What's So Funny?
Russell Gayer, author speaker
Traditions – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
With Christmas approaching, I thought I’d share a holiday story of how we established a tradition in our family. This is a video from the speech I gave on this topic at a Toastmasters meeting yesterday. Good luck with all your family traditions.
18 Comments on “Traditions – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”
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What's So Funny? 
Too funny, Russell! I started a similar “tradition” years ago with my daughter, nieces and nephews. The remain quite hesitant to open anything I get for them to this day! LOL
Best holiday wishes to you and yours!
Jim
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Thanks, Jim. My daughter has spent the last 15 years paying me back with goofy gifts. It really is a tradition now.
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Looks great, Russell.
Keep aiming high!
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Thanks, Kent. I try to keep the bar pretty low. No need to become an overachiever. That’s what I always say. People might start expecting too much.
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Hahahaha! Well, you keep a-going anyway. You might become so good that you’ll be famous and we’ll be hitting you up for money (outside of obscure relatives).
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That was so unfair but still hilarious referring to the Christmas gifts.
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The kids are both over 30 now and have children of their own. They may not have thought it was funny at the time, but they laugh when they tell the story to their friends today. Their mother got them every thing they wanted for Christmas. They knew what was in every package under the tree except for the “surprise” gifts. All I did was add a dash of suspense and thrill of the unknown to the holiday. They were a little more apprehensive when opening “Dad’s gift” the next year. 🙂
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Dear Russell,
One year, Jan wrapped a meat slicer and gave it to me as my main gift. I tried very hard to hide my disappointment and anger at such a thoughtless present. Clearly, it was something he’d been wanting. Julia Child I’m not and I’d asked Santa for a laptop. Long story short, Jan got the reaction he’d anticipated. He laughed and gave a smaller package. “I think you’ll like this better.” You guessed it, it was my laptop.
I enjoyed your story. Seeing and hearing you was half the fun. Where was that?
Shalom and Merry Christmakkah (Yep, Hanukkah falls on the 24th this year).
Rochelle
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We’ve all gotten and given duds for Christmas, but this was premeditated treachery, I must confess. The kids knew what every present was under the tree and were bragging about their haul. They were missing the whole point. It was time someone brought them back to reality.
The video was filmed in one of the training rooms at Tyson Corporate. Our Toastmasters club meets every other Wednesday during the lunch hour.
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Love it. They deserved it.
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HAHAHA! Loved the story and the video! 🙂
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Thanks, Morgaine.
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Russ, you certainly lend balance to any tradition. Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow. N
On Thu, Dec 1, 2016 at 5:50 PM, What’s So Funny? wrote:
> rgayer55 posted: “With Christmas approaching, I thought I’d share a > holiday story of how we established a tradition in our family. This is a > video from the speech I gave on this topic at a Toastmasters meeting > yesterday. Good luck with all your family traditions. https” >
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Perhaps I can give Bob some tips on things that might be a good choice for you this Christmas. Hmmm.
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I hope they had something more festive to open on Christmas morning! Funny story, Russell.
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Oh, don’t worry. Their mom had already bought every item on their list of demands (Christmas wish list). That was why my gift was so attractive to them–they didn’t know what was inside.
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Funny stuff, Russell. Gosh, the kid’s presents were worse than socks. Good speech. 😀 — Suzanne
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Thanks, Suzanne. You should see the gifts Greta gets me these days. We have a lot of fun with it.
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