Reindeer Games
Posted in Toys and Collectibles, Holidays | 
Down for the count.
Maw Maw and Cleo snatched up two more of these reindeer for the next year’s party and resulting games. The following year, they went on a madcap shopping trip around the city to find more reindeer but to no avail. I managed to find one at a toy store and thus, we ended up with five of them.
These Reindeer Games became infamous, and for several years, young and old alike would gather ’round to eat, drink, be merry, and scream wildly at the reindeer going at it. However, the games were rough on the poor, punch-drunk little fellas.
After a few fights, we started to notice the sound of gears grinding. Then their legs wouldn’t work so well. Then, they just wouldn’t work at all. These members of the “old guard” were retired and took their rightful place on the sidelines of the fake snow tree skirt, nodding sagely at the antics of their younger, feistier counterparts (and commiserating with the Wise Man, no doubt).
We’re not cult members!
In an effort to continually outdo ourselves, or perhaps just because we imbibed too much alcohol, the Reindeer Games evolved throughout the years. Sometimes group fights were staged during a particularly bloodthirsty Christmas. Sometimes members of the “old guard” would miraculously start working and would once again enter the ring. One year, a guest brought felt antler headgear for us all to wear as we frantically cheered on our favorite contestants. I’m quite sure that any innocent passersby would have thought we were in some sort of cult. And I’m not saying that we weren’t, but. . .
Though we all remember things like The Dancing Flower from the eighties, the nineties seemed peculiarly suited to a mind-boggling array of dancing and singing seasonal decorations and toys. My dad and I decided that if the Talking Parrot and the Walking Reindeer were hits, the Talking Christmas Wreath, Talking Christmas Tree, Frog-who-played-Jingle-Bells, and other such oddities would make great presents for Maw Maw and surreal accompaniments to the Reindeer Games. She was in her glory and displayed every last one of those crazy things, each and every Christmas.
VICTORY!
Eventually, Maw Maw’s physical age caught up with her chronological one. After a fall shattered her leg, she moved into a nursing home and then an assisted living facility. Even though she’d made an amazing recovery, she was too frail to host the annual Christmas party at her house anymore. It didn’t seem right to host the Reindeer Games anywhere else, so we stopped. In April 2006, Maw Maw passed away at the glorious age of 94.
We all miss Maw Maw—her zest for life, her tolerance for craziness, and her amazing Christmas parties—but we’ll always have memories of the Reindeer Games (and of course, the Talking Parrot) to keep us laughing for years to come.
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