It's amazing how Christmas has evolved from the nostalgic memories of my childhood. Before Christmas, I could recall that my mom would use a broomstick to measure our shoe size, and she would still end up buying us oversize shoes. We would need to use tissue so they could fit. She likes buying clothes for about a week until Christmas. Anytime she buys them, we will be so happy that we will be counting the days until Christmas comes.
Due to the fact that I and my sister couldn't contain our excitement, we would sneak into my mom's wardrobe to pick up the clothes she had kept hoping to wear and admire them. Anytime my mom sees us, she will pursue us around, and we will end up doing cat and mouse chases until she removes the clothes from our bodies.
On Christmas Day, my mother would gather our belongings and get ready to travel to her Ibadan village to spend the holiday. My mother would usually purchase us a handbag, a dress, a hat, and a toy phone. She would also usually get us lovely eyeglasses to complete the look—this was the height of festive style in the past.
I worry that today's kids won't want to dress in such things. However, at the time, that was the best outfit available.
The highlight of our Christmas was the village visit.On Christmas day, every child in my mom's village will put on their best attire. After that, all of us will go from one house to another. Each house we visit will give us money, and we will keep the money in our handbag.
They will not only give us money; they will also give us a lot of food and drinks. It was a lesson in the true spirit of Christmas-giving. Poisoning fears weren't on our minds; we ate at every house until our stomachs protested. But these days, parents are really scared that their children might get poisoned, but then that wasn't even on our minds because we go to every house to eat.
After the Christmas parading to eat from every house, we would go to the oba's house to see many children doing chorography. There was nothing like a hip-hop craze then, and after the chorography, adults would take turns doing their traditional dance.
This is what I miss about Christmas.
Today, the majesty of Christmas has diminished in our day. The holiday season has become a more straightforward commemoration of the birth of Christ due to economic hardships, the replacement of local customs with modern ones, and the deterioration of traditional values.
