This weekend I prepare to go home for Christmas and I could not be more excited! This is the first Christmas I will be back in South Dakota and it has me reminiscing on Christmases from when I was young. 

Every year we would spend an evening with each of my grandparents, my parents’ siblings, and their kids. These gatherings are always full of great food, lots of laughter, and wonderful memories. 

My favorite memory from Christmas at my Grandma Reiffenberger’s was hanging out with all my cousins at the “kids table.” My dad’s side of the family is pretty large, and we didn’t all fit at one table. At the kids table we would have all kinds of fun and inside jokes between each other. And every time the adults would laugh we would always try to listen and see what was so funny. I wonder if this year I’ll be upgraded to the adult table, or if I will still be seen as one of the youngins! 

At my Grandma Folk’s, we have a much smaller gathering as my mom only has two siblings compared to my dad’s six, but they were always tons of fun as well. My grandparents have a pool table in their basement and every year us kids would be down pretending to know how to play pool while the adults got the food ready. And when my sister and I were really young, my grandpa had convinced us his Christmas tree only turned on and off when we would dance for it. So we’d be up in front of the tree dancing our booties off while my grandpa would be hiding the remote behind his back turning the tree on and off. We never could figure out why it didn’t work when grandpa wasn’t around! 

At home with my siblings and parents was always my favorite though. Especially back in the days where we still believed in Santa. My parents had convinced us that our house was always one of the first houses Santa came to, so we always celebrated on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas morning. Probably so my parents could sleep in a little! They always came up with interesting ways to distract us while “santa” was delivering our gifts. One year, my mom had us all hide in the bathroom because Santa wouldn’t leave us our presents if he saw us. Meanwhile our dad was “outside trying to catch him in action.” Our dad comes running in few minutes later and says he just missed him! We were so disappointed, but that didn’t last long when we saw the presents. Another year, Santa left his hat when our dog, Shelby, scared him away. And a few months later, an elf stopped by our house to get it back. 

I always smile and laugh at myself thinking of these memories because our parents got pretty creative when it came to Santa Claus. I also laugh thinking how I had fallen for all of it! 

These were the good days, and while we continue some of these traditions today, it’s fun to think how they have changed and grown over the years. I do miss the innocence of being a kid on Christmas and still believing in the magic of Santa, but I know that someday I can relive these good old days with my own children. 

I’ll be home in a few hours to start celebrating the holidays and I’m ready to see everyone! And I am super blessed that Nathan gets to come home with me and spend this time with my family. This will indeed be a great week ahead! 

Happy Holidays! 🙂 

Megan Reiffenberger