books, Family, Gatherings, holidays, home, Kids, Media, Stories

Christmas Is A Comin’

49 Comments

We purchased scads of stories on audio cassette tapes when our children were young. They listened to them as they drifted off to sleep. Daughter says she still has to listen to audio books before she can go to sleep.  Some of these were stories narrated by famous actors.  Meryl Streep narrated Peter Rabbit  and The Tailor of Gloucester.  Danny Glover narrated How the Leopard Got its Spots.  Jack Nicholson narrated The Elephant’s Child and How the Camel Got Its Hump.  The stories changed as the children got older, and there were crime mysteries, old time radio shows, and, finally, recordings of novels like  A Wrinkle in Time and the Lord of the Rings.  They all sit now in the basement in boxes.

In our effort to get rid of stuff, we are going to have these stories transferred to electronic files and CD’s, and give them to our children for Christmas. Our grandson is old enough now to appreciate stories. It will give us the pleasure of passing on these wonderful recordings and make space in the basement shelves.

Christmas is coming, and we are starting to plan for quiet visits with our son and his family in Brookings. Our daughter is flying to Sioux Falls for a wedding at that time, and we will see her in Brookings, too. It will be a quiet and very much appreciated time together.

What are your plans for Christmas?  What are your ideas for gifts? What stories do you think are essential for children to hear?

49 thoughts on “Christmas Is A Comin’”

  1. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    We are headed out for a day trip to Iowa to visit my mother, so I will not be on the Trail. We have not even thought about Christmas yet. November 3 seems to loom large and prevent all plans past that particular date.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  2. Meryl Streep reading The Velveteen Rabbit comes to mind, and I do remember the voice of Sterling Holloway doing Winnie the Pooh. I wish we had made more use of the audio books when Son was little… the ones you mentioned are some of my favorites.

    Can’t think about Christmas yet…only thinking I’ve done about that is to ask if a gift subscription I sent last year for Kids’ Nat’l Geo would be welcome again – I find that from long distance, that’s a good option.

    I do need to figure out some birthday gifts between now and December. Any ideas for a high school senior girl in the middle of wildfire country, CA?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  3. I lied – I have thought about Christmas shopping, when I shared this on FB:

    “So Christmas shopping is going to be weird this year. Instead of boosting Amazon’s profits, you could ask friends and family for a voucher for a local business that might be struggling. Bookshops, restaurants, salons, cinemas, craft stores, arts venues, whatever you’re into. Hopefully we can help them still be here next year!”

    And I add: not only ask for, but also what you give…

    Liked by 7 people

    Reply

  4. I haven’t thought much about Christmas either. I used to love it. I used to get so excited about the lights and seeing people and the food and gifts. It’s been many years since I felt that way about it.

    I will likely spend Christmas with Mom at her memory care facility. I used to enjoy making oyster stew for the family. Maybe I could make some and share a bowl with her.

    It’s so important to read to kids. Dickens’ Christmas Carol springs to mind. Barbara mentioned The Velveteen Rabbit – I like that one too. I got to go to the Nutcracker when I was too young to remember it well. I came away permanently loving the beauty of the ballet. I doubt my parents understood that the lasting gift they had given me was the love of beauty.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  5. I ordered all the ingredients for Christmas baking a couple of weeks ago. I can’t find the glaceed fruit in town that I need for Stollen. I try to start the baking in November. I am hoping that Daughter will be content with goodies I bring to Brookings, and won’t want me to send cookies to her in Tacoma like I did last year. I think I will make some lefse in November, before Christ the King Sunday. That is when you are supposed to have your lefse done, so that you don’t mess up the house in December with all that flour..

    I wonder how Christmas decoration planning is coming at the White House?

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  6. Robin Williams narrated “Pecos Bill”. That one was really fun. Son is reading the Babar books to our grandson. Now, he says the wicked hunter who shot Babar’s mother is DT. When I read the book to our son, I said the wicked hunter was Ronald Reagan.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

        1. in this world we all get to decide who we are.
          they did and we get to observe
          it’s amazing how many pussy grabbing tax evading military belittler bambi slaying accepted there out out there because they support law and order or jesus or anti planned parenthood poses

          the world is beyond discussion sometimes. so many broken souls

          Liked by 1 person

  7. Well I am more ahead of holiday planning than usual this year. When we first went into shelter in place, I was hoping and thinking that I would be very busy at work in September October and November. So I did a lot of my holiday projects back in March and April preparing for this possibility. Then of course furlough happened and I Could have had the whole summer to be leisurely about it. So the only thing I haven’t done right now is actually address the cards and put stamps on them and sign them. I think I I will do my normal holiday baking but I don’t normally start that until Thanksgiving.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  8. My mom read to me a lot up until I learn to read for myself. Then it seems to me that the reading aloud tapered off. The books I remember the most from that are The Pokey Little Puppy and The Velveteen Rabbit.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  9. i have the pope and jimmy carter coming over for christmas
    i thought we’d have chili

    christmas is a good time for watching football but this year it’s on a friday so we’ll just ask francis to bring his favorite videos

    last time we asked jimmy to bring his it was really a bad entertainment evening

    midnight cowboy was good but all the presidents men was the next one followed up by 6 more

    we told francis to keep it down to one or two movies so we can play clue after
    i hope he chooses babette’s feast like he did last time he was here . it’s a good film

    as for gifts we’ve decided on white elephant gifts this year. i have a game for group settings called executive decision i found never opened from about 1980 i’m willing to part with

    dr suess and shel silverstein for the munchkin

    by the way cassettes are in fashion

    you may want to dupe them too.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  10. my first two kids got sang to sleep every night
    i have my guitar group on hold til the pandemic is over but when i asked them to remind me of the name of my lulabye they looked at me funny

    i must be alone in singing you are my sunshine in a sleep inducing way. one guy said it was one of his moms favorite songs and when he sang it my way she didn’t recognize it. it never occurred to me .
    next 3 kids mom was a daycare director and had hundreds of age appropriate books, songs, tapes of stories both for reading along and for listening abiyo-yo was a favorite

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  11. Are you kidding me? I don’t even buy unripe bananas at this stage of the game. I’m hopeful that the unripe tomatoes will ripen, but beyond that, very few plans.

    Husband’s birthday is coming up in ten days, and I have already bought him a supply of black licorice to be rationed out over a period of time, plus a nice bottle of Balvenie DoubleWood Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  13. Don’t know if Dale checks in on the trail from time to time, but today’s his 65th birthday, so Happy Birthday, Dale. Hope you celebrate in good health and spirits.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. I haven’t gotten to thinking about Christmas yet – at least not any further than figuring out how to keep as much of the traditions alive as I can in this pandemic world. (That will likely include watching “Polar Express” with Darling Daughter… and crying a little more than I usually do…)

    As for essential stories: “But Not the Hippopotamus” by Sandra Boynton is an essential for the tiny wee ones. The Pooh stories, Snowy Day, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Where the Wild Things Are… my essentials tend toward picture books. 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  15. Two friends, twin men, gave our kids a set of records of Disney stories. They could listen to the records and follow Along in big book with cels from movies with spoken dialogue underneath. They both learned how to read from those.
    Christmas. As it happens I just booked community room for Christmas Day. It is large enough for four of us to spread out at 10 feet apart. We had been sharing take out meals in our yard. Now we will book days to do the same thing indoors.
    Clyde

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  16. Hi- I wrote something earlier but guess I never actually hit send…?

    I have been thinking I’ll have to get my Amish Friendship bread out at some point.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  17. I love this idea. Our children love audio stories. We have a wonderful version of the Beatrix Potter stories. I like that you can make copies of your collection. Most of ours are on audible or from the library. What a lovely legacy to pass on to your grands 😃

    Like

    Reply

  20. I don’t even buy unripe bananas at this stage of the game. I’m hopeful that the unripe tomatoes will ripen, but beyond that, very few plans. I like that you can make copies of your collection. Most of ours are on audible or from the library.
    ornaments

    Like

    Reply

  21. Hello
    I love this idea. Our children love audio stories. We have a wonderful version of the Beatrix Potter stories. I like that you can make copies of your collection. Most of ours are on audible or from the library. What a lovely legacy to pass on to your grands 😃

    Like

    Reply

  22. We have a wonderful version of the Beatrix Potter stories. I like that you can make copies of your collection. Most of ours are on audible or from the library.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.