Grammy and I were at work yesterday, doing our thing, when she got a text from your Mom. It looked like this:
It was a note, being written by you in real time, intended for me. It said:
Play “Jail”
Play “Statue”
“Put Madigan to bed”
“touch the tree”
Ha!
It was a list of games you wanted to play with me when Grammy and I went over to babysit!
I’ve talked about Jail before in a previous blog, so you know what that game is all about. It’s one of the games I’ve made up in my many visits to your house. It usually ends badly when you and Camden get out of hand with excitement. You love it nevertheless. This time, Madigan kept getting inside the jail and disrupting things, which didn’t go well.
Statue is a new one that we played in December for the first time. One of us (usually me) is the “curator” of the museum… he/she faces the wall as the other players face the curator… only far away. When the curator isn’t looking, the “statues” move forward… closer and closer to the curator. The object of the game is to reach the curator and touch him/her and then the roles switch. The fun part is that while the statues are moving forward, the curator can turn around and catch you in the act of moving… if he/she sees you move, then you have to go back to the beginning.
When the curator turns around, he/she can “inspect” the statues to make sure they are real. During the inspection process, the statues have to be frozen and not move. That makes for some interesting exchanges! You guys end up arguing:
“You moved Ainsley.” Or “No I didn’t!”
“Put Madigan to bed” was undoubtedly called out on your note so that she would be removed from the scene and we could play even more successfully without interruption. So funny you called that out specifically.
Touch the tree is a new game YOU made up in December. The goal is to walk toward the Christmas tree in a funny way and then let your butt touch the tree. You and Camden love anything having to do with potty talk or butt jokes, so this is a big hit. Of course this time around, the Christmas tree was long gone and we had to use a plant!
We ended up playing another one of my made-up games… called “Find the Object.” I draw little pictures of various objects around your house then you and Camden look at the drawings and have to locate the objects. You love it. In fact, you had more luck finding objects than your brother!
When your Dad came home, you didn’t want us to leave so we played one more game: “Mother may I,” or in my case “Father may I.” This has rapidly become a favorite since its debut in December.
I thought that was it for games, but when I finally sat down and paid some attention to Madigan, moving her back and forth via my “One-Two” pulling up and down while she’s standing on my knees game, you decided you needed a turn too!
All I can say is you keep me very, very busy Miss Ainsley, and there is not one moment of rest. But you know what? I love it….:-)