.
Then the second is holy night, December 24. Then the presents come.
Then the third, Christmas Day, again church and big dinner.

Here [in Germany] the kids think the Christmas child [Christkind] brings the gifts. It's dressed like an angel and probably a parallel to the Jesus baby. It was totally forbidden to observe it during its work because the gifts would vanish then. I did though and looked through the keyhole. What I saw - some decoration, but very golden. I thought "It's the Christmas child itself" and feared all gifts would be gone. They weren't - was a great Christmas.

Firecreek tried to keep her children believing as long as possible. My son almost 5 years younger than daughter, believed as long as her but I made her believe almost 10 years. I was good in finding proof. Yes, I am a philosopher, LOL and had many good reasons. The last reason was: who does not believe won't get any gifts. That still works :)

kitteone, didn't believe so long because, as she told us,

"I had older siblings so my innocence about that [Santa] died young, but it never effected my absolute love of Christmas though. There were seven kids in my family and we were so bad about getting at the presents that my parents locked alot of them in the trunks of their cars, then we'd get the keys, then the presents all went to stay at my grandparents till Xmas. One year at 4 AM I completely unwrapped and rewrapped a present before everyone got up and I was in about 4th or 5th grade and the Beatles were just starting, it was a small record player, just for me. I had to see it, couldn't wait. I wasn't even the worst one. My younger sister Molly was worse. She opened some bubble bath, used a little, and rewrapped it and put it back in the attic. That's why they couldn't keep them in the house. After all that the presents went to stay at grandparents house till Christmas, with seven kids our parents were badly out numbered.

Despite how bad we were, we were never allowed to just tear into the presents my orderly engineer Dad had to hand out one present at a time and we'd have to watch the person open it. In the meantime we would be eating the oranges and candy and nuts from our stockings, the same kind of stocking our parents had as kids.

We had very tall ceilings and a bay window and every year our Dad made us lie to my mom about how much the tree costs, and she believed us.

My early childhood was lots of fun, my parents really loved Christmas, my Mom had these really old elves she'd perch all over the house in places you couldn't see unless you looked hard. In my grade school on the feast day of St. Nicholas the priest would dress up in the medieval garb and visit every class room and hand out candy. He was of German heritage I think he got a kick out of it.

Well here is this history, St. Nicholas the 4th Century Syrian Greek, in his town their was a butcher whose appetites for young boys included chopping them up and preserving them in brine, Nicholas miraculously reassembled them, thus making him the patron saint of children, his remains and church are in Bari Italy.

Alphabuck is also a fan of St. Nick (as opposed to Santa Claus) and told us:

When I lived in Milwaukee EVERYBODY did St. Nick. Up here[where alpabuck lives now] there're adults who've never heard of it. Milwaukee was founded by Germans. That may explain it [It's popularity] On the night of December 5th you leave out your stockings and get candy and gifts the morning of the 6th. My kid gets a double load because his birthday is the 6th. Usually for St Nick you give a kid a stocking full of assorted candy and then one or 2 small gifts. I always did St Nick not really knowing what it was all about. As a kid I liked the free stuff and as an adult I like to surprise the kid. Any reasons as good as the next. The St. Nick I know looks just like Santa. As a kid I thought he was Santa's brother. I like when they track him on radar on Xmas eve, they show these little reindeer on the radar scope.

safyst told us:

I stayed awake one night and caught my mom putting the gifts under the tree, that's when I said to myself there really isn't a Santa Claus. Guess I was old enough to hear rumors that there wasn't really a Santa. I agree things seem a little nicer during Christmas, people seem to be a little more cheerful, for the most part.

Talking about Christmas dinner, JediBabe told us that she doesn't like Crimble [Christmas] pudding or cake but most people do. Instead her mum makes a lovely strawberry pudding that she normally has. Telling her about good fruit cake, and how it is weeks old and has lots of brandy in it, Jedibabe told me "that's what Christmas pudding is like......months old!!!!!!!! You then pour brandy over it when you are serving it and set it alight!!!!!!!! That the best bit :) We used to put coins in the Christmas pudding as well." Now we know what's wrong with America fruit cake. We need to set it on FIRE!!!