CBeebies Presenters remember their childhood Christmases

Playing board games with my family at home. My mum's brother was a complete cheat! He always got caught and we'd all laugh about it.



What is your favourite Christmas food and why?

I love turkey! It's traditional and feels like Christmas. I also *love* good roast potatoes – crispy on the outside!



What would you like Father Christmas to bring you for Christmas?



A good comedy DVD to watch. I like martial arts films too. 



ALEX:



What are your favourite memories of Christmas from when you were little?



My best memory was the year I got a BMX bike. I was quite young and it was my absolute dream present. I can remember being awake the whole night with anxiety. Walking into my living room and seeing it was pure joy! The funniest memory is of the year my mum left the turkey giblets in the plastic bag inside the turkey. My siblings and I could not stop laughing. It was sooo funny at the time, but my mum was mortified!



What is your favourite Christmas food and why?



'Pigs in blankets’ (sausages wrapped in bacon). They instantly remind me of being a child at Christmas – plus they’re delicious!



What would you like Father Christmas to bring you for Christmas?



Ummm, new boots and the DVD collection of the 1960s Batman TV series.



ANETA:



What are your favourite memories of Christmas from when you were little?



I grew up on the outskirts of a small town in Poland, and we had a barn outside our house where we kept pigs. On one snowy Christmas Eve, one of our pigs gave birth to three adorable little piglets. My dad brought one home to show it to me and my brother. We instantly fell in love with her! She was the cutest animal I had ever seen and I named her Alicia. 



What is your favourite Christmas food and why?



My favourite Christmas food is a traditional Polish dish called 'pierogi', which are like little dumplings. The best ones have forest mushrooms inside - yum! I also love a big Christmas roast with lots of tasty veg and mince pies for dessert.



What would you like Father Christmas to bring you for Christmas?



Dear Father Christmas, could you please bring me a trampoline for Christmas?

KATY:



What are your favourite memories of Christmas from when you were little? 



I remember putting a carrot and a mince pie out for Father Christmas, along with my note for him, the night before Christmas – and waiting for all the magic to begin. I have four boy cousins, and we always used to get together for family Christmases and have such a laugh and make up games together. 



What is your favourite Christmas food and why?



I love bread sauce! It’s something you identify with Christmas and no other time of the year.



What would you like Father Christmas to bring you for Christmas?



I want to get a swing for Charlie!

CAT:



What are your favourite memories of Christmas from when you were little?



My family have always celebrated Christmas Eve together, with at least 30 members of the family there every year. We have a great time eating and singing, then at midnight 'Father Christmas' knocks at the door and delivers all of our presents. But when we were little, me and one of my cousins were far too excited to wait until midnight to open our presents, so we would tell each other what the other was going to get. Then when we opened our gifts we had to pretend that we were surprised! It still makes me chuckle to think we got away with it....until now!



What is your favourite Christmas food and why?



I love sprouts... ha ha, not really! Christmas for me is yule log time! Mmm! Warm it up and serve with ice cream!



What would you like Father Christmas to bring you for Christmas?



I really hope Father Christmas brings me an amazing SLR camera. I've let him know that I'm taking up photography, so hopefully he reads the CBeebies Grown-ups blog regularly!



CERRIE:



What are your favourite memories of Christmas from when you were little?



Like everyone I have lots of Christmas memories, that come fluttering back to me like snow when I hear 'walking in the air' from the snowman. It brings back the fury of being five and not being chosen to be Mary in the school nativity. It's the prickliness of tinsel against my skin, when I was forced wear a golden halo. The smell of the thick stew my Granddad would make every year when we went to visit him.

It's the absolute unbelievable excitement of opening the door and being wonder-struck by the amount of glossy presents. It's the sound of wrapping paper tearing – the amazement of a new bike, or the disappointment of an unwanted itchy jumper. It's the first time I saw real snow, at my cousin’s house, the way we peeped beneath the curtain together and gasped at a world transformed by white. It’s sailing down a hill on a tea-tray sledge. It's the time my three year old cousin, wanted to leave gin and chips for MRS (not Mr) Christmas. It's the time we spent an entire afternoon decorating a cake, only to leave it behind. It’s finding the purple Quality Street before anyone else does. It's the strong scent of clementines and the glow of candlelight. It's the taste of warm mince pies and the dancing blue flames when the pudding is set on fire. It’s the telly being on in the background all day. It's people playing cards in the room next door. It's all the special times I spent with my family.



And now, as a mummy, it’s the chance to make it magical all over again.



What traditions from your childhood do you love to recreate with your own kids? Join the conversation on CBeebies Grown-ups Facebook and Twitter pages.