Tonight was Eric’s extended-family get together. We all met at Marc’s new house (and it was awesome to have 20 people there and still have lots of room for the monkeys to run around and play. They lasted until after 10PM with no melt downs or signs of tiredness. I was really impressed…)
We have always played a rousing game of White Elephant at these events. Up until tonight, the monkeys have been either too young/oblivious or were simply asleep during this event, but Owen was well aware of it this year.
Eric and I each bought Nerf guns with foam bullets as our gift.(There are lots of teenagers at the party…)
When Owen and Jack saw me wrapping the guns, they were very excited. Presents! I tried to explain that only the adults were playing the game. That didn’t go over too well. So, I added that Owen and Jack wouldn’t like this game. They were not convinced. I finally had to tell them that White Elephant was a game that was really mean and that people stole your presents when you played. That satisfied Jack who was no longer interested. Owen however, needed more information. He wanted to know how a game with such mean rules could exist!?
In the end Owen had enough understanding that there was still the possibility of returning home with the guns. He didn’t really understand why we would want to play, but the guns were just too tempting to talk Eric or I out of playing.
Before the game (and several times during the game - when Owen could break himself away from the Lego kit that he was building), Owen suggested that I open the gun on my turn. He also suggested that I hide it behind my back after my turn was over.
He wasn’t too pleased when I stole a $25 movie gift card for my initial turn, but was quite excited when someone stole the card from me on the next round. He jumped up and pointed to the present I had wrapped at home. I opened up the gun and Owen came over to pat it. “Do you get to keep it now?” he asked.
A few turns later, the gun was stolen from me and Owen’s disappointment was obvious on his face. I could imagine his little brain repeating the rules of White Elephant to comfort the disappointment he was surely feeling… Suddenly he jumped up and was so excited because it had dawned on him that there was still another wrapped gun left. How could I not pick it?
Owen watched the game closely after that. He was again worried when he saw me handing the gun away near the end of the game. His worry turned into pleasure when he realized that the thief was his daddy. Suddenly Owen had a new best friend…
At the end of the game we had one gun and a Trump board game that has been showing up in this White Elephant for years and years. The monkeys were so excited that we got even one of the guns [after my bleak picture of the probable outcome of the game] that they actually agreed to share it. As I opened it for Owen to use first, the other gun appeared in Jack’s hands. Eric’s Aunt Hazel, who raised her own brood of three boys, had mercy on me (or maybe she wanted to keep it out of the hands of her husband…I don’t know). All I know is that it ended very happily for my two little monkeys.
Oh, but the secret best part of the party??? Marc’s dryer! It is a “steam dryer” so I brought over my duvet cover and washed and dried it. Do you know how exciting it is to have a duvet cover come out of the dryer with virtually NO wrinkles?!?! Well, if not, just be excited about the Nerf guns then…
No comments:
Post a Comment