Our daughter Shanna believed in Santa until she was 9 years old. She seemed to represent all things Christmas, but Shanna felt sorry for him. She was sure that a jolly old man like him would be sad that the mail only came in December, so until she was 9 years old, she began contacting Santa every January for 11 months, purposely excluding December and asking only for his friendship.

I was inspired by her. After years of trying to find a way to change our shallow model of Christmas to one with more meaning, surely I could follow my young daughter’s lead in creating a Christmas tradition that would take the focus off of gifts.

My criteria was not complicated but I needed to cover the things that were important to our family:

1. Make it more about family and togetherness than gifts.

2. Include everyone of all ages.

3.Fun

4. Memorial!

Our family has come to know this unassuming event as the Christmas Olympics.

It begins just after lunch on December 25 with the gong of a bell prompting last year’s Olympian to run around the house proudly wearing the cheap plastic olive leaf wreath on his head while carrying the makeshift torch (a wooden stick with a hand-drawn llama) ….happily donated when our three children were still carrying crayons.

The Christmas Olympics are a great way to make sure that the little ones and the big ones stay as involved in the occasion as everyone else because they also pick a game that they are good at.

While many people spend the 5 days before Christmas shopping, my family is too busy gathering “stuff” for their game or researching “party games” on the internet, and that’s half the fun!

Which game each person chooses remains secret until the moment they are designated to start their game. Each person’s playing time is indicated simply by where his or her name is on the paper that records game points. After all, the Christmas Olympics are meant to be fun with few rules!

If you have 5 family members, each game gives a player a score from 1 to 5, based on the position they ranked in a game.

The following is a small sample of some of our Christmas Olympics;

or Poop the Potatoe, which actually means jumping around a table with a potato between your legs and, in front of everyone, dropping it into a container on the floor.

o Orange peeling contests. The longest intact crust wins and everyone gets a fiber break from candy and chocolate.

o Snow golf…one or two holes on a short course (use food coloring around the hole)

or staring contests

or memory games. Read a meaningful or funny short story and ask questions later. It is truly amazing how well adults do NOT listen!

o Guess how many candies, nuts or quarters. The winner gets points and the jar!

or turn the corner. The longest spin wins.

o Games of chance with cards or dice.

o Find the Apple Pot. Blindfolded, he crawls across the floor hitting a wooden spoon to find a pot full of water and an apple. Retrieve the apple with the mouth. This is timed. You can get creative by using a soft tomato or marshmallows (if someone has knee or back problems, put it somewhere on the counter)

o Guess what’s in the sock? Each sock contains an item from a family member. Contestants get a single 10-second feel, 1 hint, and only 2 guesses.

At the end of the day, we laugh, make memories, and crown the Olympian with the coveted but tacky plastic head crown, and surprisingly, everyone is always proud to wear it.

We all thank Shanna for seeing things differently than the rest of us and for having the courage to act accordingly.

Our children, though now young adults are just as excited for the evening of December 25th.

Let the games begin…