By Eilene Lyon
My mother learned to play guitar when I was still in kindergarten. Before that, she’d grown up playing violin and piano. One of our family traditions became the Christmas Sing-along. Mom typed up the words to a variety of carols and hymns in multiple copies.
Sometime prior to Christmas, we’d invite our friends over for holiday goodies: punch, cookies, etc. Then out came the song-lyric sheets and Mom’s guitar. I think you can tell from the facial expressions that this was not a universally loved tradition!
The feature image is one of our sessions during our Guatemala years (1974). The image below is from our time living in Virginia in the 1960s. This one was 1968.
Did your family sing Christmas carols or other holiday songs?
Myricopia 
How fun! Well, I mean, fun for others. I would be hiding in the kitchen looking for dishes to wash.
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I can’t recall if anyone dared to bail out on Mom’s gig.😁
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Hahaha. I imagine that would require bravery.
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Yeah!
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I remember carolling with youth groups, but no carols were sung at home. Lucky you!
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It was fun. Everyone in my family enjoyed singing.
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I went caroling with youth groups, too! It was a lot of fun.
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I recall doing the door-to-door caroling once or twice, too.
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😀
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Mom would sing along if we were playing the piano. You have precious memories!
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It’s nice to have the photos to jog my memories!
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I am chuckling over some of those faces Eilene! If honest, I would probably have been one of the grumpy ones 😉 I admire your mom for sticking to her traditions though.
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The sing-along wasn’t everyone’s idea of a fun evening, for sure!
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Great story. Your mom had a captive audience and created memories for you and other family members. Reminds me of the New Year’s Eve party held every year by a good friend of mine. The party morphed into a Karaoke party. She loved to sing. Unfortunately after a few years the attendance declined. Wonder why, lol.
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Thanks, Tonya. Everyone in my family loved to sing, but our friends, probably not so much. But it was fun to have a houseful at the holiday. Karaoke does get old after a while!
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Great pics! And yes, we used to do family sing alongs with Christmas carols as well…my mum used to play the piano and at our Polish Christmas Eve celebrations, our family friend played his balalaika as he and my dad led us in the Polish Kołedy – they knew ALL the words, while the rest of us sang the bits we remembered and/or could pronounce properly. I still miss those times…My dad and his friend are now gone and none of the rest of us know them well enough, though we still have recordings from a Polish group we listen to.
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What delightful memories! My ancestors did not retain much, if anything, of European traditions (maybe the suet pudding 😉). My uncle also played guitar and banjo and was once part of a folk group in the 60s. We used to have wonderful sing-along a on Grandma’s big front porch.
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I love this!
And yes, when we would go up north to my Grandmother’s, guitars, violins and spoons came out and the “chansons à répondre” or singalong songs started. So sad that all the old voices are gone as well as the words. I used to love that best.
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How fabulous, Dale! That sounds like such a great time. It is sad when those traditions pass.
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It was. So sad that so few are left and those that are, are too far away. Sigh.
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Seems like it takes some real effort to keep things going, or to create new traditions. I confess to being rather lazy in that regard.
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It does. But honestly, I am pretty much the last of the lot who appreciated these. My sisters didn’t care. A few cousins, maybe, but the rest… Nope.
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😥
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Yeah. It’s a bummer.
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What great photos. The expressions are priceless! Our family of four played instruments before opening presents. Me flute, brother sax, mom piano and dad clarinet. My brother and I would race through the carols as fast as possible to get to the presents, making a big muck of a sound.
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That’s hilarious! I love the idea of a family band. My brothers had a rock band together. My dad could play violin. But the five of us never played all together, ever.
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I love it when families have lots of musicians. As for playing together, it was better when we didn’t!
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Not “The family that plays together stays together”, huh?
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You gave me a good laugh. 😂
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Glad you found the humor.😊
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👍🏼
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I love that sunflower patterned dress! My dad was the personnel manager of a hospital and every Xmas a group of administrators and their families walked around there singing carols to cheer up those who had to spend the holiday in the hospital. I’m not sure how good we sounded, so maybe we didn’t cheer anyone up!
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That is an attractive outfit, isn’t it? I’m sure you all brought a smile to patients’ faces (maybe a grimace or two 😉).
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Yes, I think I’d be one of the less enthusiastic faces! I sang in school and church and now that haven’t been to either for a few years (!) I think my singing muscles have seized up.
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Yeah, my voice is not what it used to be. I generally confine my singing to the car – when I’m alone.
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We weren’t a family of singers or musicians so, mercifully, we didn’t have sing-a-longs. I did enjoy listening to those who could carry a tune, though… and hummed along out of earshot.
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It’s definitely one of those love it or hate it situations. Not much in between. I think most of our friends were good sports about it. At least you can appreciate those who sing well.
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My mom played piano, and my family gathered round for carol sings every year. I loved it. My own family has never been convinced, I’m sad to say! Merry Christmas, Eilene.
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That sounds fun! Too bad the next generation didn’t appreciate it so much. Merry Christmas to you, Jane!
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The expressions on some of those faces are precious! Merry Christmas, Eilene!
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They’re cherished photos. Thank you, Amy!
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I think it was a fun idea by your Mom to try to start a new tradition for a holiday sing-a-long. All your expressions don’t mirror that enthusiasm however. 🙂 It was just my parents and me – I had no siblings. I had some 45 records of all the popular Christmas children’s songs. My mom would belt out a mean “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause” and “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer” back in the day. If there were Christmas crooner albums like Bing Crosby or Perry Como, I don’t remember them.
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I can’t recall when they started or ended, but it seems we did it fairly regularly for a number of years. We also went to Christmas Eve services at church and participated in church cantatas. If had just been the family, it wouldn’t have been so much fun – more of an obligation.
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The pictures and memories both made it fun. My father didn’t go to church, my mom didn’t drive and so growing up I went with different girlfriends to their church as my mom wanted me to go to church and Sunday School, so I had a little Baptist, Protestant worship and church services, but I am Catholic.
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It’s good to test drive the different ideologies!
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What a clan! Must have made for some memorable holidays.
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I remember a few special Christmases growing up, but it all runs together, really. It was great when we had other families we were all friends with (kids who played with me and my brothers and the adults got along, too).
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No singing of Christmas carols at home, just Christmas hymns in church, which people sang without moving their mouths.
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Well that’s an interesting image – sounds like a trick to do!
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They managed it very well!
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I play guitar too, Eilene. But I am afraid my favourite christmas song is special: Fairytale of New Tork / The Pogues. But it is a must have in my family. 😁
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I will have to look that up – not on my playlist.😉
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There was no one in the past family that was musically inclined so all music came from the radio or records. 🙂 We now have a family member who plays the guitar, but she leans toward more modern day music so we’re back to vinyl. 🙂
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I expect it’s not unusual to have an unmusical family, but I don’t hear that often. Nothing wrong with getting the good stuff from the pros!
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Cheers to your mom’s musicality and using it for the joys of the season. Nope – no family sing-a-longs in my youth. Well done, Eilene …. and best holiday wishes to you and yours.
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Merry Christmas to you, Frank! Down in ‘Bama now?
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No yet
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My dad would start playing his Christmas records mid-December: Bing Crosby’s classics, or collabs such as Mele Kalikimaka with the Andrews sisters or Little Drummer Boy with David Bowie; Mexican Posadas; and even mixed it up with things like Disco Christmas. I generally liked it, except when he played them at full volume on Sunday mornings to wake us up teenagers after a late Saturday night LOL. Nice photos, they really capture the mood in the room.
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I don’t think I would have appreciated your dad’s choice of music – at least not for that long. A few days, I might tolerate.
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Yeah, The New Year was greatly anticipated for more than one reason, hehe.
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Understandable!
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