Even though no one else in my family watches football, I have managed to turn the second Sunday in February into what is arguably the Lange family’s favorite holiday get-together — the Super Bowl.

This tradition started when our kids were very young. If I had to guess, I’m sure I was just trying to trick my family into watching the Super Bowl with me. I feel more comfortable yelling at a television about my personal rulings on pass interference calls if others are in the room.

In that first year — the best the family can guess is that was 2004 or so — I told each kid (we had two then, ages 7 and 4) they could choose one item from any restaurant they wanted and I would pick that up for our Super Bowl Buffet (what I called our “Super Bowlffet,” though I’m sure it was lost on them).

Then, to entice them to stick around throughout the game, I made up a series of simple “prop bets” — novelty wagers on things like whether the game’s first play would be a run or pass. Whether there would be frogs featured in any of the Super Bowl commercials. What color Beyonce would be wearing when she sang the National Anthem.

We felt it was important to expose the kids to sports betting as early as possible.

Wife Lindy ran to Hy-Vee to buy a few small gifts — candy bars and mini stuffed animals and LEGO figurines.

That year, I drove to McDonald’s to pick up son Henry’s food choice (French fries for everyone) and Arby’s to pick up daughter Hadley’s choice (curly fries for everyone) and to McMurphy’s for Lindy’s choice (Buffalo wings for everyone). We made other things as well to round out the buffet.

By the end of the night, everyone was raving about — and calling it — our Super Bowlffet.

That year, among other things, Henry won an Oh Henry! candy bar by predicting the over/under of Beyonce’s National Anthem (it was over the 2-minute mark).

Hadley won a Littlest Pet Shop figure by guessing the color of the Gatorade poured on the winning coach. No one has ever cheered so much to see purple Gatorade.

And that year, I won the chance to pretend my family actually wanted to watch the Super Bowl with me.

A tradition was born.

The Lange Super Bowl Party has, over the years, morphed into a full-blown extravaganza.

The “order one thing from any restaurant” thing still stands.

A few years ago — with all three kids home — we ordered Buffalo wings from Wildwood, nachos from Newt’s, Buffalo chicken wontons from Five West, French fries from McDonald’s, curly fries from Arby’s.

My logistical prep for the ordering and timing of picking up all the apps is the kind of thing that makes me think I could have been an effective wartime general.

Also, I now spend hours scouring the online betting sites for the most obscure prop bets. Others I make up.

Friends and other family members, having seen my prop bet sheets, regularly text me around Super Bowl time to use it for their own parties.

Only a few, but still. It’s the kind of thing that, if I put some effort into it, I truly believe I could sell on Etsy, or wherever one sells “Steve’s Super Bowlffet of Party Bets.”

Last year, during the Super Bowl, all three kids were gone. Hadley in Madison, Henry in Milwaukee, Emma in Belgium.

We Venmoed them each money to get take-out appetizers.

And I curated 25 prop bet questions and created a scoring system based on the odds of each bet.

Here’s a sampling:

Will Reba McEntire be wearing a cowboy hat and/or chaps? Will they show a player singing along during the National Anthem? What will Usher’s first halftime words be? (“Yo!” and “What’s Up?” would get you 3 points; “Make some noise!” and “Yeah!” were worth 5).

The kids sent their picks over WhatsApp, and we kept a running tally of the winners throughout the game.

Hadley won a 4-pack of Scrub Daddy sponges for guessing the length of the word “brave” in Reba McEntire’s National Anthem (she went with the “over 5 seconds” bet).

Henry won new windshield wipers for predicting who the Super Bowl MVP would refer to first in his speech (“teammates”).

Emma, spending her junior year of high school in Belgium, won a gift card to Nothing Bundt Cakes for calling Usher’s first halftime song correctly (“Caught Up!”).

And Lindy and I won because, all during the game, our kids were texting and calling us, saying they wished they were here.

And also because I correctly picked the MVP (Patrick Mahomes) and because Lindy predicted that the Gatorade dumped on the winning coach would be purple.

(Also, if you want this year’s “Steve’s Super Bowlffet of Party Bets,” email SLange@RochesterMagazine.com. It’s free this year, but, next year, you may have to buy it on Etsy.)

Steve Lange is the editor of Rochester Magazine. His column appears every Tuesday.