One Christmas when I was about 10 or so, we had an "old fashioned Christmas". This was a complete surprise to my brother and I. My Mother never discussed it before Christmas day. We had no idea we were having an "old fashioned Christmas" until we ran to the fireplace, tore through our stockings only to find apples, oranges, and walnuts. I looked at my mom waiting for a punch line of some sort only to see her smiling back at me with a "TA DA!" expression on her face similar to that of a magician's assistant. I couldn't help but think my mom had completely lost it!

My mother always likes to change things up. Once we took a surprise flight to San Francisco just because she thought it would be cool to wake us up before dawn, get on a plane and not tell us where we were going. We could have been running from the police for all I knew.

Now back to the "old fashioned Christmas".

The economy was suffering much like it is now but as a kid you have no idea what an economy is. Why does the economy suffer? Does it cry when it suffers? My mom was a widow at the age of 29. My father passed away when my brother and I were 5 & 6 so we were always a little strapped but we didn't really know it. We had food, clothes, a home and a large family that helped each other out.

It wasn't until I was an adult that my mom confessed we were broke and she couldn't get stocking stuffers. Believe it or not, I was happy to find that my mom was broke and not insane.

My boys have herd the "old fashion Christmas" story several times. Not a year goes buy when we don't laugh about it. I could only imagine the look on our faces and the hurt in my mother's heart that morning.

Now, every time the boys ask for toys before Christmas I tell them "OK. I'll buy that for you now, but that means we'll have an Old Fashion Christmas this year."

It works every time!