I usually attend two Christmas functions, two veeeeery different Christmas functions. One is on Christmas day with my mom's side, which is very personable and fun. The other is the Juhlke family Christmas which is usually slightly less so. Let me paint a picture for you of how the event usually plays out.
First of all the Juhlke's have one get together a year, Christmas. Second of all there is a ton of people, i want to say, ten thousand. There is no alcohol, it usually lasts about a total of three hours, and it takes place at an optimist club.
Fun usually finds any way to escape the Juhlke family Christmas. During my younger years we used to bring a ball to play with after dinner, until the powers that be installed the "No ball rule" Christmas of '03. Just to fully understand the lack of fun, last year the family game was a word search...
Even the gift exchange game struggles to produce enjoyment. There are two rounds, female and male, everyone buys a gift five dollars or under and places it on the table. The rules of the game are simple, everyone gets a number. Number one starts by taking gift off the table, number two can either take from the table or take from number one.. this process continues. Several years back i went to the dollar store and bought five dart guns that me and my cousins could play with after. Our logic was flawless on how we could guarantee one of us got the guns. Person A takes guns, if anyone steals them, Person A would take Person B's gift and Person B takes back the guns. This plan worked to perfection until my sixty year old uncle made up some lame rule that the last person could take any gift no questions asked. He took the guns. You can imagine the devastation he felt when he realized he just won himself five poorly constructed dart guns made in China. Since then my gift has been whatever I got in the gift game the previous year. Some examples are; drill bits, a mug, flashlights, picture frames, a Swiss army knife... did I mention flashlights?
I guess now that I think about it though the party being 'unfun' actually kind of makes it fun. It's a running joke with my cousins, i strategically have to avoid certain conversations, the gift game is a debacle and the food is average, but with all that in mind its unique and different. Sometimes I think we can take for granted what we do have. So this year I will do my best to enjoy this annual event, and maybe actually purchase a gift as opposed to re-gifting last years.. although I'm sure anyone would kill for a new glasses case...
Merry Christmas!!!
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