Family Traditions

Today is a Jollydaze post about traditions. Join our holiday meme at the link.

My family has a tradition of goofiness. My mom, son, and brother can tell some of the funniest stories and the rest of us toss in one-liners like professional stand-ups.

So this cartoon fit right in with my post for today.


Last year at Thanksgiving, we reflected on busy schedules that kept us from meeting for the birthday celebrations we normally enjoy. Enter the Birthday Olympics.

Since five special days had passed (and none of them were mine - yea!) we entered our five celebrants in a bout of physical and mental acuity. My dear boy and sweet hubby were part of the mix along with my sis-in-law and her mom and bro. The rest of us just sat back and watched. Oh and laughed - a LOT!

First up was the relay, where the combatants ... uh ... competitors had to complete a course with an egg on a spoon in their mouths, then repeat it with a CD case on their heads, and one final lap with an apple between their knees. That in itself was hysterical, but when an win-at-all-cost attitude took over Sweet Hubby, Dear Boy and Sis-in-law soon learned that the mild-mannered man had a devious gleam about his eyes.

First, Hubs delayed Boy by hooking his belt loops, then Boy retaliated by slapping Hub's CD case into the next room. Sis-in-law, interrupted with Hubs tracking his case, "accidentally" bumped her mom to send her back-tracking. An all-out fight broke out when Sweet Hubby and Dear Boy spent their whole last lap knocking the apple from between each other's knees. Sis-in-law wriggled her way to the winner's circle in the meantime with her mom taking second. If Hubs and Boy were worried about being eliminated, they shouldn't have. Sis-in-law-bro, doing his best impression of a Tim Conway shuffle got held up by the rowdies had had no chance of getting in front of them. He was the big looser (or winner as the case may be) and was happy with the yoyo he got as a conciliation.

Our second round pitted each competitor against another in a modified air hockey game. Trouble was, we didn't have an air hockey table. But we had a dining room table.

The players sat across from one another with their hands behind their backs and blew a ping pong ball back and forth. (Should I mention that Sis-in-law-bro was ecstatic with his yoyo and the fact that he didn't have to play?)

The first to hyperventilate ... er ... blow the ball off the table on the other side, won! We did four rounds: Parents against children first, then the losers competed. Dear Boy won that one, eliminating Sis-in-law. (She liked her kazoo.) For grins, the winners played (Sweet Hubby and Sis-in-law-mom) and Sis-in-law-mom won the championship.

The final round was a brain-buster. The trivia questions were completely random. It wasn't my fault that Dear Boy got both of the questions about Royal Weddings! He took 3rd place. Sweet hubby got stumped on a question about a musical. Go figure. He earned 2nd. Sis-in-law-mom became official sheriff-for-the-day with her 1st place win!

What's the goofiest holiday tradition you remember?