Here in the Nostrikethat household Christmas Traditions are serious business.
While I have blocked out most of my childhood, my memories of Christmas day focus on getting clothes with the gift receipt attached (you know, in case you want to take it back) and going over to one of my aunt’s houses so all of my dad’s sisters could take turns making my mom cry.
When I met the Eventually-To-Be Mrs. Nostrikethat, however, I learned why that “T” was capitalized.
When I went with her and her family on vacation for the first time to the beach we visited one of those year-round Christmas Stores.
In July.
Without even a trace of irony, even. There might be new and interesting Christmas decorations to admire, I was told.
In July.
Long story short, my “Low Effort” Christmas tradition ran headlong into “It’s the Great Christmas Buildup, Charlie Brown!” and lost miserably. Let’s face it resistance requires effort, which I am not about.
In the many years since, we have started building our own family traditions. Christmas lights eventually became my thing. Could be the Baltimorean in me (the city that gave us John Water’s Hairspray) but I like’em big, bold, and blinking. This year as I was standing on a ladder in the dark in 20 degree weather I found myself contemplating the silly traditions of our family.
1. The Holiday Food Trough
This time of year Mrs. Nostrikethat starts making Nuts-N-Bolts from the Hallowed Family Recipe (which I think came from the Chex box in 1967) and it tends to just sit on the stove until it is all gone which normally takes about a three minutes and thirty seconds.
I have tried to “preserve it” and put it in some sort of plastic container but then the heathens just eat the container. Hannibal in particular eats like a great white shark with a tapeworm and we usually find him diving in the trough, Scrooge McDuck-style.
2. Death March of Holiday Cheer
A few years ago we thought it would be a great idea to go into Washington D.C. to see the holiday sights.
Cue hearty laughter
Oh, to be slightly younger and idealistic again!
This was remains a bad idea for three crucial reasons:
- It involves Being Around Other People, which is–even under the best circumstances–sketchy as heck
- D.C. in the winter tends towards cold and windy. Faceman, if not closely supervised, dresses with a disregard for the weather that borders on “Call CPS that boy is an orphan”
- Any excursion into the city involves a certain amount of walking, and my children’s legs have all atrophied from being driven in an assortment of minivans to swim practice. Were we actually in Atlantis we would have this thing down, but on dry land it’s a lot like putting a family of penguins on a treadmill: a whole lot of squawking and very little walking.
I am blessed with an almost terminally short memory, though, and so every year I manage to convince everyone to give it another go because This Time It Will Be Festive.
Speaking of festive…
3. Multi-Colored Dog Poo Admiring
I have previously written of New Dog and how much of a suck-up he was. As it turns out, he also has an intestinal track of cast iron and the grazing habits of a goat in weinerdog form.
A weinergoat, if you will.
This time of year our backyard starts to take on vibrant hues that are not so much natural as they are “Made in China”. How or why he has not yet ruptured a spleen I cannot say, but I am deeply thankful to him for reminding me of my place in the universe on a daily basis as I play “What the hell did he eat?”
4. Group Sloth Mode
For as much as I try to be no effort, our weekends start to fill up once we get past Halloween. Between birthdays, swim meets, and trying to stay out of the house enough so we don’t all get on each other’s nerves, we keep moving.
By the time December rolls around we’ve all kind of had enough and Group Sloth Mode kicks in. The other day I came home from work to find the other 5 members of the family plus dog on the couch watching TV. It only took a little bit of adjusting to make it 6 plus dog.
5. The “We’re-Not-Buying-Presents-For-Each-Other” Game
Every year since we’ve had kids, the Missus and I have promised each other that we’re not going to buy each other presents. Every year, I get a little excited because I think finally I can be done with the ruse of Christmas present buying.
Cue hearty laughter
I am not a gifty person. The stuff I want is 1) expensive and 2) not in the budget, so I either do without or put it in the budget. It’s money that I’ve earned for the family, so it’s only logical that I just direct it where I want it to go.
Mrs. Nostrikethat, on the other hand, is genuinely delighted by both giving and receiving. This is because, as I’ve been told, her love language is gifts, which means under no circumstances are you allowed to take the “no presents” promise at face value. I mean seriously, what the heck were you thinking?
It’s taken me several years and a couple of near-divorces but I might have the rules to this game finally figured out. The objective is to pretend that you’re not going to buy the other person a present long enough to lull them into a false sense of security, then at the last minute find a small but thoughtful gift that shows just how completely and totally you understand the other person. Appropriate choices are:
- A small splurge item mentioned in passing between 5 and 7 months ago
- Chocolate, but not the kind you buy at the airport gift shop because that’s obviously a “oops forgot to get a present” present
- Something thoughtful, if you think like a woman
Under NO circumstances should you get:
- A Starbucks gift card
- Fancy soap
- A bathrobe
As long as the other person isn’t me, you can then expect to receive an equally thoughtful Christmas present in return, thereby validating that you were correct in not listening to your mother and you didn’t marry a clueless self-absorbed narcissist after all.
What unique holiday traditions do you have? Leave a comment and tell me about them!
No, Strike That 
Oh, I did not know that anyone else made something called Nuts & Bolts (not chex mix)! I got the recipe from my spouse’s family (when aunt who used to make it gave up any effort related to anything back in 1994). I am responsible for the assembly. None of them say thank you, but they do run to hide the bag of deliciousness from the rest of their respective households.
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Butter, garlic salt, and Worchestershire sauce… who knew?
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Yep, that is it…my recipe originated in Lower Slower Delaware.
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Allow me to apologize for the “We’re not buying presents for each other” game. As a woman, I know it by it’s other name “This is how much my husband (boyfriend, significant other, etc) loves me.” I’ve seen it played at various holidays, including Christmas, though (strangely), I’ve never seen it initiated by a man and have never played it myself. It doesn’t look like very much fun from the outside. Sounds like it’s not much fun from the inside either.
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It’s a classic example of how men and women really don’t speak the same language, and for me it was a real education on how much work it takes to realize that and work through it.
thanks for commenting!
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its dominick the donkey! hee haww he haww THE ITALIAN CHRISTMAS DONKEY! I love that to much 😀
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Good post!
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