You're Never Too Old to Be a Kid

So Christmas has come and gone for us all, and mine went really well. We had a larger-than-normal number of people there this year, as my sister, brother-in-law, and nephews made the trip from the DC area to join us. With the ever-expanding number of children in my extended family, we've had some rather chaotic holidays in recent years, but that's just because I'm seeing the other side of it now. When I was a kid, we always went to my great-aunt and uncle's farm after breakfast and presents at the grandparents'. It was the only time all year I got to see my cousins (incidentally, I haven't seen all of them in years) and we spent the better part of the evening running through the old farmhouse and causing general chaos and mayhem.

The best part of having so many kids around this year is that we got to finally pass on an important Christmas duty to the next generation. The tradition in my family is that the youngest person always hands out the presents. I did it for years, then my cousin did it... then she got stuck with the job until she was into her 20s. This year, my two oldest nephews and another child relative were given tandem duty to hand out the presents. Despite the fact that the two nephews have been brought up in a military family, the maneuver did not quite go off with military precision; the one who was charged with bag duty (taking care of all the bags the presents came in) got bored with his job and was soon laying on the floor just killing time the way 6-year olds do. Also it was a challenge having to differentiate amongst all the "Moms" and "Grandmas" in the room.

Meanwhile, the two youngest members of the contingent (2 and 1, respectively) were learning how to play well with others, namely each other. They learned that this does not include punching each other.

However, the important thing to remember at Christmas time is that even if you're an adult, that does not mean you are relegated to just sitting around remembering what it was like to be a kid. You still get to be a kid, no matter your age, and when Nat King Cole sang of "kids from 1 to 92," he just about covers my whole family these days. My aunt, who no longer has kids at home (she might disagree and say she still has her husband) got a Nintendo Wii, with Wii Sports. I've heard a lot about the Wii, written about it, but never actually played it myself, so this was a lot of fun. Luckily, everyone (kids included) remembered to wear the strap for the Wii remote so they did not join these unfortunate souls. My brother-in-law tried the Wii Boxing and found out how much of a real workout these things give you. I tried my hand at baseball and bowling, with mixed results. I figured out how to throw all the different pitches, but I hit the ball about as well as I did in real life back in my Little League days. I figured out how to make the bowling ball curve in Wii Bowling, which I've never been good at in real life. However, unlike with real bowling, my Wii Bowling skills did not improve after a couple of beers.

And just to prove that the toys given out this Christmas were not just for the little ones, my aunt got a "community" present of sorts for all of us: "Rock Band 2". Obviously, this was a present for the adults in the family. I can see why that game is so addictive. I think I was a pretty quick study on the guitar, considering I have very little experience with a real guitar (plus it was only Warmup Mode). I can also tell you that I never want to hear "Eye of the Tiger" or "Hungry Like the Wolf" again. Those are the only two songs the 6-year old nephew wanted to play when he took his turn on the drum kit. As for my aunt, when she was offered the chance to jump in, she said that was something she would reserve for a time when nobody else was around.

Perhaps this spirit is best embodied by my great-aunt (the same one who still lives on that farm we used to visit every year). She got everyone the same gifts: a 2009 appointment calendar... and a wind-up Santa. Yeah, I'm 30 years old, and I still immediately took that wind up Santa and cranked him up a couple of times. It's automatic: get wind-up toy, wind it up and let him go. Perhaps it's that innate response to those things that shows better than anything that we still want to act like kids at Christmas time. And it's perfectly acceptable.