I googled the word tradition. Among its definitions are descriptors
like generations, long-standing, and customary. Can generations
consist of merely the living or must it include deceased ancestors as well? How
long is long-standing? How many times
must an act be performed before it’s considered customary? What do we call an act that is immediately beloved and
certain to stand the test of time? Is new
tradition an oxymoron? Perhaps there is an appropriate word in another
language besides English?
You see my dilemma, don’t you? I
want to tell you about something that has only recently come about but is
already part of Christmas folklore and ritual for the children of the King
Girls and their growing families; yet, I don’t know what to call it. I want to
call it tradition, but evidently, it
is not. At least, not yet. I am going to borrow the word for this story, though,
since I don’t know of another word to use. I sincerely hope my four faithful
friends can forgive this indiscretion.
Like most traditions, no one
planned it or even saw it coming. Like most traditions, it began as nothing.
2007
Emma stretched a ligament in her
ankle at a practice for the vicious middle-school girls’ church basketball league. She had surgery over Christmas break to tighten it. Jordan Lee came
to Dothan to cheer her. While grocery shopping, I picked up a marked-down
gingerbread house. I thought the kids would have fun decorating it together,
especially since Emma was housebound.
Emma was high on Lortab and dozing
on the sofa when the other three decided to assemble the house. I smiled as I
imagined the priceless image of my children and their precious college-aged
cousin sharing a sweet—albeit forgetful—moment. Soon, their shouts woke me from
my daydream. They were about to duke it out in the kitchen over whose turn it
was to squeeze the icing! They cared deeply about whether or not to put icicles
on the roof! They were not SHARING! They were COMPETING! In between licking
their fingers, they were smack-talking each other over the placement of gumdrops!
2008
They had acted so mean to each
other that we bought two gingerbread houses to diffuse the festive tension.
It didn’t really help.
Only Abby, Emma, and Jordan Lee
participated in the "family bonding" activity. After their tempers cooled, we
decided that everyone needed his/her own house, and if the kids insisted on
arguing over this sugar-coated fun, then we needed to organize a competition.
2009
The Great King Family Gingerbread
Throwdown officially began. We instituted a one-hour time limit, because
some people (not naming names—or initials) would never be satisfied that her
house was finished. Finger-licking and nibbling were allowed, expected
even.
We bought four houses, because we assumed that only Abby, Emma, JL, and Ellen (newly married to Justin) would
want to compete. When Jeremy and Phillip decided to join the battle, we formed
teams. We knew that the climate would stay
calmer if no siblings or significant others were allowed to work together.
Jeremy/Phillip and Abby/Ellen teamed up. JL and Emma are too much alike, and everyone
agreed it would be best if each girl decked her own halls. Each team was given an
equal amount of candy and icing. Leftovers were put in the center of the table
in a free-for-all pile.
Emma’s house repeatedly collapsed.
We ameliorated the rules to ensure that everyone had a partner the next year to help
with construction.
Justin was the judge. He was not
allowed to watch the event and was not allowed to know which house belonged to
which team. While purposefully attempting to pick his new wife’s decor, he unknowingly chose the Jeremy/Phillip collaboration as the winner over his bride’s
house. The rules were amended on the spot to have an outside-the-family judge for
the following year.
2010
Emma/Ellen created a beautiful
church-like Hershey bar door. Justin/Abby put a hot tub on the outside of their
house, complete with a melting snowman. Jeremy/Phillip attached a fireplace
with shredded Brillo pad smoke curling from it. JL/Celeste were the winners! I crafted
a window with homemade curtains from a cupcake liner, and JL made a jolly
snowman out of Life Savers Wint-O-Green Mints.
Ellen’s mom, Janey, was the judge.
She grasped the seriousness and importance of the task and performed like the professional crafter she
is. Still, she had a conflict of interest.
New rules:
1)
An impartial judge
2)
All items must be
edible
and only items on the table may be used. No running all over the house for stuff.
3)
Since every team added
something delightful, we initiated one Best All Around and smaller, individual
awards to recognize creativity and to encourage good behavior.
2011
We purchased extra icing and candy
from the dollar store, drew names for partners, and set up partitions to block
each other’s view. Jeremy enlisted two friends to be our judges. They were
organized and official. They came with notebooks and pencils in hand. We left
the room to allow them to confer with each other in privacy. We overheard them
whisper comments such as:
I
really like the candy canes on this one.
Cute!
A pretzel fence!
What
is that? (Evidently tasted
it.) Yuck!
Ellen was pregnant with Lydia. We
think her hormones gave her an unfair advantage. But how could we prove it?
Ellen/Phillip – Best All Around
Emma/JL –Best Use of Resources
Abby/Jeremy – Most Random
Justin/Celeste – Most Creative (Our
ribbon-candy roof rocked!)
Justin, Abby, and I won a 3-way
tie for best attitudes. The rest didn’t really care about their attitudes.
Our new rule for next year was to assemble the house
before the clock begins. That way, the entire hour could be spent festooning.
2012
2012
Angie was finally able to come to
view the rivalry for herself; however, Justin and Ellen couldn’t be there when
everyone else could. Emma had the perfect solution: they would Skype with us
and be our long-distance judges. (I know this breaks the impartial judge rule,
but they would be fair, and we wanted them to be “with” us. And it was our rule
to begin with. We could break it if we wanted to.)
We only played three houses. JL was
a newlywed, and Jeremy had a girlfriend. The newbies got thrown into the
brouhaha. Since one rule is no
significant others can be partners, we put the newbies on the same team. I
wanted to hang with Angie and Lydia instead of being half a team, so we put
Phillip with the newbies to guide them. He was the best anyway, having already won
twice. 
Peyton and Katy were schooled in
the rules. Peyton pulled me aside and asked if he could have a hammer. It
wasn’t on the table (a rule), but it obviously wasn’t going on the house (a rule).
This was iffy, but Peyton is adorable. I made the call to allow it. We
didn’t tell the others. He put some peppermint in a baggie and stepped outside
to crush it. He sprinkled it on the roof of his house. His bride argued in
favor of his beheading—or his elimination, at the very least. 
She needn’t have worried. The
JL/Abby team won Best All Around. JL’s peppermint fireplace was spectacular,
and Abby’s cute Rolo mailbox pushed them over the top. Emma/Jeremy had a great
Twizzler fence. The candles in the windows of the Phillip/Peyton/Katy house were
warm and charming.
2013
Although the competition has always
been held at Starla’s house, the location is not part of the tradition, nor is
the date. Starla likes to hold it before Christmas, because she enjoys using the bright and colorful gingerbread houses to adorn her own house for the holidays. She has saved
them a time or two for the following year, and they hold up pretty well in her
cool, damp basement. This year, we are not going to be able to be together until
after Christmas. But location and date are just details. As more weddings are
held and more babies are born, the act of gathering will become more difficult.
The day might come where July 4th sees fireworks exploding outside
the house and within it as well. If Independence Day were to be the best day for us to celebrate
being an extended family, so be it.
Even then, we’ll be plotting and
planning the most appropriate use of red and green M&Ms. Hopefully, we’ll
be fussing about it until the Great King Family Gingerbread House Throwdown becomes true to the word tradition.
On your mark . . . get set . . .
DECORATE!
Love this!
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