This is madness. THIS IS CHRISTMAS!

My favorite of our pose series (none of which were normal)

My family is a bit different. It should thus be no surprise that we do the holidays our own special way.

Typically we spend the designated day (never actual Christmas. It used to always be Christmas Eve but now is normally the Sunday before Christmas) together - eating, drinking, and at the end of the night doing Steal-a-Gift. Gifts are wrapped up, people are given numbers, and on your turn you can either steal a gift from someone else or open one from the middle.

Last year, things got a little more exciting. My brother suggested that in order to determine who got best choice of the Steal-a-Gift numbers, we turn the day into a competition between two teams. I think most of my relatives were hesitant at first, but we gave it a shot. My brother, my cousins, and I made up the game committee responsible for selecting the games and rules for the day. My brother led the games for the day and everything went remarkably well until he broke his ankle playing walleyball. We stuck him in a chair and I took over.

Somehow this translated into me being in charge of the games this year as well. Actually this was probably more the result of my obsessive need to plan and organize. Every time my brother asked what he needed to do I told him “don’t worry about it.”

While our games last year were fun enough, they were randomly selected and poorly organized. I was determined that this would not happen again.

To start, about midyear I sent my family a survey. I had them review what they liked and disliked about the games, provide suggestions, and rate their favorites from last year. I used this information to update the games for the day and change the points the games were worth based on a combination of skill and interest. I tracked this information on a spreadsheet which also listed the games and points from the previous year.

Then I assigned tasks to various family members. Who had to bring what, who needed to select the teams… I also made a change to how teams were recognized. The previous year we had the team assignments before arriving and you had to wear your team’s color, either red or green. This year I determined we would have Team Elf and Team Reindeer, and provided festive hats for both teams. My grandfather got a Santa hat as he is the default impartial judge. This way we didn’t need an exact number of attendees ahead of time. While my father and I set up lunch, my brother randomly selected the teams and handed out the hats. There were some quick switches. The elf hat didn’t fit my dad’s big head so we traded him for my uncle. Then after lunch, I announced the games and schedule.

Hard at work puzzling

Some games were open for people to work on all day. Those were games like the Sudoku puzzles, and the gingerbread village decorating. There was also a puzzle for each team to put together. While they could technically work on it all day, only the team that completed it first received the points.

 

 Now as I mentioned some games were worth more points than others. However, I neglected to tell everyone else the point values. It became necessary at points to choose what to focus on. Who would finish the puzzle? Who was going to play walleyball? How many people would be left to work on the gingerbread village? I thought it would be interesting to see how they prioritized the games without knowing the points. While I was on Team Elf, I let others decide who was doing what without any input (besides saying I wouldn’t be playing walleyball. I loathe volleyball like you wouldn’t believe). The rest of my team went to play walleyball. When they got back and realized Team Reindeer had created the most amazing gingerbread village ever, the rest of the team decided to abandon any attempt at points. My poor cousin Ian was the only one that set ours up.

CHUG!

After walleyball we had a few games that were at set intervals. Teams choose their representatives for these games. There was a corn hole toss and a chugging contest. While my team ended up winning the chug as both team members had to finish in order to win, my uncle Jim surprised us all with his chugging abilities. My mother did poorly. The best part of this game? I didn’t tell anyone what they were chugging when they had to volunteer, just that it wasn’t alcoholic. It ended up being a combination of mountain dew and red Gatorade (red & green!) While I was totally amused, and the onlookers enjoyed it, I’m pretty sure all of the participants are going to vote against the chug on the next survey.

The last game for the night was a team Name That Tune. Keeping with the holiday theme we did Christmas music, and they only had to guess the artist. This was a new game for the year and I think the most popular. Also the scariest. I’m glad the teams were sitting separately. It may have turned violent.

Team Reindeer sits defeated.

In the end, Team Elf won for the day and got the better gift numbers. I was reelected as Game Commissioner, something that I want included on my epitaph. The family was entertained and still had a chance to reconnect with those of us spread across the world. It might not be the normal holiday celebration, but it’s some of the most fun I have all year!