'Tis the Season

Lately I have been listening to Christmas music in the car... and at work...and at home. I recently came across a tape (yes, I said tape as in cassette) that Dad made me 20+ years ago of the Christmas albums we used to listen to when we were growing up.
Since my car is one of the rare few that a cassette player comes standard in this day and age of cd changers, I popped it in and gave it a listen. As the strains of Andy Williams "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" filled my car with Christmas cheer, I was whisked back in time to the excitement of Christmas that I felt as a kid.
Amazing how music can evoke so many different emotions at the same time; joy, humor, sadness, humility all roared through my 40 year old self. I remembered dancing in the living room of the parsonage where we lived when I was a newborn until the age of 4. I remembered jumping from couch to chair at the farmhouse from age 4 to 6.
As kids, my parents blasted the Christmas music while we decorated the tree for Christmas. It was always a special treat when Dad put the angel on the top of the tree while Big Sister and I ate milk and cookies and watched in 3-4 year old awe. It was at that time that we were on especially good behaviour because Santa WAS REALLY watching then. (Of Course, Mom will tell you that we weren't perfect angels, but we sure tried hard and only fought twice a day.)
Dad was always goofing around during the holidays and making up his own words to Christmas songs. Many of which, I can still sing much to his chagrin. It is true that little pitchers have big ears. I heard even the nasty versions, but I won't tell if you don't.
The first Christmas in the new house was in 1976. I was 7, Big Sister was 8 and Baby Sister was 1. True to form, when it was time to put up the tree (back in the day we had a real tree), Mom would put the Christmas records on the stackable turntable and the music filled the house.
Listening to the songs in my car made me realize, I missed my turn and have to drive the long way to get the kids.
*Note to self~ Pay attention to the road, Doofen Claus...