The way we were: people who help kids look at their own childhood Christmases
CEO of Parentline, Aileen Hickie photographed at home with her dog Scout.
“As children in my hometown of Millstreet, Cork, we always knew Christmas was near when my mother started soaking sultanas and raisins in bowls covered in greaseproof paper. She always started this the day before Advent – around the end of November. I hated Christmas pudding but it was exciting knowing Christmas was coming.
“My father would be trying to separate strands of lights to place on the Christmas tree. This is a tradition I’ve continued – no matter how carefully I put away the Christmas tree lights each year, they still seem to snake around each other for the 11 months they’re stored in the attic. They’re a jumbled mess by the time I take them out!”
“My childhood Christmases were in Tipperary. I remember the excitement – creeping down to the sitting-room to see what Santa brought. My stand-out memory is of a beautiful doll resting in my toy box. Maybe she was my first doll – solid plastic, plastic hair, no moveable arms or legs. I loved her. All other dolls with moveable parts and brush-able hair went eventually to charity, but she’s still with me.
“Christmas was when we had fizzy drinks, the only time of year we lit a fire in the sitting-room and played there every day, a time for staying up later. The adults would play cards.
“With my children, we carried on the tradition of a special Santa toy box: plastic boxes decorated with stickers that came down from the attic every year – wonderful for gathering up bits of Lego and jigsaws and keeping track of who owned what.”
“At home in Donegal, the day we put up our decorations was the start of all the fun. We all took a room to decorate. There was great craic, a sense we were all part of it. We did our own paper chains to hang over doors, we strung together old Christmas cards and there was tinsel everywhere. Once that was done, we were on the countdown to Santa.
“With our children we’ve tried to match that build-up – we always put up the decorations the first Saturday of December to the sounds of Christmas FM, then out for lunch, a visit to Santa and hot chocolate with loads of marshmallows.
“Our new tradition is the kids and I always do the Goal Mile on Christmas morning.”
- Remember to have fun yourselves. No Christmas is picture-perfect, so give yourselves a break. (Aileen Hickie)
- Spend time with your children at Christmas – reading, playing with Lego, playing board games, making jigsaws. This is what they’ll remember. (Áine Ní Ghlinn)
- Completely switch off from the world of work and be fully present for the family. Despite the rise in consumerism and fancy gifts, children value your un-distracted time above everything else. (Niall Muldoon)
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