not for the presents we got, but for the presents we gave. my mom and dad every christmas would explain to my sister and i how there were children that wouldn't get any presents and how we could help santa.
you see, we didn't have a lot of money - it wasn't until i was a freshman in college that i realized how creative my parents were to give us what we needed. mom was a great cook - dad worked long hours - and they had a vision. that vision was of sending their daughters to college when girls didn't GO to college - boys went to college. girls got married, had babies and that was what they did (or they became teachers, nurses or secretaries).
to make that happen (the college thing), my parents learned how to live well on that proverbial shoestring while planning for the future. my mom taught sewing in her father's singer sewing shop before she became a full time mom who sewed for her kids. that's how dad first saw her in the window of that shop. he told his friend that one day, he was going to marry her! they hadn't even met yet.
as she always laughed and said, it took him three years to wear her down!
and, we WERE the best dressed kids in school! she was a genius at that singer!
so, as we grew up, part of our childhood was getting to play santa. we were asked to choose one of our toys to give to that child who was going to be missed. and we were asked to give one that was really nice - not some cast off that we no longer wanted.
come with me over the fold for these memories of mom and dad...