Recently I came across a stuffed sheep toy about the size of a pillow. He was really soft and reminded how the first stuffed toy my oldest son picked out for himself was Eeyore. I was baffled, as Winnie the Pooh’s pal always struck me as needing Prozac and not really kid appropriate.
Instead it was Eeyore’s soft material that ignited my son’s long fascination with donkeys until discovering they weren’t so plush in real life.
The stuffed sheep felt pretty soft and knowing a pal’s son still slept with the stuffed skeleton my kids once did at Day of the Dead time of year, I thought his son needed a timely upgrade to one of the nativity shepherd’s sheep to siesta with instead.
However, when another pal saw said sheep she immediately wanted to present him as a gift at our salsa teacher’s birthday party the next evening. Receiving a sheep at New Year’s is a sign for prosperity in the coming year and she thought it would be funny.
That it was.
After birthday boy received the sheep it was time for a new tradition where the recipient was blindfolded, spun around and forced to toss the stuffed animal behind him over his shoulder like a bridal bouquet.
Whoever caught the sheep would be his future boyfriend or girlfriend. Losers received a small sheep as a consolation prize with New Year wishes for great wealth without the birthday boy on their romantic horizon.
Folks loved it and I encourage you to include a variation of Sheep Shenanigans in any of your New Year’s/Christmas/Birthday holiday celebrations!
by Jospeh Toone
Joseph Toone is the Historical Society’s short-story award winning author of the SMA Secrets book series. All books in the series are Amazon bestsellers in Mexican Travel and Holidays. Toone is SMA’s expert and TripAdvisor’s top ranked historical tour guide telling the stories behind what we do in today’s SMA. Visit HistoryAndCultureWalkin
