I wanted to try something different this year, so I asked a friend of ours, (who I will refer to as "K" from here on) to come up with some questions of her own to ask us. I was thinking along the lines of a magazine article interview -- and told her to think in that category when coming up with different topics for our family to talk about.
Little did I know how much fun our little "interview" would be! K and her boyfriend/our friend snuck into the backyard when the girls weren't paying attention and went out of their way to set up a cozy atmosphere for our "interview", complete with Christmas music, a bonfire, & smores fixins to help get us in the holiday spirit. (Which, according to my middle kid, was "awesome"!)
K even had an agenda written down, with a hula-hoop contest to break the ice a little bit before we got started (the hula hoop lit up and everything). My youngest went about 3o seconds before one of the dogs got in the way (very dramatic reaction to that, let me tell you), my middle daughter went almost two minutes. My oldest didn't go close to as long as the middle one, which was nice, because someone different won something for a change. Lovemuffin and I -- well, we gave up pretty quickly (Lovemuffin's didn't rotate even three times I don't think! ha!).
After the hula hoop contest Lovemuffin got out his cell phone and we sat down, bellies stuffed full of smores and bodies toasty from the cardio of the hula hoop contest (and crackling fire pit, of course). Lovemuffin asked the questions K had come up with, recording our responses the whole time on his phone so I could go back later and share the "exact" reactions.
A few minutes after we concluded our "interview" I headed into the office and listened to the recording. Some parts were more entertaining or funny than others, but I had to pick out the most interesting quotes only, because when doing an interview-type letter, a lot of empty space is used up each time there's a hard return. (Which I did often to show someone else was talking... so that's why magazines have a few columns on a page... to cram more words in! Duh!)
Was this year's Christmas letter the *best* one ever, in my opinion? I'm thinking probably not. That's kind of what happens when I don't come up with my idea six months ahead of time (which I will do in 2010 - mark my words!) I'm hoping what I chose to share will at least give a little insight into the kids' personalities, and show everyone how we interact as a family. And at this point, that's good enough for me.
The only thing that sucked a bit was the fact that I was sooooo intent on getting the letters out immediately, I didn't really think my beginning all the way through. So about 20 people have a boring opening talking about what year it is, and then the rest of the recipients' letters are more "interview" styled in the beginning. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. Well I wouldn't say I lost anything exactly, maybe "learn" would be a better word. I learned a couple of things with this year's Christmas letter.
First, sitting down with the family and having smores on a school night (something I normally wouldn't do) didn't kill us. The girls still went to bed on time, there wasn't a huge mess, and that evening is something they'll probably remember for a long time.
Second, planning ahead is still my very best friend. Not having an idea way ahead of time just adds stress to my life that I truly don't need! More proof to Lovemuffin that I just can't handle anything spur of the moment!
And third, friends are a wonderful commodity -- especially the ones who go above and beyond to do those little, unnecessary things that'll put a smile on your face. I have a few friends that I love to do little unexpected things for, and it made me remember that we can't always assume our friends know how much they mean to us -- showing our appreciation with words or kind gestures once in a while should be automatic (and that rule could go for family as well).
Well enough sappiness. I'm off to print out as many letters as possible before I run out of ink (I'm guessing I'll get about four done, if I'm lucky).
Oh - I forgot to mention, I did list a few websites and my email in the letter as well, so if I connect with anyone new via the Internet, that will just be a bonus=)
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