Mocha With Linda hosts a weekly meme called Flashback Friday. She’ll post a question every Thursday, and then Friday we can link our answers up on her site. You can visit her site for more Flashbacks. And for Booked for the Holidays,” too!

The prompt for today is:

What was Christmas like at school when you were growing up? Were there parties, programs or other activities? Did students exchange gifts? Did you have a part in a Christmas play? Did teachers decorate their rooms? Was it permissible to refer to the holiday as Christmas? If you attended church, what special things did your church do? Were you or your family involved in any of those programs, cantatas, or activities? Have you ever gone caroling? Did your parents ever host Christmas parties?

I almost sat this one out because I don’t remember many particulars about Christmas celebrations at school when I was young. I know we had them the last day of school before Christmas break, and I know girls brought gifts for girls and boys for boys, without any name tags as to who they were from. The only concrete memory is that one year I received chocolate covered cherries — and I cried.  I love chocolate, but that form of it has always seemed gross to me. And somehow the teacher came up with something else for me — perhaps she had a few gifts stashed away in case someone forgot to bring one. I don’t remember what it was, though! But it does seem like the parties were lower key than the parties my own kids had while in school where they got a gift from a classmate, something from the teacher, an ornament made by “room moms,” and a bag of candy besides all the goodies at the party. I did enjoy the ornaments, though — some moms from each class would get together and make ornaments for all the kids in that class. I loved the fellowship of doing it together and the creativity, and those were some of my favorite ornaments. But they discontinued it after a while — not enough moms with time to do it, mainly, and some discrepancies — one class would get something made out of empty toilet paper rolls and others would get something really nice and elaborate. Of course, I could have continued making ornaments for my kids each year or we could have made them together — but I just didn’t think of it. I wish I had!

Most everybody referred to Christmas as Christmas. I don’t remember any conversation about not acknowledging it as such.

My parents did not attend church, so my own attendance was spotty, and I can’t remember what was done in regard to church programs, but they must have had them. These days the churches we have attended have a children’s Christmas program, and adult one, usually a cantata, and each Sunday School class or group has some kind of party. I love them, but it makes for a super-busy time, especially when you have children in different grades with all of this plus school Christmas programs and piano recitals, too.

I don’t recall my parents ever having Christmas parties, though I do have a vague memory of attending an office party where my mom worked once. It’s always been so busy in December that it seems you don’t dare add to it by inviting anyone over — it was be just one more event to attend for them. I do kind of regret that, but then, fellowship is fellowship whether at church or at home. What someone ought to do is have a January mid-winter party when it is cold and dreary and nothing else is going on!

I have vague memories of caroling — maybe with a Sunday School class or Girl Scouts.

My husband’s father worked at a grocery store, and on Christmas Eve they’d host the employees at their home for just a short little get-together with some munchies. For many years my mom would send us Swiss Colony packages, and we’d get those out Christmas Eve. Eventually we got to where we just have certain Christmastime munchies around during December but didn’t have a set time or date for setting them all out.