Happy Wolfenoot!

Wolfenoot is a holiday that was invented by a seven year old boy. His mother thought the idea was charming, and posted about it on Facebook in 2018, and since then it's attracted a band of celebrants. You can learn all the details by clicking here.

It's a holiday that celebrates the spirit of wolves and our love of dogs. What a great idea!

It is technically celebrated on November 23, and that's right around Thanksgiving Day in America, which makes it difficult to plan a party that everyone can attend. My Wolfenoot tends to move around a little on the calendar so all my friends can come and play. 

You can tell a child invented the way of celebrating, because it involves gift-giving. And I can understand that; the giving of presents to mark special occasions is an ancient tradition, and who doesn't like getting presents? My family's observance doesn't emphasize the gift aspect, however,  preferring to focus mainly on eating and playing a few "traditional" games. (Can you call something a tradition if you've only done it for two years?) Our celebration goes something like this:

The guests arrive, wearing their wolf-iest apparel: hats with wolf ears and clothing that includes wolf designs. The table is set with wolf-approved snacks of meat, golden cheese, and a spice cake meant to resemble a full moon. Decorations are inspired by nature, autumn, nighttime, and the full moon. Wolves abound! 

Once everyone has arrived and enjoyed their snacks, the games begin. We play a game of Pin the Tail on the Wolf that in hindsight (pardon the pun) seems a little dark. I've seen a similar game called "Boop The Snoot" where the blindfolded player attempts to pin a paper heart onto the wolf's nose. Much cuter than a tailless wolf! 

Then we play a game I call "Wolfie", a variation on the old Cootie game. Everyone gets a sheet of paper and a marker. Players roll a die to win body parts and the first to complete a drawing of an entire wolf wins. It doesn't matter if your drawing skills are good or bad-- this isn't an art contest. In fact, that's what makes it so hilarious and fun: watching everyone's wolves take shape in surprising ways! This is how our dice rolls went:

Everyone wanted to finish their drawings, even after we had our first winner, so we continued playing until everyone had a complete wolf to show off. Look at these beauties! 

How do you celebrate Wolfenoot?