Saturday, July 09, 2005
I've Been Tagged!
Jenn has tagged me to play a MeMe game, "What 5 Things Do You Miss About Your Childhood". This is the first time I've been tagged for something like this, so here goes:
1) The made up games my sisters and I would create. We did this sort of thing all the time, complete with written (typed, even, on my dad's old manual typewriter - huzzah!) rules. One summer we created and played a game we called "Garage Ball" (I think that's the name - my memory, it fails me), and was similar to wall ball, only the players were front and back to the garage door. Our driveway was sloped, so the person furthest from the garage could get screwed quite easily. The rules were very specific. It was so fun! We also had a game we called, simply, "Monster" and it was all about scaring the shit out of each other in the dark, and another we called "Orange Monster" (we were uber-creative with the names we choose, yes?), named because it was the 70's and we had orange carpet in our house. Didn't everyone?? It was played in the doorways and hallway of our upstairs and was a cross between tag and keep-away. Oh good times!!
2) The game-show re-creations my sisters and I would put together for our parents to play when they got home (notice a recurring theme of games, here?) We would all watch a couple game shows during the day, furiously noting the questions and answers. Then we would re-create the show ourselves. A favorite was Wheel of Fortune (played with the wheel spinner from The Game of Life board game, of course, and a sheet or blanket tacked onto the wall that had pieces of paper taped to with the various letters of the puzzle). One of us got to be Vanna and turn those pieces of paper over for the enthusiastic contenstants (aka mom and dad).
3) Playing in the attic. My sister and I would spend HOURS re-arranging the attic so it became our playhouse. Old sheer curtains were crammed into the joists to create walls. Camping gear morphed into kitchen appliances. Boxes were arranged as furniture. We even had area rugs. Then we'd dress up and pretend to drive places up and down the sidewalk, ending back at "home" and all the visiting that had to be done at each others place. Very cool. It was then I realized that wearing pantyhose in the summer was a bad idea...
4) Vacations at Black Butte Ranch. Every summer we would rent a house there for a week or so, along with several other families/friends. We (the kids) had free reign of the ranch and would spend all day, every day, riding our bikes along the bike paths going from pool to pool (there are 4 pools in the resort). We would check in with our folks from time to time throughout the day, but mostly we were on our own. The freedom - ! It was a great way to do family vacations all those years, and I plan to do the very same thing with my kids.
5) If my teenage years count as childhood, then I'll include just hanging out with my best friend, Carrie. She and I did everything together back then. Just driving around, looking for stuff to do, laughing and listening to Prince or Def Lepard or Madonna or some such 80's rock star on the stereo. "Red sauce on the dash" (you had to be there) and just being ourselves together, talking about boyfriends (or lack thereof), hair dilemmas, school, and all the rest of critical teenage fodder for endless discussion. I miss her. She lives in Alaska now so I rarely get to see her, but she and her family will be here in August and I'm counting the days already.
1) The made up games my sisters and I would create. We did this sort of thing all the time, complete with written (typed, even, on my dad's old manual typewriter - huzzah!) rules. One summer we created and played a game we called "Garage Ball" (I think that's the name - my memory, it fails me), and was similar to wall ball, only the players were front and back to the garage door. Our driveway was sloped, so the person furthest from the garage could get screwed quite easily. The rules were very specific. It was so fun! We also had a game we called, simply, "Monster" and it was all about scaring the shit out of each other in the dark, and another we called "Orange Monster" (we were uber-creative with the names we choose, yes?), named because it was the 70's and we had orange carpet in our house. Didn't everyone?? It was played in the doorways and hallway of our upstairs and was a cross between tag and keep-away. Oh good times!!
2) The game-show re-creations my sisters and I would put together for our parents to play when they got home (notice a recurring theme of games, here?) We would all watch a couple game shows during the day, furiously noting the questions and answers. Then we would re-create the show ourselves. A favorite was Wheel of Fortune (played with the wheel spinner from The Game of Life board game, of course, and a sheet or blanket tacked onto the wall that had pieces of paper taped to with the various letters of the puzzle). One of us got to be Vanna and turn those pieces of paper over for the enthusiastic contenstants (aka mom and dad).
3) Playing in the attic. My sister and I would spend HOURS re-arranging the attic so it became our playhouse. Old sheer curtains were crammed into the joists to create walls. Camping gear morphed into kitchen appliances. Boxes were arranged as furniture. We even had area rugs. Then we'd dress up and pretend to drive places up and down the sidewalk, ending back at "home" and all the visiting that had to be done at each others place. Very cool. It was then I realized that wearing pantyhose in the summer was a bad idea...
4) Vacations at Black Butte Ranch. Every summer we would rent a house there for a week or so, along with several other families/friends. We (the kids) had free reign of the ranch and would spend all day, every day, riding our bikes along the bike paths going from pool to pool (there are 4 pools in the resort). We would check in with our folks from time to time throughout the day, but mostly we were on our own. The freedom - ! It was a great way to do family vacations all those years, and I plan to do the very same thing with my kids.
5) If my teenage years count as childhood, then I'll include just hanging out with my best friend, Carrie. She and I did everything together back then. Just driving around, looking for stuff to do, laughing and listening to Prince or Def Lepard or Madonna or some such 80's rock star on the stereo. "Red sauce on the dash" (you had to be there) and just being ourselves together, talking about boyfriends (or lack thereof), hair dilemmas, school, and all the rest of critical teenage fodder for endless discussion. I miss her. She lives in Alaska now so I rarely get to see her, but she and her family will be here in August and I'm counting the days already.
// posted by MP @ 9:34 AM 
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