As you may know we are having our family Christmas today.. wahoo! I've still got shopping to do.. luckily it doesn't start till 6pm.. It shouldn't be too difficult - only one game gift to buy.. Yes.. we have the traditional "Christmas Card Game" at our gatherings.. most people play this game a little differently than us.. here are the rules in case you have no idea what I'm talking about..
Here's what you need:
Everyone brings a generic gift (we limit to under 20 bucks)
2 decks of playing cards (we actually have to use 4 - everyone needs to be able to receive 3 cards from one deck - we've got too many people so we go to 4 decks - 2 decks with different designs for handing out - and 2 decks for 'calling')
Ok.. everyone puts their wrapped gift in the center of the table and receives 3 playing cards..
the caller then begins calling out the cards from the second deck - if your card gets called - you get to pick a gift.. and here's where it gets good.. you can pick from the table.. OR you can steal a gift that someone else has chosen... great fun.. you get to steal that interesting looking present from your little brother and he HAS to give it to you!
UNLESS.. and this is very important.. the gift was chosen with his 3rd and last card.. that is known as his "keeper"..
Alot of people play this game but as the participants select their first gift they unwrap it.. we prefer to leave people in suspense.. keeping all the gifts wrapped until the final person has their 'keeper'..
We've seen all kinds of things brought as gifts - from really nice blankets and sweatshirts to a 5 pound tin of MRE (military food "meals ready to eat") of peas and carrots.. (that one made an appearance at 4 Christmas games until little brother got really hungry and really broke one year and actually ate it! Now THATS hunger!)
It's great fun.. really like being a kid again, where greed and torment are a natural occurance.. usually there is one particularly attractive gift that gets stolen repeatedly and passed among 3 or 4 people, only to be opened and found to be a roll of paper towels and a bottle of windex.. awesome..
So we all get to be mean and steal each others gifts while we have the excitement of trying to guess what's in the brightly wrapped packages..
Then.. once everyone has their "keeper" we go around the table one by one and open what we managed to snag.. it's fun not only seeing what you ended up with, but to see what you passed up or had stolen from you.. and then.. the trading begins.. watch as the poor person that got stuck with the tacky chip and dip bowl tries to trade it for that really cool flashlight... ok.. lets trade the dip bowl for the crossword puzzle book, and then try and trade that for the flashlight..
Oh the joy.. it really has become the highlight of our family christmas gatherings.. the entire family gets into it.. selecting the perfect gift - either funny or wonderful - wraps them as attractively and as disguised as possible - and sneaks them into the house so no one knows who brought what (that's another fun aspect - trying to figure out who brought the MRE! (it was my husband who started it btw!))
Anyway.. I hope you'll consider adding this game to your family gathering - it really is alot of fun - just like being a kid again...
Later.. I'll let you know what I manage to snag..
ps.. if you need more-better instructions, drop me a comment and I'll clarify..
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