Christmas at the bowling alley

We meet up with our former foster daughter and her family a couple of times each year, on her birthday and at Christmas usually, just to stay in touch. Her family has been really gracious in letting us stay involved in her life, because there's no obligation for them to do so, and many foster parents never see foster kids again once they go home to their birth families.

As much as we appreciate the chance to see our foster girl, however, these get togethers are not always easy. There are usually all kinds of people around, most of whom don't know us very well. Many of them are also much younger than we are, the same age as the birth parents, so we often feel more like great aunts or uncles at a family reunion – the people who everyone knows must be related somehow but not closely enough to really participate in the event.

This year's Christmas gathering was very different though – entirely through serendipity.  Our foster daughter's birth family was at n office Christmas party in Kitchener, so we decided to meet up with them afterward.  There was nothing kid friendly open after 5:00 PM on a Sunday night in Kitchener, so we eventually settled on the bowling alley for a couple of games and some food before opening presents.

Having eaten at bowling alleys before, my expectations were low, but everything went surprisingly well. It was just our family and our foster daughter's immediate family, so everything felt much more comfortable. The kids had a great time bowling, and the food was actually decent. The bar was empty, so we took over a few tables to eat our pizza and nachos and wings, and we even put the presents under the sad little Christmas tree so the kids could play Santa.

Our waitress found all this quite amusing. I chatted with her a bit as I was paying the bill, and she said she hoped her own Christmas at home would be half as fun as ours looked, and I realized how right she was. The couple of hours we had just spent hanging out in the bowling alley and chatting had been far more fun and far less stressful than many of the Christmas gatherings I have endured over the years. Even the kids were happy, stuffed with pizza and playing with the one present they each were given.

I know I'm not the first person to realize this (I've realized it myself previously on many occasions) but there's something to be said for simplicity, especially at Christmas. Stress less – have fun more. Shop less – spend time with family more. And spend time with family where you can have some fun, even if it's just the bowling alley.