We all have childhood memories that pop up of their own accord without struggling to recall – none more so than those from our childhood Christmases.
Regardless of what was on my list each year, I was always confident that I would get either The Broons or Oor Wullie (they alternated each year), the Bunty Annual, a selection box and a new dressing gown. None of that was on my list – the list was reserved for items that I ran the risk of not getting if not spelt out. One such gift, when I was about nine years old, was Super-Spirograph. Not the red box Spirograph mind, but the purple box Super-Spirograph. I had to make that very clear for the risk of Santa getting it wrong! I ached for it, and it remains, to this day, my all-time favourite, and most wanted, Christmas present.
Every Christmas morning (well into my teens, I think), after all my presents were opened, I still remember the joy of settling into the corner of the settee, in a dressing gown that had room for growth, with my Broons/Oor Wullie book. I always read the back two pages first, because they were the Christmas and New Year stories, and it felt right to know how they were spending their special days.
Watching Christmas Top of the Pops was always a challenge. My grandparents always pitched up half-way through the programme, and I was always made to switch it off, or put the sound down, and come and wish Nana and Grandad a Merry Christmas. All I could think at the time was, “if they could just wait 20 minutes!” There was no pause button back then, or even a video recorder, so if you missed your favourite song of that year, that was it – gone! But this defined my childhood Christmases, and would I change that? Absolutely not – the songs are long forgotten, but my Nana and Grandad, while long gone, are very definitely not forgotten ❤️.
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