Larry, 11, Curly Sue, 8, and Moe, 6, have a game they play called "Yummy Feet." Being merely mom to The Hat Trick and not one of its insiders, I'm not privy to the rules of said game but it seems to involve one-third chasing the other two-thirds' feet. Pretending to bite them, I believe. Happy times.
"Get Away From the Bear" also is a favorite. Another one I'm not entirely sure I could play without guidance from the 11 and under set, but this one seems pretty straightforward, with one-third -- The Bear -- trying to bite the other two-thirds. "Haunted Tag" and "Secret Agent" are other recurring games, but I think I have those pegged. Think regular tag and hide-and-seek played in the dark with flashlights. As far as I'm aware, no biting. (Would that be "Vampire Tag?")
I thought about teaching The Hat Trick some good, proper, old-fashioned games some day. In my mind, it went something like this:
Me: Okay, who wants to learn to play jacks?
The Hat Trick: Me! Me! Me!
Me: All right, gather 'round. The first thing you do is (consults three-page direction sheet from jacks set) um...just a minute...
Larry: Hey, look how high this ball bounces!
Moe: Let me do it! Hey, cool! Let's try it on the kitchen floor. (Chases the ball around the room and down the stairs.)
Me: NO! Quit bouncing it. First you scatter the jacks. Not over the railing! (Collects jacks from stairwell.) Just scatter them on the floor right here...
Curly Sue: These jacks are poky. I bet they would make holes in paper. (Leaves to get some.)
Me: Come back here! Now listen...stop bouncing the ball. Then you (consults the paper) um...bounce the...NOTLIKETHAT!
Larry and Moe: (in awe) Ooh. It floats.
Me, fishing the ball out of the now rubber-flavored soup on the kitchen stove: Sit down! Where's Curly Sue?
Moe: She's poking holes in paper.
Larry: Making a butterfly. I wonder how high it would bounce in the driveway?
Moe: All the way up to the sky! I wonder if it would float in the bathtub?
As Mark Twain says, I'll close the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene. And add that my children still do not know how to play jacks or any other good, old-fashioned game with proper rules. I did draw a Sharpie circle on the back of a mat so they could shoot marbles, and they made up their own games to play with them. That's been the extent of my contribution.
Meh. Sometimes it's better when Mom doesn't know the rules anyhow.
