Anyone just really fancy a Christmas from their childhood/teenhood

[ClassicStripe]

Just really craving going late night shopping when there was actual shops to go into and not everything being online. Having £20 (an actual note!) to buy my sister a present from woolworths! Walking round New Look and buying toe socks for school friends while Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses was playing in the background!
We used to have market chips and I would have brown sauce. Never a drink as that seemed like a waste of money!

I’d love an 80s Christmas.

My mum buying one thing a week for Christmas in her weekly food shop from about October. A big box of biscuits one week. Mincemeat the next etc. The anticipation was so exciting!

My Gran making her Christmas pudding and cake months ahead.

Making our decorations. Paper chains and all our (many) Christmas cards strung up around the living room.

So much fun at primary school. We basically didn’t do any work in December . Endless making of decorations, baking, carols and the school Christmas disco.

My Mum laying out The Christmas Table on Xmas Eve - wine, sherry, ruby port & Guinness for the adults; Coke & R Whites for the kids; Twiglets, cheesy footballs, Eat Me dates, a string bag of nuts & a nutcracker; Milk Tray, Terry’s All Gold, After Eights and chocolate liqueurs.
The excitement!

The anticipation of what would be on Christmas telly. My Gran letting us circle things in her Radio Times.

Being SO excited to wake up to a stocking at the end of my bed (proper old wooly sock stuffed with tiny trinkets)

I don't agree with this at all.

Our Christmas is not consumerist at all - we make a lot of the decorations, the food is all prepped by us starting in November, we make our immediate family presents so those gifts are completely irreplaceable, we have many personal traditions none of which revolve around buying things.

Consumerism is something each person/family chooses whether to buy into, each person/family could equally choose not to do things that way.

Ooh yes I lived in a big old Georgian house, real fireplaces, winding staircase, stockings on the hearth kind of thing. I loved the chocolates as treats, circling Xmas TV in the Radio Times, waking up at 3am and creeping downstairs with a torch with my brothers. I try my best with DC but it just doesn't seem as magical as my 80s childhood Xmas's. Still confused how they manage to sleep until their normal time too!

I remember unwanted Quality Streets used to linger forever as you got so many. I miss the buzz of Christmas shopping-especially late nights but I would never have the time.

I don't recognise a lot of gripes on this thread as I love Christmas but I do look back on childhood christmases fondly.

For me, I think it was the break from school - so nice to look forward to having some time off. Am also an introvert and just loved our small christmases at home. Also (sadly) have always been a massive binge eater so Christmas was a great time to do that unnoticed. But probably the main thing is the nostalgic feeling of being small and looked after by my parents who were obviously much younger than they are now as I'm very aware we only have so many left.

Oh god, yes. My parents were brought up abroad so we'd visit family for Xmas. Xmas morning would start with a trip to the beach to jump through waves. Return for breakfast on the veranda. Followed by return to beach. Followed by BBQ Xmas meal and trifle eaten outside. Loads of cousins running around. Parents happy to be out of grim, grey UK and back in warm, beautiful country with all their relatives.

Yes! Having my mum dad and sister still here who I've sadly lost in last few years. Magical Christmas eves where my grandpa told me to look in the sky to see santas sleigh. The heavy feeling of the stocking on my feet knowing 'he'd been'. Amazing stocking fillers courtesy of my dad who was great at presents. The twirly handwriting of a letter left from Santa. Christmas Eve shopping with my mum. Lovely lovely lovely.