Christmas 2010

Saturday, 25 December 2010

The first item on our agenda today was to open up our Xmas presents. Owen didn’t want the presents sitting under the tree all month this time; he wanted them to ‘magically’ appear under the tree on Xmas eve. So, last night, after he went to bed, Jennifer and I set his and Isla’s gifts under the tree.

Owen’s gifts included: A Star Wars Visual Dictionary, nesting robots (matreshka style), a 2011 calendar, a mini-remote-controlled robot, and a stuffed robot that he can color and decorate himself. Isla’s gifts included some wood teethers (including one that I made!), playsilks, and one of those puffy books that infants like to chew on. Here’s what I’m talking about.

It’s a cool book, because it’s essentially a photo album, and we filled it with pictures of Isla’s family (mom, dad, brother, cousins, grandparents, and great-grandma).

Next, we drove to Jennifer’s uncle and aunt’s house in Forest Lake. We had dinner there, then we went downstairs to their basement for the dice game. The dice game is really fun and here’s how it works: everyone brings some gifts that they’ve prewrapped. The gifts aren’t fancy – a box of tea bags, a couple lottery tickets, some knick-knacks from the thrift store, a flashlight, used books, stuff like that. Anyway, they are labeled as BOYS, GIRLS, or UNISEX, and thrown into piles in the center of the room (it’s a big room). Then we all sit around the piles, and we pass around boxes with a pair of dice in them. When the box gets to you, you roll the dice inside, and if you get doubles, you get to run into the middle and pick out a gift. This takes a surprisingly long time, actually, but it’s entertaining to see which gifts go first and which ones stay for a long time. Finally, when all the gifts are accounted for, we keep rolling the dice for a couple more minutes, and if you get doubles, you can steal from someone else. This often results in tackling. And here’s another funny thing – you might think that it’s a good idea to steal the biggest gift – because surely that one has the best prize inside it – but this is actually not such a good idea. The reason why is because other people might also want that gift, and then they’ll steal if from you when they get doubles.  It’s funny to see some gifts change hands multiple times. Bottom line: it’s better to steal unremarkable gifts, because then you have a better chance of keeping them.

After that, everyone opens his or her gifts. Some of my gifts included a wine rack, a jar filled with candy, and a book about beer. Owen participated in the game for the first time this year, and he stole a gift from me (he thought that was sooooo funny). Now I have 364 days to start collecting gifts for next year (I am always on the lookout – at the Goodwill, at vendor shows I attend through work, and even here at home where there might be things I don’t want anymore, but that still have some value).

On second thought, instead of telling you about the dice game, maybe I should just show you:

[Oh wait – I guess I can’t. After trying for several hours, it turns out that YouTube’s upload software is, for the fifth straight year, a piece of shit.]