For perhaps the last time, we got to indulge in a very specific tradition of catching a Star Wars movie in the theatre as a family. Not because Disney will let the Star Wars universe rest in peace, or even for a couple of years, but because the December release for the franchise may be a thing of the past after this. Since we had company coming the next day, we decided to go on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day, which turned out to be a much better option. Christmas Day at the movie theatre is always jam-packed, but on Christmas Eve there seemed to be a lot more breathing room.
So, I managed to get everybody wearing the appropriate attire, and we ventured out into the night to see Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. There was an air of excitement, even for my family who do not share my extreme fandom of Star Wars. There was a sense of finality to what was being billed as the "final film in the Skywalker Saga" that made it feel like one of those moments in cinematic history. Whatever it was, we left the theatre feeling energized, and ready to enjoy our holiday festivities.
We came back home for the evening, and settled in for the night after the usual tradition of opening a single gift on Christmas Eve, which is always pajamas. This, to me, doesn't seem that exciting, but I guess my wife grew up with the same tradition and wanted to carry it forward with our family. In talking to other people, it seems that this is a North Bay thing, which kind of makes sense, as there's definitely something in the water up there. My family tradition was opening all presents on Christmas Eve and then stockings on Christmas Morning, which I was always told was a German tradition. We also have a family tradition of doing whatever mom says, which my wife and I have carried over into our family, and it's why we only open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it's always stupid pajamas, and open all of our gifts and stockings on Christmas Day proper.
Christmas 2019 also marked the first Christmas since we got a dog. That meant using some of that mental capacity I had previously allocated to maintain the Santa Clause hoax to deceive my unsuspecting children to protect the sanctity of the spirit of Christmas: an abiding love of a wide range of products at the lowest possible prices, an aversion to anything that resembled labour for about two weeks out of the year, and quiet contemplation brought on by the kind of trance-like state that can only be achieved through countless consecutive hours of playing video games. The most obvious part of the whole scene, the tree, had to be protected at all costs, and so, we acquired The Gate:
I've got to say, it worked pretty darn well. It also helps that dogs, in general, aren't that bright, and our Marcie is no exception. Luckily, whatever metal that the dog gate is made of also made her forget that she had the ability to jump whenever she was in the vicinity of the thing.
The rest of Christmas morning was simply being mindful of keeping gifts out of the reach of the family canine once they were opened. When all was said and done, we had a pretty successful, low-key Christmas, with Ronin getting enough video games and Kaiya getting enough books to keep them out of their parents' hair for, oh, I'd say, about an hour? You can always dream...
By the end, even the dog got in on the action:
Maybe, she's smarter than she looks after all.
Like most people, I enjoy my time off of work. Sometimes, it's nice to get together with the whole family and see everybody, and sometimes it's nice to just relax in your own home in (relative) peace and quiet. Christmas 2019 was one of the quiet ones, so it looks like Holiday Season 2020 will likely be a season of chaos. With the right people (and some time for video games and quiet contemplation), though, it all works itself out in the end. Cheers.
So, I managed to get everybody wearing the appropriate attire, and we ventured out into the night to see Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. There was an air of excitement, even for my family who do not share my extreme fandom of Star Wars. There was a sense of finality to what was being billed as the "final film in the Skywalker Saga" that made it feel like one of those moments in cinematic history. Whatever it was, we left the theatre feeling energized, and ready to enjoy our holiday festivities.
We came back home for the evening, and settled in for the night after the usual tradition of opening a single gift on Christmas Eve, which is always pajamas. This, to me, doesn't seem that exciting, but I guess my wife grew up with the same tradition and wanted to carry it forward with our family. In talking to other people, it seems that this is a North Bay thing, which kind of makes sense, as there's definitely something in the water up there. My family tradition was opening all presents on Christmas Eve and then stockings on Christmas Morning, which I was always told was a German tradition. We also have a family tradition of doing whatever mom says, which my wife and I have carried over into our family, and it's why we only open one gift on Christmas Eve, and it's always stupid pajamas, and open all of our gifts and stockings on Christmas Day proper.
Christmas 2019 also marked the first Christmas since we got a dog. That meant using some of that mental capacity I had previously allocated to maintain the Santa Clause hoax to deceive my unsuspecting children to protect the sanctity of the spirit of Christmas: an abiding love of a wide range of products at the lowest possible prices, an aversion to anything that resembled labour for about two weeks out of the year, and quiet contemplation brought on by the kind of trance-like state that can only be achieved through countless consecutive hours of playing video games. The most obvious part of the whole scene, the tree, had to be protected at all costs, and so, we acquired The Gate:
I've got to say, it worked pretty darn well. It also helps that dogs, in general, aren't that bright, and our Marcie is no exception. Luckily, whatever metal that the dog gate is made of also made her forget that she had the ability to jump whenever she was in the vicinity of the thing.
The rest of Christmas morning was simply being mindful of keeping gifts out of the reach of the family canine once they were opened. When all was said and done, we had a pretty successful, low-key Christmas, with Ronin getting enough video games and Kaiya getting enough books to keep them out of their parents' hair for, oh, I'd say, about an hour? You can always dream...
By the end, even the dog got in on the action:
Maybe, she's smarter than she looks after all.
Like most people, I enjoy my time off of work. Sometimes, it's nice to get together with the whole family and see everybody, and sometimes it's nice to just relax in your own home in (relative) peace and quiet. Christmas 2019 was one of the quiet ones, so it looks like Holiday Season 2020 will likely be a season of chaos. With the right people (and some time for video games and quiet contemplation), though, it all works itself out in the end. Cheers.
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