What are your favourite holiday memories?

Back in the pre-PC days, there were a lot of Christmas activities at school. Each class took it in turn to stand on the stair landing to sing a particular carol/Christmas song. All the other classrooms opened their doors so everyone in the whole school could hear. I remember singing "Up on the Housetops" one year.  And of course we all made tacky little decorations, like Santa figures with cotton wool glued on. My mother kept them all!
Our town had Christmas caroling around the big evergreen on the Common.  And our church youth group went caroling to shut-ins.
I still remember one Christmas when I had 'flu and just sat in the living room listening to "Our Miss Brooks" on the radio. Don't know why that was so memorable 

Ah, life before it all went PC... I remember the yearly Christmas Program at school. We'd practice the songs for weeks, and then have an evening concert for the parents. While waiting our turn to perform, we'd get to play board games in our classroom. After the last performance, the PTA group would have loads of home baked cookies that the mothers provided, and punch. The parents would stand around talking while we all ran around like idiots in our best clothes, with our mothers reminding us to not get them dirty or tear them.

We'd also have class Christmas parties the last day of school before break, with cookies and cupcakes and games. There was always a gift exchange. In 3rd grade one of the boys swapped names with people until he got mine, and gave me a necklace.

It is sad that not only is everything PC, but most schools only allow store bought, still in the packaging treats at the schools.

I don't mind PC, I don't think it should be assumed that everyone is Christian and celebrates Christmas.  I think it should be OK to sing Christmas songs, but also Chanukah songs (they are not so pretty as Christmas ones, though!) and also other faiths / cultures should be represented in some way.

I remember one year in 5th grade when it was basically the last day before Christmas vacation and just a polyanna and a party in class for the remainder of the day, I insisted that I had to leave the party and go to my regular viola class.  The teacher was pretty sure there would be no viola class that day.  I left, but the music teacher wasn't there, my teacher was right, but I was disappointed!  Oh, well, back to the festivities in Mr. Carnilla's class.   

The most awesome pollyanna I ever got was that year (I think) which was a jigsaw puzzle of Roman ruins.  The whole picture was beiges and browns and so hard to do.  I was a strange child.

I don't mind PC to a point, and I agree it shouldn't be assumed everyone is Christian or even celebrates. In our elementary school, we also learned about other celebrations, but since it was a small school in a very Catholic (other religions are present there too) dominated area, we just happened to all celebrate.

If I am aware someone celebrates something other than Christmas, I embrace that part of the person - if I know him or her well enough, and do what I can to add to, instead of take away from, their joy. If it is a casual acquaintance, I wish them the greetings of their holiday. Everyone should be able to celebrate and feel the festive glow of their holiday.

It is the overly PC movement that I struggle with. In some areas is it almost impossible to celebrate anything, and in some other areas it seems everything can be celebrated but Christmas. Everyone should be represented, and everyone should be festive. That's my motto anyway.

My most favorite and memorable memory was when I was about 14 years old and it was really snowing bad in our home town of Ogden, Utah.  It was so bad that my mom and step-dad couldn't get the car out to go buy a Christmas tree.  I was the oldest so I decided that we would not go without a tree and so I went to my piggy bank and took all the money out of it and told my mom I was going for a walk in the snow......of course my sibling wanted to go so I got them bundled up and off we went......

The Stimson's market was about 8 city blocks from home and when we got outside I told the others what my plan was.....we arrived at the store and started looking for trees in the back lot where they sold them.....we found the perfect one and we bought it.....now to get it home.

It was really a sight I guess to see 3 kids dragging a big Christmas Tree down the street in the snow but that is what we did.....when we got home and my mom saw what we did she broke down in tears and my step-dad told me he was very proud of me........we had a good time decorating that tree as a family that night and popping pop corn and drinking hot chocolate........

Wish I could recreate some of those memories..........anyway take care.....and Merry Christmas!!!!!!

What a sweet memory, snowlass! 
Now that's another thing that has changed: nowadays no one would let their kids go out on the own. Back in my day, we walked to school on our own or with a friend and were free to test out the new ice on the pond and get freezing cold water over our boots