Thursday, January 6, 2011

Fun Family Shorts

Now that 2010 has closed, I thought I would write some snippets about what fun we've been having together as a family of four over the last year, especially recently. My daughter is 3.75 years old, and my son is 18 months old. Londo and I are really enjoying these ages--despite the frustrations of Three and the whining of 18 Months. We are a fun, silly family and that's what's making life so good right now.

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The other day, the Pumpkin told me that she and her brother were having pretend names. The Pookie was "Midnight," and she was "Kookie." She asked what my name was going to be, and then named me "Boopie." Unfortunately, when she said it, it sounded either like boobie or poopie, so I told her I wanted to be "Strawberry."

Then she asked Londo what his pretend name was. He said, "You may call me... Tim." I got a good chuckle out of that.

And then the game began. "Tim" sat on the couch, and any time one of us would get close, he would grab us and hold us. We would call for the others to come save us. It was so funny to hear my daughter call out, "Strawberry, we've got to save Midnight!" And save him we did.

And this game? We pretty much play many variations of it all the time.

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We were down at my inlaws for Christmas. We had a great time, and got to spend a lot of time with each other and my husband's family.

One day as we were all playing in the game room, the Pumpkin said we were going to go to a bird show. So we gave tickets and pretended to learn about and feed the birds. Then for some reason, Londo said he was a penguin. So he started walking around in a penguin waddle with his arms down at his side but his hands sticking out. If you've seen the Diego where he shows how to waddle like a penguin, you know what I'm talking about.

So then, the Pumpkin started waddling like a penguin, and they were both waddling around saying "waddle, waddle, waddle" and pretending to eat fish and giving penguin hugs.

Of course I jumped into the new game, and started waddling. The Pookie had been watching and laughing, but he is always quick to join in, too. So he did his best to imitate the waddling, and we all walked around in circles as a penguin family. It was really cute.

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When I was a kid, my family used to play a game we called "Stack 'Em Up." My dad would lie on the ground and call out "stack 'em up!" My brother, the oldest kid, would lie down on my dad. Then my sister, the middle child, would lie down on my brother. And then I, the youngest, would climb on and lie down on the top. My mom would watch (and I now suspect she also tried to make sure no one got hurt) and laugh. We'd all laugh. Though simple, it was a really fun game.

So of course I've started the same game at my house! Before the Pookie could play, Londo would lie down, I would lie on him and the Pumpkin would climb on top of me. Now, either Londo or I lie down, then the Pumpkin and then the Pookie climbs on top (while the other parent makes sure the Pookie doesn't fall). I can foresee the time when the Pookie is able that we will all be part of the stack!

We've got variations, too. Although it's supposed to go from largest on the bottom to smallest on the top for obvious reasons, occasionally we mix it up a bit, being very careful of smaller people below us. Also sometimes just the Pumpkin and the Pookie will play, and that's really cute.

I recently told my siblings and parents that we've carried on the tradition of playing this game, and my SIL said that my brother's family plays a similar game but they call it making a sandwich!

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One of the games the Pumpkin got for Christmas is called Elefun. It's this toy elephant with a very long tube of a nose. You put "butterflies" in the elephant, turn it on and it blows them out the nose. You use nets to catch the butterflies as they are shot out the nose, which is taller than me (but I am short)!

So the other morning, the Pumpkin wanted to play for the first time while the Pookie was around. I thought it was safe enough, so I got it out, handed both kids a net, and started it up. As we were laughing and cheering for each other, Londo joined in too!

I was so excited and happy to have the whole family play what is basically a game in the board game category! I have always wanted to have a Family Game Night once a week or every other week. We are close to being able to have that now, and that makes me happy.

A family that plays together, stays together, right?

7 comments:

SarcastiCarrie said...

We call that game "Monkey Pile on Top of Daddy".

Also, really? The elefun is taller than you are? I have to sit on the floor and let the kids stand for it to be any kind of fair. I wouldn't say I am particularly tall, but I am definitely not short.

Cloud said...

What great stories! Did anyone videotape the penguin performance? Because that sounds like it would be a family classic.

caramama said...

@SarcastiCarrie - I love the name Monkey Pile on Top of Daddy! And I'm 5'2", so yeah it's taller than me. Or right about my height. Hubby always jokes that the kids are going to be taller than me by next year. :-/

@Cloud - We will definitely have to re-enact it for a video!

Melba said...

Yeah I'm sitting her wishing I'd been a fly on the wall for the penguin performance too! Hilarious! And that's awesome that you guys can be so silly together and have so much fun. :)

hush said...

That is so awesome that you can finally play a board game as a family! We will have to check Elefun out for ourselves because we are huge board game fans - Settlers of Cataan and Scrabble our two of our faves that we have had to set aside since having kids. Cards and board-less games are things we have been able to fit into our post-kids lives much easier.

geeks in rome said...

you definitely have to get this stuff on video! it is precious!! and it will be so great to watch when they are BIG and can't pile on any more :)

We'll have to try that game, too.

We play a variation where we make sandwiches out of cushions and kids. so one cushion is the bread, then layer another cusion for the mayo, then lettuce, then a kid, then a tomato cushion then a cheese slice cushion... and so on until it gets really tall and last cushion for the bread and then we all "eat" it with a giggling child trapped in the middle!

with the comforter on the bed we make kid hotdogs or wraps where i wrap the kid up in the comforter "roll" with their head sticking out but their body all wrapped up and then we "squirt" on ketchup and mustard (must make loud farting noises) and eat them up.

nej said...

When a new parent is a sad sack zombie and asks me what they were thinking giving up their sleep- and sex-filled lives, I will gently smile at them and say,"one day you will all play penguins and then you'll realize why you did it."

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