Christmas Reindeer Games

I have never, in all my world travels, in any friends house I've been do during the holiday period seen anything such as what my step-mother did during the days between Thanksgiving and New Years. Now this is truly saying something because I've been down-town Heidelberg at midnight on Christmas, seen the Eiffel Tower all dressed-up and the craziness that is Rockefeller Center in New York City.

 

When I was a boy Christmas at our house with a big deal.

 

The whole house would get decorated. Garland streamers crisscrossing the living room celling, special table cloths on not just the dining room table but all the end tables too.

 

Everything had a dedicated decoration too, it was purchased or otherwise obtained to garnish a specific item or area. The top of the TV, throw pillows for the sofa, spray snow for the mirrors and windows,  it's a good thing we didn't have a dog because I bet it would have been dressed as Rudolph.

 

Every year the tree would be decorated the same, all blue lights with TONS of silver garland and tinsel to present that 'frozen' look. The curtains in front of the window were held back so all the neighbors could see.

 

Keep in mind we had a blended family with eight school-aged children and everyone of us would receive exactly the same number of gifts.

 

Hours would also be spent in the kitchen too. Dozens of cookies had to be made, mostly sugar cookies with a special frosting and boxes of homemade chocolate candies would be constructed as gifts and holiday hand-outs.

 

Picture an approaching Christmas morning with six to ten gifts for each kid being piled around the tree. Couple that with gifts from the kids to parents, gifts from grandparents, uncles, aunts, and the 'family' gifts like board games and alike.

 

Now our step-mom would not just simply put our names on the packages. If she did that we would constantly be testing the size and shake of the box and make our best guess as to what might be inside.

 

Instead she would put the name of a reindeer on the tag:

 

"To Prancer from Mom and Dad".

 

As Christmas morning approached and the pile of gifts grew we children grew more and more excited.  The house was over-the-top decorated, school was out, we spent the days watching mom hand make chocolate holiday candies and cookies, the anticipation was almost too much.

 

One thing that helped was a set of eight 'countdown' ribbons an aunt put together, one for each kid. Made of red and green felt they were about a foot tall and a few inches wide. At the top was a circular area with a round piece of paper with a pome that went something like this:

 

Just ten days until Christmas

It is so hard to count

The number of candies

Tell the exact amount

 

Remove a candy

Each night before bed

The number of candies

Will show the exact amount

 

Beneath the pome was ten of those red-and-white round candies tied with a yarn bow. It was a ritual that every night we got to remove the bottom candy. The last candy removed was on Christmas Eve.

 

Christmas morning had a specific structure. Sheets were hung at strategic points so we could use the little-boy's room but couldn't see the living room. No one could come out until the grandparents arrived, so there was no running out on Christmas morning and tearing into packages. What was the point anyway, we still didn't know which packages were ours because we didn't know our secret reindeer name.

 

When we were finally allowed to immerge the scene was one to behold.

 

Santa had come during the night and there were bicycles and other large gifts along with the hundred-and-fifty or so wrapped boxes.

 

Each kid found a 'spot' on the living room floor making sure there was enough room to our left or right to stack-up our bounty. Mom, would position herself in front of the tree and begin to dole out the gifts one at a time to the appropriate reindeer. Each kid opening one gift in turn and showing everyone what they had received.

 

The round-robin structure of opening packages would be interrupted now-and-then to let a parent or grandparent open a gift, unwrap a family gift such as a board game or item for the house, and of course there were coffee and cigarette breaks for the adults.

 

It seamed like hours had passed by the time we were finished. There would still be a late breakfast and some cleaning-up to do before we could head out and ride that new bike or skateboard, but all-in-all the experience of family with the excitement of Christmas morning and the joy of being together I've never been able to match.

 

I miss Christmas, I miss my family.