Puzzle Time

Over the past few years, a small tradition has formed in my house: the winter puzzle. My father-in-law will bring over a jigsaw puzzle for Thanksgiving, and during the lazy weekend we'll tackle it as a family. Sometimes three or more will be at the puzzle, picking up a piece and testing where it might go. Sometimes it's just one person, passing a little time.

We don't finish the puzzle during the Thanksgiving weekend. Instead, it graces our living room table often through December and sometimes beyond. We let it sit there for days without touching it, but an unfinished puzzle begs to be finished.

We've had some missing pieces, but this adds to the excitement. Most times it is under a sofa cushion, but once we found a piece still in the plastic bag that the puzzle came in! We had given up on finding it and only noticed it when we were putting the puzzle back into the box.

The puzzle on our table this year has a winter theme, but we'll also tackle other themes like food, landscapes, and paintings. I love seeing the puzzle slowly take shape. Everyone contributes to its finish, and when we're done, we jot down the date on the back of the puzzle's box top. I like this little bit of record-keeping, and on some older, borrowed puzzles we've seen multiple dates in the box top.

Happy holidays!