Festivus: For the Rest of Us

At this special time of year, our family gathered together to share in a cherished family tradition--Festivus.

If you do not know what Festivus is, you perhaps also do not remember when Thursday nights were "Must See TV." You may not have memories of sitting in Mr. Meyer's math class having a heated discussion about how lame the final episode of Seinfeld was. You may not one day stand accountable for the hundreds of hours you have spent in your life watching Seinfeld reruns. But if Stott blood flows through your veins, then not only do you know the meaning of Festivus, you celebrate.

Our celebration includes traditional Soup Nazi soup. We also try for other Seinfeld themed foods. Once I found a loaf of marble rye bread. Some years we have had a Festivus pole, watched Seinfeld, or played Seinfeld trivia. This year we decided to do some Feats of Strength.

First, since we were trying for Feats of Strength, we decided to test the strength of our feet. Clay won the "how many marbles can you pick up with your toes in thirty seconds" contest.

And though he didn't win, I had to say I was amazed and impressed that my father could stand on his head for almost thirty seconds.

Peter might have won the headstand contest, but I think my hubby won the "best picture of person looking like their head is about to explode" contest.

Deacon won the "person who has not changed out of his Buzz Lightyear jammies since he got them on Christmas Eve" contest. Yes, there were many tears when I would not let him wear them to church today.

Jace won the "I will humor my sister by allowing her to take goofy pictures of me pretending to be Uncle Ricco from Napoleon Dynamite" contest.

Let me close with some final thoughts from the Festivus originators.

Frank Costanza (on a tape recorder): "All right, George. It's time for the Festivus Feats of Strength!"

George Costanza: "No! No! Turn it off! No Feats of Strength! I hate Festivus!"

Frank Costanza: "We had some good times."

Yes we did.