Dolly Parton grew up in a large family, being one of 12 children, which meant that Christmas was often a lively and hectic affair. Despite their financial struggles, Parton’s parents always went the extra mile to ensure the holidays were special for their kids. However, the siblings often managed to turn the festive season into a scene of chaos, with most Christmases ending in a lively squabble.

Dolly Parton said she and her siblings always fought on Christmas

Parton’s family had a tradition where each child received candy for Christmas. The way they consumed their treats varied greatly among them.

In her book, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business, Parton reminisced, “When I think of Christmas and candy, I can’t help but remember how Denver would immediately claim his sweets by licking each piece. This was his strategy to prevent anyone else from eating them. While he seemed unbothered by his own saliva, to the rest of us, it was as off-putting as poison.”

She wrote, “There was always someone, often Stella, who would stash away a few pieces of candy until everyone else’s was long gone. Then, she would slowly savor her candy in front of the envious, sweet-less crowd with a triumphant display of sibling rivalry that only brothers and sisters understand.”

“It seemed like there was always one person, usually Stella, who would hoard a piece of candy or two until everybody else had crunched theirs into oblivion,” she wrote. “Then the held-back candy would be slowly and painfully licked in front of the candyless green-eyed horde with a gleeful kind of one-upmanship that is peculiar to brothers and sisters.”

This almost always caused a violent fight.

“This would always lead to blows and bring on some form of justice from Mama or Daddy always involving some kind of speech about the ‘true spirit of Christmas,’” she wrote.

Dolly Parton shared her favorite memory of Christmas

While her memories of fighting over candy stand out to Parton, she said her most “memorable” Christmas was the one where she “received the least.” Her parents got married young and had little money, and her father finally pulled together the funds to get her mother a ring.

“One Christmas he gathered us all together and explained to those of us that were old enough to understand that there wouldn’t be the usual store-bought gifts we had come to expect,” she wrote. “This year all of the money had gone to buy Mama a ring. There was instead one gift for the person who could find the ring where Daddy had hidden it. This set off a frenzy of searching. Every place that could accommodate a ring.”

The siblings rushed to find the ring. When someone did, and their mother received it, her father revealed that the present was a box of chocolates. All of the children shared it.

“That is Daddy’s way,” Parton wrote. “Those chocolates were so sweet they could make your teeth hurt, and so are the memories of that Christmas.”

She said her family always managed to get them presents

Parton said she and her siblings eagerly anticipated Christmas every year. They got treats and candy in their stockings, and everyone got one store-bought gift. She said these were the presents they all cherished the most.

“Somehow Mama and Daddy always managed for each of us to get one store-bought gift,” she wrote. “Regardless of what it was, it was a thing of wonder to be revered, looked at with slow eyes, felt with tender hands, and relished for its newness. Best of all was that ‘it’s really mine’ feeling that could carry you around on a cloud for days, or until it was replaced by that ‘it’s really broken’ feeling.”

She said her brothers often received fireworks, and she and her sisters got baby dolls.