Tractors Are Great Fun...Yeah

I was on a specific mission on this particular visit to Walmart.  My husband had sent me to look for a particular game, Rock Band 4.  Not the big package, mind you.  The one with all the instruments.  Not that one.  No, I was to get a different version.  I think the package was purple.  Maybe.

Wandering the aisles, I searched high and low, before I realized that I was in the PS4 section.  Oops.  I finally found the Xbox One section...and Farming Simulator 15. 

What?

Beside my initial shock at the idea that someone would create a game involving tractors, oddly, came curiosity as to who would buy such a game?  My grandfather was a farmer.  There were animals to feed, crops to plant, baby animals to help birth, buildings to repair, and other stuff.  Not a whole lot of fun.

But I'm certainly not the center of the universe, that my wishes alone are what drives the market.  And likely that is a good thing.  Everyone relaxes in their own way. 

Obviously, someone else did think that a game about driving tractors would be fun.  They wouldn't have created the game, otherwise.  And Microsoft must have thought it was a good idea, otherwise they wouldn't have agreed to market this game as one of their own.  

Somebody must have looked at this game, sitting there, and said "Hot dang! That sounds like a heck of a good Saturday night!"

I suppose that it's an acquired taste.

Game Play

Games are where we are developmentally with my son these days.  It was as if a switch turned on in his brain, and now he is all about playing games.  The first game he 'got' was, of course, soccer, but this week he discovered...Tag. 

I am okay with my child playing games.  Games teach kids to work cooperatively toward a goal, encourage healthy competition, and are a big boost to the thinking skills that will be needed in other areas.  Games that involve physical activity also build stamina, muscle coordination and a whole bunch of other stuff that I am too lazy to go look up right now.  I am a big fan of games.

I am not a fan of Tag right now.  My son is one of those 'spontaneous' types who likes to start a game off in the middle of my morning pot of coffee, or while I am in the bathroom.  Zane will dart in and touch me, yelling "TAG!!!" and then he will be off to other parts of the house, all before my brain can form the letters "Wha--?"   I can't exactly leap up and chase after him, not without making a mess in either location. 

I tried explaining to my son that there is a time and place to play games, and that interfering with Mama and her coffee was a dangerous enterprise.  But Zane has that whole 'joie de vivre' thing going, and when he's gotta tag, he's gotta tag.  I don't remember ever being that way as a child, but he must have gotten it from somewhere. 

So I've resorted to trickery.  When Zane tags me, I yell, "I'm going to get you!!!"  He runs off, giggling, and I get to finish whatever I am in the middle of without further interruption, until he realizes that I'm not anywhere near to 'getting' him.  Then I hide behind a door, and when he runs by, I jump out and yell "TAG!" 

Then I run.  Okay, I don't actually run.  I walk really fast. 

What games do you play with your kids/grandkids?

Fun, Games, and Memories

Zane will often come to Larry or I and ask us to play with him. We usually oblige, and thus we both have put puzzles together, played with trains, and played with Lincoln Logs. We each have our way of play that we share with Zane. I think that it is important for there to be special memories of each parent, and play is the way that kids acquire those special memories.

My personal favorite game to play with Zane is "I'm Gonna Get You". In this game I put my hands up like claws and say "I'm gonna get you!". (Yes, this is a variation of the Tickle Monster game I mentioned in an earlier post)

If I catch Zane I get to tickle him.

Zane shrieks, and runs off, laughing.

I "hide".

Zane gets curious, and comes to look for me.

"RARRRRGGHH!" I jump out from behind whatever I am hiding behind.

Zane shrieks, and runs off, laughing.

Rinse and repeat.

Every now and then, Zane will try to turn the tables on me. He will run at me with his hands up, doing his imitation of a growl. I then make a big deal out of acting scared and running away. Zane's laughter fills the house. Which is the whole point.

When Zane plays with Daddy, he will try to explain to Larry what he needs to do to play the game.

"Daddy, you go hide in the doorway so I can see you," I overheard Zane telling his father the other day. After attempting to play the game "like Mama", and after failing to meet Zane's expectations, Larry wisely offered to play on the Xbox with Zane. They played some Lego Batman and Robin game for a good 20 minutes. It was nice to hear Larry talk to Zane about how to move his character, and it was nice to hear Zane asking questions about what to do.

It was a great Father-Son moment. Even for me.

RemembeRED: Tickle Monster

We played a lot of games when I was a kid. That is what kids did back then, of course. There was no Nintendo, or Playstation, or Xbox. Children actually had to use their imaginations to come up with ways to have fun. Short of imagination, we just ran around until it was dark.

One of my favorite memories is being at my grandmother’s house during the summer, back when my mother and her siblings were all still speaking to each other, before dementia dragged my grandmother off to her singular hell. I was in high school. There was lots of mischief to be had on a farm, if you know where to look, and when it was just my brother and I, we had lots of things to keep us busy.

My grandparents still did not have air conditioning, so the windows would be open to catch any stray breezes that happened along. There was one television, and it got exactly two channels, neither of them cable. Consequently, all of the grandchildren played outside as much as possible, whenever we visited. When there were family gatherings, all the grandchildren were put together and expected to amuse ourselves. On this particular occasion, it was my grandparents’ fortieth wedding anniversary, so everyone was expected to be there.

I am the oldest grandchild. This had never been brought home to me so forcefully before that summer; I found myself surrounded by what seemed to be thousands of children under the age of ten. This age gap at first appeared to be an insurmountable obstacle to good family relations, but I soon overcame their reservations with my improvisation skills. I made up a game.

It was called Tickle Monster.

The game was simple: I was the Tickle Monster, and I chased little kids. When I caught them, I tickled them. I caught a few of the slower kids as an example. The game was a huge hit. All of my cousins scattered to the four corners of the farm, to hide from the Tickle Monster. Soon I was standing next to the vegetable garden all alone.

I went inside the house, picked up the book I was reading, and dove in. Twenty minutes later, I could hear my little cousins calling for me. They had no idea where I was, and were searching for me near the tool shed.

I put the book down, quietly opened the screen door, and snuck up behind them.

“RARRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! I jumped out from behind the water tank. Little squeals, followed by laughter, and they all scattered to hide once more. I waited until I was alone, then went back inside to read my book, until I heard them calling for me again.

This cycle repeated for a good two hours, until the sun went down, the fireflies came out, and it was too dark for the little ones. When it was time for everyone to leave, my cousins hugged me and cried. I was, for that summer, their very favoritest relation.