Creative Christmas Traditions: The Great Wrapping Paper Fight

Several years ago, someone started hoarding all of the wrapping paper from their unwrapped presents. I suspect it was my brother, as he tends to be the more devious of my siblings. It may have been one of my uncles, however. They're jokers in their own right. Typically, my family would put out a large garbage bag in the middle of the room to collect everyones' discarded wrapping paper. The bag was still there, but as people started to notice that the bag was not getting filled, they started holding on to their wrapping paper as well. When everything was unwrapped, the first volley was unleashed. Wadded up pieces of wrapping paper flew throughout the living room. Someone yelled for us to stop, just long enough to remove the more fragile presents from the room. After that, the fight was back on. Shirt boxes became makeshift shields and ammunition trays, bows with any weight to them were launched across the room, and wrapping paper was everywhere.

Since this time, we have always had a Great Wrapping Paper Fight as the conclusion to our present opening on Christmas. The odds are much better these days, as everyone knows that they should hang onto their wrapping paper as they open their presents. If one of our stacks of presents only involves small packages, we are not above stealing wrapping paper from an inattentive neighboring family member. We usually give a little bit of a grace period for those who don't want to participate to leave the room, but for the younger members of my family ("younger" including all the way up to my uncles, who in their 50s, some years), this tradition is a great source of amusement. My cousin's older son, who will be six this year, absolutely loves this game, and I suspect my niece and nephew will enjoy it too, though that may not be for a few more years.

One of the best strategies for the Great Wrapping Paper Fight is that if you receive something in a large pieces of wrapping paper, you will want to spend some time ripping that paper into smaller pieces, so as to get the most ammunition out of your available resources. If you have any construction skill, particularly construction skill with flimsy cardboard boxes, you may want to spend some time building a fort out of your shirt boxes. Of course, you probably won't have anything adhesive to work with, though those annoying long ribbons around presents could work in a pinch. And for those of a more diplomatic bent, allying with those family members sitting nearby is always advisable, as getting pelted with wadded up wrapping paper from close proximity is less than pleasant.

You do have to take some care before starting a Great Wrapping Paper Fight with your family. It helps if you open presents away from the Christmas tree and any breakable knick-knacks. You certainly want to remove any frail family members from the room as well. There should always be a way for people to remove themselves from the fight (in our family, we call "Switzerland" as a statement of neutrality and non-agression). And, most importantly, everyone involved with the Great Wrapping Paper Fight has to be willing to help clean up all of the debris when the cease-fire has finally been called.