This year we switched from Christmasing* in my grandma's small retirement lake home to Christmasing in a historical museum. It has a lot more space for the kids to run around (and be kids), as well as a nice large kitchen. We started several new traditions this year and retired a couple old ones. Hopefully next year we'll revamp some of these traditions, as I'm not a big fan of one of them. I'm getting ahead of myself...

Every year, as we're mostly a low middle-income type of family, each child (under eighteen) draws another child's name. The parents are responsible for buying a gift for the children whom their children drew. I like this tradition!

We retired the old tradition of playing Bingo for prizes. Every year, Bingo transformed from a nice relaxing game where once a Bingo is called, a gift is taken by the Bingo-winner, to an evil cutthroat game. You see, once all the Bingo gifts are off the table, a timer starts and when a Bingo is called, a gift is stolen by the Bingoer. Ah, this was fun. Of course, the gifts were cheap random prizes that really aren't environmentally sound as the person receiving the gift probably didn't want it. That was my one complaint against the Bingo game. Otherwise, it was a hell of a lot of fun. The new tradition is to do adult and child grab bags. I have the same complaint about this - since you aren't buying for anyone in particular, a bunch of junk is bought and given away that the person probably doesn't want or need. What a waste of resources! And, in my opinion, not nearly as much fun as Bingo. I would much prefer doing a "Secret Santa" where everyone takes a blank scratch sheet of (recycled, of course) paper and writes a list of things that they need or would like, and then we draw randomly. This way people are getting what they want, it is fun, and people aren't stuck with things they don't want or need.

Another new tradition is the soup contest. My sister, Christa, was just medically discharged from the air force. She'd given away quite a few of her things before she'd left for basic training, so when she came home she didn't have much. Malinda (my aunt) and I were planning on co-hosting a party for her to give her a bunch of "extras" we all had in our houses. Unfortunately it was snowed out. So, Christa's Welcome Home Cookoff was rescheduled during our Christmas party. Since all of our parties are pot luck, this is an excellent way to ensure we get main dishes, and it adds a little fun to the party. The trophy? A cutting board with the winner's name engraved on it. Apparently there is even space for several years' winners! This year I only came in second (such a bummer). But, that just means that next year I need to try even harder!

All in all, I had a really good time. My major complaints? We ate on styrofoam and paper plates with plastic forks and spoons. Yuck! Let's see what alternatives I can come up with to sway my family to a different type of eating utensil...

*Did I just make up the word Christmasing? I believe so!

Labels: environment, random