Christmastime is a joyous time of the year, full of memories that will last a lifetime. Unfortunately, there are some bad memories associated with this time of year as well. We asked readers to share their best and/or worst Christmas stories.
My dad dressed up like Santa and burst into our room. Ho ho ho kids Santa is here. I jumped from the bed and said…you ain’t Santa cause Santa ain’t black. My parents started laughing, my brothers started crying until finally my dad said, we’ll I’m your Santa Claus and don’t you forget it.
Worst Christmas, Parents put my gifts on lay-away and let the store close on Christmas Eve, so I woke up to NO gifts under the tree! Parents blamed it all on Santa. I cried the whole day which made them feel really guilty and they made up for it after Christmas. #ChristmasTales
Picture it. Christmas 1986, I’m 18 and my brother is 10. Came home during my first Christmas break from college. Wake up the next morning and my parents have their suitcases packed talking about they are leaving for Vegas. My brother and I would’ve been ok, but my parents hadn’t told us anything, they hadn’t put up a tree, nor had they purchased us any presents. We had never spent Christmas a part. They literally walked out the door and left us crying. They called us spoiled and told us to get over it. My moms baby sister actually came through for us. Let’s just say- that never happened again. I still feel some kinda way.
Two days before Christmas, my little brothers and I took a knife and sliced the seams on the wrapping paper for our presents. We peeked at all our gifts and then slapped on a bit of tape to cover our dirty deed. It was the most anti-climatic Christmas Day ever. We faked our “Oohs” and “Ahs,” but we were not great actors. Lesson learned: Don’t spoil your own surprises.
My best Christmas, 10 years old, my Mom said,we couldn’t afford to get all 3 of you a bike but since you’re the oldest you can share your sisters. Then my dad called me to the front porch and there stuck in the snow was a shiny red bike he said “Santa was about to leave and I jumped up on that sleigh and pulled my baby a bike off. My Dad my hero!!
So my mom was a tree-up-all-year type of lady. My kids loved it. She would put the Yule log on tv and that was all we could watch for hours. My kids were baffled by this. The Christmas after she passed away my kids noticed I was sad, and my three-year-old daughter grabbed the remote from her older brother. He asked what she was doing and she screamed, “Mommy needs the fire in the TV to be happy! Mommy, what channel is the fire on the tree?” I couldn’t help but laugh. And now every year we put the fire on the TV for my mom.
We were a family of 10 (Mom, Dad and 8 children (and I was the baby)) had a tradition of getting and decorating a live tree on Christmas Eve in the early years. It always felt magical and special. Well, I learned when I was much older in life that those live trees were only available after the merchant closed up for the night (if you can read between the lines 
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