Family home for the holidays is the best gift yet | by LAURA NEENAN
Who doesn’t love Thanksgiving and Christmas? A holiday full of stuffing your face with so much turkey drenched in gravy and any type of pie imaginable. And then an entire day dedicated to receiving presents. Food and presents? I’m in. But ever since all of my siblings pretty much abandoned me in a house with solely my mother and father, I look forward to these holidays for more than just those reasons. This year I am thankful that my older siblings will finally be coming home to save me from the quiet dinner table. At last, the ongoing game of “let’s put all of our attention on Laura” my parents love to play so much can temporarily come to an end.
Life before the holidays is pretty much a silent night. But things begin to change when the Neenan children begin to trickle in the door. Arriving by plane, sometimes even train, and automobile, each Neenan, Matthew, Benjamin, Kathryn, Rosie, Bob, Marie and Casey, arrive safe and sound. Two brothers, two sisters, two parents, and the dog; NOW the Neenan family holiday vacation can begin.
I wake up early in the morning to the sound of the pots and pans banging back and forth and smell of bacon slowly making its way to my room. Trust me, when my dog Casey and I are the only people at home, we never get bacon. I have come to the conclusion that when my siblings are home, my mom likes to spend a lot more time in the kitchen.
Then comes the afternoon. We enjoy laying around, taking naps here and there, but hey, at least we’re watching TV together. Ahh, family bonding. This could be anything from watching the entire sixth season of Seinfeld, a DVD musical tribute to Bruce Springsteen or the Talking Heads, or whatever sporting event the men in the house can find slightly intriguing that day.
After an entire day dedicated to watching an electronic box, we all settle down for dinner, and the actual conversations begin. We all catch up with each other and for once, I am not the one who has to lead the conversation to entertain my parents with how interesting my life is as a sixteen-year-old girl.
Next we have post-dinner competitions, the real entertainment for the night. It is what the Neenan family truly does best. Pool tournaments are for the mellow nights, but if we’re feeling pretty crazy, we’ll go for the Wii. Watching father and son aggressively compete over virtual ski jumps, grunting noises and all, adds a little humor to my night. As the youngest child, I have the responsibility to keep everyone in the family amused. I choose to end the night with a synchronized step class on the Wii Fit but make sure to add a little flair with dance moves of my own.
I lay in bed after the day is done, and forget that I am not the only person awake in the family. Well, so much for a silent night because two seconds later I abruptly wake up to my 25-year-old brother body slamming me. It may be a little uncomfortable at that point, but I would pick being squashed by 180 pounds over living the life as an only child any day.
I am thankful for my family this holiday season, no matter how weird they can be. For just a few nights, I get to fall asleep to a full house. This holiday season I say Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
