I don’t remember what the blogosphere was like before Sarah and the Goon Squad arrived on the scene. I’m sure it was rather drab and a bit boring. Certainly it didn’t have enough twin mothers who love football and writing about the trials and tribulations of raising kids. Good thing Sarah came along! Anyway, she’s a girl after my own heart. She loves sports (the co-creator of Draft Day Suit, the sports blogs to end all sports blogs that I contribute to) and totally rocked the 80′s. She also has twins that are older than mine so I depend on her to show me what I’m in store for down the road. I had to laugh when she came to the realization that she needs more family traditions. But you’ll just have to hear her say it for yourself. Please welcome the talented and lovely Sarah.

“Hey Mom, do we have any family traditions?”

“Why do people keep asking me that?”

“Other people have asked you if we have family traditions?”

“No. Just you. But you keep asking me that.”

“Did you ever answer me?”

Hmph. A while back, Matthew asked me to be a part of his series on family traditions. I’ve been thinking about it for about a month, and I’m really having trouble coming up with any. Is it possible we don’t have any family traditions? What kind of lame-o doesn’t have family traditions?

My Mom said (on my fourth try asking her) “Well, what about getting together on Thanksgiving? Or dyeing Easter Eggs? Or going to church on Christmas Eve?”

Doesn’t everybody do those things? Can I consider getting wasted with my cousins on Thanksgiving a family tradition? Who is my Mom trying to kid about the Christmas Eve thing? We go to churches for weddings, funerals and paying singing gigs. (Okay, the singing thing is just me, not the whole family – but that would be cool if we all did).

When we are with Gabe’s side of the family on Thanksgiving they have a traditional game of Pictionary that has ended with father/son wrestling on at least one occasion. The first time I participated in the game of “Extreme Pictionary” my partner (Gabe’s cousin’s husband) and I won an “all play” when I yelled “PARENTHESES!” Everything would have been totally cool, except Justin drew this ” “. Maybe some day the two of us will live that one down, but it hasn’t happened yet.

I guess on the Easter Egg front, my brother and I usually use the white crayon to write the names of characters or phrases from the movie “Deep Cover” on the eggs. For example, every year there will be a “Felix Barbosa” egg, or an egg that says “Jumbo BBQ Shrimp…”. I guess you would have to be really familiar with the movie to get that last one.

Do you ever type something and then think – I can’t believe I just told that to the whole interweb?

I guess now that Gabe and I have our own family it would be a good time to start up some family traditions of our own. If I come up with any good ones I will try to remember to let you guys know. We’re open to suggestions if anyone has any recommendations.

To read more of Sarah and the Goon Squad, visit http://www.sarahandthegoonsquad.blogspot.com