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Dolly Parton Opens Up About Favorite Childhood Christmas Memories

Dolly Parton stays hip as she takes part in the #TakeABreak challenge, where she opens up about her favorite childhood Christmas memories.

On Instagram, legendary country singer Dolly Parton shares a nearly five-minute video of all her favorite holiday memories growing up.

“Everybody has their own idea of what Christmas is, but it’s really to me more about just celebrating family, friends, traditions and just having a special time of year to sing all the wonderful songs,” says Parton. “And it’s about caring and giving. And that saying that it is better to give than to receive.”

Parton Gets Her “Doll”

However, she has received some pretty special gifts in the past.

One year for Christmas, Dolly Parton wanted a doll, as most little girls do, but what she got was even better.

“And in the toy section, they had a walking talking doll. You could feed it water, and it would pee and cry tears. We wanted one of those dolls so bad,” Parton says. “So my brother Randy was a December baby, so my mama said,’ Y’all wanted a walking talking doll that did all the stuff, come over here to see your new walking talking doll: we had our own baby that year.”

Dolly Parton Chips in to Get Her Mother a Ring

Dolly Parton also recalls back when her family was too large for her parents to afford to get each other wedding rings, although they were married. One Christmas, her father, had an exciting surprise for the whole family.

“They couldn’t afford wedding bands for each other, so Daddy decided one year that we’re going to get Mama a wedding ring. And he says, ‘Well, what little money we might’ve spent on toys for each other, why don’t we just kind of pool that money and buy Mom and wedding band?’ So we were all about that, all excited. Daddy said, ‘So, I’m gonna hide the ring, and whoever finds the ring, well they’re gonna get the only present that’s gonna be given out this year besides the ring.’”

The hunt for the treasure made Christmas more like an Easter hunt. However, Dolly Parton says that after things got a little too rowdy and they knocked over the tree, it made her Mother’s Christmas to get the ring.

“So Daddy hid it, and he hid it, he put it around the little bulb here, and of course we were all over the house, looking over ledges, above the doors, and in cabinets, looking everywhere. And my brother Denver and I spotted it about the same time. And, of course, we knocked the tree over. Anyhow Mama got her ring, and she was very happy. That one present that Daddy got for who found it, well, it was a big box of chocolate candy that we all had to share.”