In a previous post, I’ve talked about playing Dirty Santa at a Christmas party. I suggest that you look at this previous post if you don’t know the rules of the game. The Dirty Santa game became a staple of our department Christmas parties. Each year we would push the limits even more on what kind of gift was acceptable. One of the last years of this party, my wife and I set up a prank as part of the game and it worked perfectly.
In previous posts, I have talked about Christmas gifts at work. “Dirty Santa” gift swaps became a staple of the department Christmas parties we had several years back. For those of you unfamiliar with how these swaps work, the rules are simple. Each person brings a wrapped gift. There is usually a targeted dollar amount for the gifts. Slips of numbered paper are drawn by each person. The person with number 1 choses one of the gifts. The person with number 2 can either select a new gift or steal the gift from the first person selected. When both people have a gift, the next person takes a turn until everyone has a gift. There are usually rules about how many times a gift can be stolen before it’s taken out of circulation. And you usually cannot take back a gift that was just taken from you.
In my previous blog post, I talked about Christmas traditions. I mentioned going to my grandfather’s house on Christmas Eve. I didn’t make it to his house for this event the last year he was alive. It wasn’t for lack of trying.
Our family Christmas traditions have changed over the years. Ever since I was a child, my family would always go to my mother’s parents’ house on Christmas Eve. This tradition continued until my grandfather died. The last 3 years he was alive, I lived about 4 hours away from my grandfather. My wife and I had committed to spending Christmas Eve with my grandfather and our children spending Christmas morning in their own home. This made for some quick visits and fast trips home but it was worth it in the end. After my grandfather died, my mom started doing Christmas Eve at her house. Soon, she started inviting my dad’s family. My father continued to have his siblings over for Christmas Eve after my mom passed away and that is the tradition we continue to this day.
When I a kid, I had a Mr. Potato Head. This was the second generation of these toys. When they were first introduced, they had a body parts that you would attach to an actual potato. By the time I got mine, they provided you with a plastic potato with holes in it that limited the locations you could put the eyes, ears, nose and mouth. I also had a Katie the Carrot which had similar body parts but a carrot head. In doing research for this story, I discovered there was a whole set of various fruit and vegetable options that were available.
Among our family Christmas traditions is Christmas Eve communion. This tradition didn’t start until I was in college. At that time, the pastor at the church I grew up in started serving come and go communion and this tradition continues today. Even before this tradition started, we would go to my grandparents’ house on Christmas Eve. When this started, the family would go to church as a large group and receive communion.
I have fond memories of decorating the Christmas tree when I was growing up. We always used an artificial tree. This was not the realistic artificial trees that you see today. The branches of this tree had a green hue that was identical to the color of the green army men that I played with regularly. I’m willing to bet that it was the same type plastic and possibly made at the same factory. It was not a tall tree either. It probably wasn’t over 5 feet tall. When I was young, it didn’t seem that small but as I got older, I realized how short it was. The angel at the top of the tree was never in danger of scraping the ceiling.
My grandparents are the only people that I can remember having an aluminum Christmas tree. These trees became popular in the early 1960’s. I don’t know when my grandparents got theirs but I don’t remember a Christmas before they got it and since I was born in 1962, there is a good chance that they were using it for my very first Christmas. The only decorations on the tree were balls and all of them were blue. My grandparents also had a color light wheel for the tree just like everyone else who had these. The wheel would be pointed at the tree would slowly rotate changing the color of the light shining on the tree. It seems like the motor on the wheel quit working after a few years. My grandparents didn’t buy a new wheel or get the motor repaired. Instead they chose to leave the blue light shining on the tree.
My oldest daughter’s birthday falls between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. So for her first Christmas, she was almost a year old. She was old enough that she would be able to appreciate getting toys. She would also be able to enjoy looking at Christmas decorations. My wife always decorated our whole house for Christmas with at least one tree in every room. This tradition continued for our daughter’s first Christmas. The main tree was located in the corner of our dining room. This was a great spot for a Christmas tree since there were windows on the walls in the corner behind the tree. The sides of the tree that couldn’t easily be seen from the room could be seen through the windows. Our house was on the busiest street in the small town were we lived so everyone could see our tree. We would keep the blinds on the windows in this room open during Christmas. The lights on the tree would be the only lights we would keep on in that room.
Christmas Eve is the time of the year when the Christmas story is the most real to me. I remember as a child riding home from my grandparents’ Christmas Eve celebration and looking up at the sky searching for Santa’s sleigh. They lived in the country away from the lights of our town and the stars would show up really well. With all of the stars so bright, it made me wonder how bright a star would need to be for the wise men to notice it as special. I thought of the images on the Christmas cards showing the wise men following a gigantic star that you couldn’t help but notice.