It’s a tradition for us to spend Christmas Eve with my family. Even when I was a child, we would spend Christmas at my mom’s parents. Despite our longer travel time — an hour and a half now, whereas from our old apartment it was fifteen minutes — I’m glad that we can continue the tradition for Namine.
Christmas Eve is always a little bit (or a lot bit) hectic for my side of the family. My dad is a pianist and both my mom and sister are singers, so it’s common for at least one of them, if not all of them, to attend multiple church services. This year, it was just my sister, but we still waited to open presents until she returned.
With Namine resuming her piano lessons, she made the waiting a little easier by playing us some music. She also tried some challenging music that she’d never even seen before, much less played.
When my sister returned, we played a game we call “the Rudolph game,” and I’m not even sure of whether or not it has an actual name. One person — namely, Namine — reads a modified version of the story of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. It’s modified in such a way that there are many mentions of the words “left” and “right.” Each player in the game starts holding a small present, and at each mention of a direction, they pass their present in that direction. As you might imagine, things can get hectic pretty quick.
Rather than merely reading this year, Namine wanted to play as well. We still needed someone to read, so she recorded herself reading the story. That way, she was able to participate along with the rest of us.
After playing the Rudolph game, it was time to open presents. Namine, as the only grandchild, is sufficiently spoiled rotten with a tower of presents. (I kid. She is never selfish and always grateful!) She usually receives a decent amount of American Girl things — as both she and Jessica love them — and this year was no exception.
Namine always asks for experiences, not just presents. With that in mind, my parents got her tickets to Frozen on Ice — for later this year — as well as to the Wisconsin State Fair. She’s really looking forward to them!
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