Rob Your Neighbor ??

Holiday traditions are?a big fun part of the holidays! One of my favorites is something my family plays on Christmas Day. It's called Rob Your Neighbor.

I did a quick internet search, and basically, you can make up your own rules since?no one seems to agree on rules.?Here is how we play:

• Set a timer for 20 minutes.
• Take turns rolling the dice.
• If a player's?dice adds up to six, they get to choose a gift from the gift pile.
• If a player rolls 2 sixes, they get to choose 2 gifts!
• Once all the gifts are taken from the gift pile, the "rob your neighbor" fun begins.
• Now for each roll of six, the dice roller gets to "rob" gifts from any?of their?neighbors.
• Warning: do not rob gifts from young children! They don't understand it and will get quite upset . . . so hands off their gifts!

Inevitably, certain gifts become more wanted than others - even though no one knows what's in the package (other than the person who?donated it to the pile, of course.) At the end of 20 minutes, the game stops and everyone?opens their gifts.

In my internet search, I found one blogger who suggested that none of the?gifts should be gag gifts . . . but?I disagree. Though some gifts can be actual useful items and nice items like candles,?gag gifts make it even more fun!?

I have chosen some very strange gifts in the past and have found great joy in doing so! One of my favorites being a mini fly swatter with a telescopic handle. I have yet to kill a fly with this item, but it does come?in handy when I need to make a point - yes, I use it as a pointer at times and it really does drive my ideas home ;)

Another favorite of mine was a?razor bed.??It was a small bed, complete with a little pillow, for your razor. As a person without any hair, this would be of little use to me. That said, I still wonder why a razor needs a bed in the first place. I have yet to meet a person who tucks their razor into bed once that said razor is not in use. I do not know where you can?currently purchase this item, and neither does Google because?I checked. I would be very interested in meeting the inventor of this item, perhaps I could help him with the marketing. Not sure, but the inventor may be?Darrel R. De'Rennaux . He has a patent on the razor bed, so don't go thinking about inventing and starting your?own razor bed company.

This year I will be adding some awesome finds to the gift pile!! This includes?Possum Racers ,?Shakespearean Insult Bandages ?(Thou art a knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats),?mini jars of Nutella ?(so cute and travel friendly), a Woody (from Buzz Lightyear fame) window cling (There's a snake in my boot!)?In case you clicked on some of these items, you may have noticed that two are from?Archie McPhee . This?site brings me great joy and their actual store is one that I make a point to visit whenever in Seattle.

Whatever your traditions may be - may they be lovely, fun, bring you closer together, and perhaps even gain you a razor bed. Goodnight, dear razor.

Mich