A Mommy Story

It’s been decided that Christmas will be held at our house again this year. It’s a tradition that my family has long held, actually. When I was young, my mom was the only one from her family who had a child (both my aunts never married or had children), and so Christmas was always held at our house to make it easier on her. I never understood how that made it easier until I had kids of my own. Not having to get up early to get the kids ready, pack bags, get food ready to transport, pack the gifts, etc. – it really is easier to stay home.

And so the tradition has continued that the person who has the kids hosts Christmas. I don’t even have to cook unless I want to – the majority of the food is purchased now. Since my family is fairly laid back, we even let the kids stay in their PJs until after presents are opened.

One tradition that I kinda miss is having the family play games together after dinner. While my grandmother tidied up (because she can’t let any dirty dish escape her) my aunts, my mom and I would clear off the table and break out the board games. Every holiday meal was digested while playing a board game or card game of some sort.

Some of the games were a lot of fun. I could usually win at Uno, and a little mystery game called Scotland Yard was perfect for my family of smart problem solvers. Occasionally we’d pull out Monopoly, but since the average game of Monopoly takes roughly 4.5 days to complete (played all the way through, not just until people walk away out of frustration because one person has hotels on half the board and doesn’t give discount rates) it was often left in the closet.

The one game that always came out at Christmas, however, was Trivial Pursuit. In a family of smart people, this was the game of choice. Colors would be chosen – I was always the blue circle – and the battle would begin. Mom and Aunt Lynn put up a good fight, and I held my own for being a child, but the winner of every. single. game was my Aunt Dona.

I should point out that Aunt Dona isn’t just a natural genius. She has a Masters of Library Science and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies. She’s lived in three countries and can read Arabic. So you can assume that she has a bit of an edge over everyone else. No matter the category, she knew the answer, often filling up her circle before I had my second pie piece.

Occasionally the game got boring when she would answer 20 questions in a row correctly, traveling from one side of the board to the other and back, collecting pie slices while the rest of us wondered if it was time for dessert yet. As I got older, we bought expansion sets for the game to keep the questions fresh – 80’s Edition, Welcome to America expansion, Genus II, Junior edition, etc. But no matter what expansion set we bought, Aunt Dona was the master of general knowledge.

However, I miss playing Trivial Pursuit. Even though I never won a game, I was always willing to jump in and fight for a chance to win. The competitive spirit was there regardless. Maybe this year I’ll pull the old faded and worn leather storage case out of the closet, dust off the board, and challenge everyone to a round of Trivial Pursuit this Christmas.

Too bad they don’t have a Preschoolers’ Pop Culture expansion to give me a chance at winning – I’m sure I could top everyone in my knowledge of Blue’s Clues, Backyardigans and Disney movies.

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