Twas the day after Christmas and throughout the places
The people were passed out, all flat on their faces.
That’s it. That’s as far as the verse goes.
Once again, we had a smashing Christmas celebration! We went to the Children’s mass at our usual church. Josie joined us and we got there on time to nab seats where we usually sit. Turns out, MJ’s family, the McCollows and Mom and Dad were all there too! That mass was timed so that we could go home and collect our gifts and the food we were bringing along before heading down the road to Tyler’s place.
The very large and spread out family all went to church at their local parishes but arrived at Ty’s at about the same time. There was a table set aside for the gifts that were for the game, not to be confused with gifts for specific people. That’s important: you don’t want the rest of the family fighting over whatever you’d gotten for Grandma. We Pivecs have been playing the Game at Christmas for close to 20 years now and we have it down to a science…a messy, chaotic science that includes side bets, cheating and bribery.
The Game is great fun because it takes all the pressure off of gift giving. All the presents are anonymous so you can buy yours at the dollar store if you want. Over the years, the gifts have ranged from baseballs signed by major leaguers to photos of each other in cheap plastic frames and you never know which item will become the object of greed among the players. Usually, half the party winds up coveting the silliest things, like a breakfast set featuring Tony the Tiger. (we won that; the kids ate out of those bowls for years.)
A few years ago, my Mom tried to play the Game with her grandkids but they were too young; they didn’t think it was fun at all when someone stole the present they had just unwrapped. Our motto may be “It ain’t Christmas till someone’s crying!” but it’s no one’s objective to get everyone crying.
This year, we figured everyone was old enough to try again. After all, the youngest kids who would play are Xena and Babalouie and they’ve been playing for years with the Pivec side of the family; they know how it works. So we put the word out for everyone to bring anonymous gifts if they wanted to play the Game on Christmas Day.
Back at Ty’s house, he and Megan had set up two long tables in the dining room. Their house has the ‘open concept’ everyone wants these days. They ‘dining room’ is on one side of the kitchen, while the ‘living room’ is on the side with the fireplace. The food was spread out on the kitchen counter and there was tons of it, since everyone brings something to share. Jay had prepared several racks of ribs and ten pounds of chicken wings, which Ty then smoked all day. I made the traditional giant caldron of gumbo. It’s not the easiest or the wisest thing in the world to transport six gallons of seafood soup in one’s car but with enough duct tape, it’s possible.
I believe we numbered 37 for dinner. Kids under the age of two didn’t join in the game, which we played after dinner. This cohort numbered I think; four. They were really only interested in eating the wrapping paper, so everyone was happy. No one actually cried, although Babalouie was not happy when he had to trade away the nerf gun he’d just unwrapped. He’d forgotten all about it long before the end of the evening.
I started the Game with a T-shirt, traded it for a set of Bailey’s Irish Cream tasters and I don’t even know what I finished with. It doesn’t matter: the point of the Game is to play, not whatever you wind up with.
After the Game, there was plenty of time for dessert, drinks, storytelling and laughing. Boopity Boop had a blast playing in the piles of discarded wrapping paper with their cousin G, who was also having her very first Christmas. Their cousin C was having his second but he was so new last year, it barely counts. Lots of little kids makes Christmas even more fun!
Eventually, it got late and people had to head back to town. Kids had to get to bed so Santa could come!
I had a mini van outside packed to the gills with all the things people had shipped to my house, to keep them surprises. I’d spent the month wrapping and storing stuff, most of which I couldn’t even remember but it was all out in the frigid night, hiding until it was safe to move it under the tree. By the time we emptied it, a light dusting of snow had fallen yet the sky was crystal clear! It’s like the sky knew it was Christmas Eve.
We hung the stockings with care and once again, the pile of gifts reached from beneath the tree to the front door.
Katie insisted that Josie, Megan and I open our gifts early: she and Adam had gotten us all Christmas jammies! We put our jammies on and went downstairs to watch a Christmas movie.
We could have watched something good, like Die Hard or Nativity! But instead we watched the Will Smith Netflix disaster called Bright. It’s gotten the worst reviews any movie has ever had, so naturally, we were intrigued.
It was bad. Not so bad it was good, just bad. It was so bad that we turned it off with only 9 minutes left; no one could stand to watch another moment.
Megan was up first in the morning but Jay and I weren’t far behind. We were awake before the little kids, which was our objective: the best moment of the day is watching their faces when they run out and catch sight of that mountain range of presents enveloping the tree.
Katie was up long before Boopity Boop and Adam were. She had Adam’s permission to start opening gifts before he brought the girls up: if we’d waited for them, we’d still be there, unwrapping. We were about a third of the way through the pile when Adam and the babies, all dressed in matching Christmas pajamas, joined us.
I only opened one gift that wasn’t for me, not for lack of trying. I got all kids of lovely things: pictures of the kids, candy, jewelry, books…
I gave Jay another year’s membership at the Arboretum. He gave me a mink coat.
!!!!!
He has a buddy in the business! I get to design it!!
Then he made us all breakfast!
Babalouie got the Vikings football helmet he’d been pining for. It looked good on him.
Xena got a new baby doll which came with lots of clothes and a double stroller to put her dolls in .
Boopity Boop got a set of pots and pans that make a lot of noise, which thrilled them.
Some time in the early afternoon, we made our way back home, long enough to drop off our new things, take showers, change into our second Christmas outfits and head to Bill and Jen’s to do it all over again with my side of the family.
We brought all the food that was leftover from the night before to Jen’s and others brought turkey, ham, all the fixin’s and lots of dessert and drinks.
The gathering of Hubbellss was even bigger than that of Pivecs. There were 48 of us for dinner. About half played in the Game.
It teetered on the edge of disaster for a few minutes: It was hard to get the rabble to quiet down enough for the rules of the game to be explained and Grandma Punkin couldn’t find the two gifts she’d brought for the Game. We looked and looked but couldn’t find them. It would have helped if she could remember what they looked like but all she could remember was that she’d wrapped them in “Christmas paper”. My Mom is usually the most helpful person in any situation but she was no help at all and her presents were never found. I’m pretty sure they’re still in her kitchen, on the counter, right next to the mincemeat pie she forgot on Thanksgiving.
I finally managed to convey the rules of the Game to the crowd, through a combination of yelling and sign language. It was a blast!
The most coveted gift turned out to be the karaoke microphone I’d brought, even though there were at least two more at the party. I got a gorgeous nine-inch-tall Santa, dressed in dark red velvet.
There was no crying.
After the Game, the microphones were all hooked up to the football/speaker someone else got and karaoke commenced. Mostly Queen songs because that’s what everyone knows. Tot insisted on singing lead.
We face-timed Joe and Heidi and their kids, who all went to Boston to be with Woody. He’s had two rounds of chemo and still feels pretty good but everyone knows it’s going to be a long, rough road to recovery.
Nanners, Bean, Xena and Babalouie had a blast, playing with Charlie and Johnny, who are just enough older than they are to be considered the epitome of cool. Boopity Boop showed what troopers they are by being delightful, adorable and smiley through two straight days of parties.
Katelyn, one of their godmothers, gave them a pile of gifts, which they enjoyed opening. It’s amazing how quickly even babies learn that brightly wrapped packages are fun to open.
But no party lasts forever and eventually we had to head home before we got too tired to drive.
It was about as perfect a Christmas as I’ve ever had.
The morning of the 26th, I got up achy and exhausted. Not sick but on the edge. So I laid low and did nothing. Jay, Zack and I had tomato soup for dinner and watched a movie together.
Now it’s the morning after the morning after and I feel fine! Ready to attack the last days of the year and get ready for a stellar 2018!