Reader Jean (Hi down there in Iowa!) asked for more information on our family's Let's Make a Deal Christmas. Apparently her Christmas gatherings need a littl POP to them. This'll kick it up, Jean.
A few years back I decided that we, too, needed a little punch to our Christmases so I asked the adults in the family (there are 7 of us siblings/spouses) to bring some surprise gifts. Spend whatever they wanted on them. Free to Expensive. Didn't matter. Just try and think of different things for different ages and different sexes. I asked them to wrap each gift so that no one would know what's inside. I think I told them to bring about 5 gifts each.
I made up a little name card for everyone in the family. And had extra blank name cards on hand for extra guests, so no one would feel left out. And if one of my niece's decided to change boyfriends the night before, we'd be good to go.
Our list of names this year is 23 people strong. From the littlest baby girl to the oldest mom. With all sorts of people inbetween, including lots of elementary school aged boys, teenaged boys and men, who are really hard to buy for.
Thor's Bob Barker and I'm the Hot Chicks he's always trying to make out with.
Everyone puts the presents in the hallway next to where we have our table set up or, like last year, in the living room because we had too many presents for the hallway.
I'll hand Thor one gift and put another under the Christmas Wrapped cardboard box that sits on a table (or around the corner if it's too big to fit under the box)
We'll draw a name and the person will come up. Thor hands them the gift in his hand and they unwrap it. They can decide, then, if they want to keep it or trade it for the mystery present under the box.
If they trade it, I take it and put it into a gift bag so we can use it later on in the game. If they keep it, we pick the next name.
Like I said, gifts really vary. And it can turn into quite the marital dispute.
One time I'd put one of the purses I'd purchased in New York into the gifts. My niece's brand new husband opened it and was deciding whether to keep it or trade it. My niece was screaming at him to keep it. We were all screaming at him that he better keep it, if he knows what's good for him. The goofball traded it. I can't remember what he got but it definitely wasn't Good Husband Points.
Once you've decided to trade your item, you cannot change your mind. And you cannot trade what you got from under the box for another gift.
It's funny to see what people will keep or trade.
Some memorable gifts that I can recall are:
An Employee Drug Testing Kit (which Thing 2 got and decided to keep then spent the night drinking apple juice from the little urine gathering cup)
A blonde mullet
A pair of thong underwear
A dancing Christmas Santa that keeps coming back the next year, regifted
So many many more goofy gifts and a whole lot of really nice stuff including the gorgeous set of christmas coffee mugs and plates that I got last year.
This year promises to be the best Christmas ever because my evil little brother has alot of surprises up his sleeve. Hopefully no surprises for me, dammit!
The hardest part is buying stuff for the guys. Really. We women love everything. Candles, cute Christmas decorations, spatulas, dishes, scarves, cookbooks. But the guys really get lost in all of it. So this year I really tried to focus on the little boys and the older boys and the younger men and the older men. Let's call it: A Gift Certificates Christmas (for the good stuff) and An Archie McPhee Christmas (for the hysterical stuff) I've also decided to have a Fiestaware Table. Most of the nieces are collecting Fiestaware now and I have way too much to put back in the new kitchen. So I figured I'd set up a table in the room with a fiestaware display and make a coupon good for a Fiestaware Prize of their Choosing. I might do the same thing with my jewelry. I don't know. I have to shove my jewelry down my family's throats.
The beauty of this game? Anyone can show up to play. Last year my sister's mother-in-law joined us. She doesn't normally celebrate Christmas with us so we weren't really prepared for her. I wrote up a name card for her and she had such a damn good time that she was crying her little eyes out and thanking all of us. I hope she'll be back this year. One year my little Grandma came. She'd spent her last Christmas Eve's in her hometown at her son's house. She had a blast playing. Anyone can drop in and join it at anytime. I've extended an invitation to a couple of friends who don't have plans for Christmas Eve. I don't know if they'll make it, but if they do, they'll keep coming back!
8:39 a.m. - November 09, 2006
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