The day after

The day after Christmas usually means a houseful of people here.  Kids, food, talking and laughing are what Boxing Day is about to me.   It's another layer in the collective family memory.  My brother's family travels the farthest as they don't live in Vancouver.  My sister's family live only a few minutes away but busy lives mean we don't actually see each other all that often. 

And now some of our kids have babies of their own which adds to the noise level and the fun.  There's so much going on between the kitchen and the living room that no one has much time for photos.  The new toys are opened and the old favorites are hauled out, too.  The doll's stroller flies around the house with Baby Eddie clinging on for dear life.  Who forgot to buckle him in?

We discover that even the two-year-old knows more about how the iPhone works than we do.  No fear is the secret, I think.  When I was a kid, new-fangled technology usually meant something that was Not For The Children.  We were told (more or less) we would break it without a thousand hours of patient instruction.  Which wasn't going to happen.  And I know I grew up quite nervous about being the cause of such a catastrophe.  Not so our kids and grandkids. 

Once we're all full with a dinner we didn't think we had any room for, we can sit and talk and just be.  There are kids in laps listening to stories.  The two-year-old lies on her tummy putting the people in the new dollhouse.  A digger roars off to the toybox and comes back with a parking garage.  Now, we can play a game - or just watch.  This year's game was Jenga Max.  And that's when the camera actually came out of it's case.  If you've got a crowd of all ages, I recommend this one.  It's engages people who don't normally play the usual games. 

I leave you with a shot of the game.  The youngest player was six and she had a confident and light hand.  There was physics lecture or two, suspense and warnings of "Don't jiggle the table!".  The longest 'bridge' built into the air was seven pieces. We held our breath and counted.  The crashes are spectacular and wake the uncle who dozes over his book.  Our big day.  Fun.