Ever since our babies came along, we’ve celebrated what started out as referred to as a “toddlers New Year’s Eve” and the name stuck even though the girls outgrew the toddler stage. It began as a pj party for the little girls (homemade flannelette nightgowns that Grandma Woods had made) and an early dinner of Chinese food from our favourite restaurant. This worked out well since my brother and I have children the same age and we didn’t need babysitters. My Dad was also in the late stages of cancer so it was a great way to be together as a family without it being a strain for anyone. We rang in the New Year at 8 pm instead of midnight.
My father has since passed away, but much of the tradition lives on. The evening now includes a trip to the cemetery after dinner to put candles on his grave, my grandparent’s grave and our dearest Trevor’s grave who was taken from us when he was only six. It’s a time of reflection as we pass from one year to the next and to remember the ones we miss so fondly.
In a twist to this year agenda, we added an old fashion crokinole tournament. We played crokinole by the hour with Dad growing up and now it was time to introduce it to the next generation. Imagine a family game that requires no batteries, electronics, flash or any modern bells or whistles. The only requirements are a good aim, steady nerves and a keen trigger finger! We drew for teams and game position in this round robin tournament.We had so much fun as we tried to outwit, outlast, and outplay the our opponents. As in life, there is always a winner and everyone else comes second. This year’s winners were my brother Todd and his daughter Danielle. They received a valuable dollar store trophy and clearance Christmas chocolates lovingly purchased from the neighbour Sobeys.
All I can say it that Megan (the youngest and the fiercest competitor) will be more careful in her team mate selection next year and she will be “gunning” to knock Uncle Trigger Todd and Danielle off their crokinole pedestal.
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