On the 11th Day of Christmas:A Few of My Favourite Things

When I were a lad, oh matey, did I ever love Christmas day!

Of course, I still do. These days, it’s a shear joy to watch my kids’ delite as they open their own presents while later I revel in the tastes of Christmas food. But as a kid, it was all about my presents.

Here’s my five favourites, the ones I remember giving me the greatest joy and the ones that also I played with the most…

1. The Six Million Dollar Man doll action figure, complete with bionic eye (you looked through a hole in the back of his head and objects far away looked slightly closer).

2. The slide that miraculously appeared in the backyard when I was five. Wheeeeeeeeeee! 

3. The Star Trek (TOS) phaser. Unfortunately in late 70s’ Australia, Klingon disrupters weren’t available, but a Federation weapon was nearly as good.

4. The spud gun – you know the pistol sized ones where you shoved one end into a potato, gouged out a bullet and fired it at your sister or the dog. The difference between winning or losing a neighbourhood battle could often come down to who’d brought the most spuds with them.

5. But the piece de resistance [French for best present ever] was the Super-8 movie camera I received in 1980. This black aparatus (with the screw-on handgrip) got one hell of a workout over the next few years. My friends and I made some of the wierdest films ever made – which were made all the better by the 1981 addition of a projector which we could use to actually dub sound onto them. Can you believe it? Home movies with sound?! The wonders of pre-video technology…

How ’bout you? What were some of yours?

Games for Car Trips

Long trips. In the car. With the kids. Hot day. Sound like fun? No? Well, my friend, you need some games.

Rich emailed me this awesome list of car games recently. Click the link for the full list.

Here’s just one of them:

String Figures: You wouldn’t think a simple piece of string could keep a kid entertained for hours, but in some cases it can. Pack a piece of string or yarn tied into a circle for your child and challenge them to learn to make string shapes like Jacob’s Ladder, Kitty Whiskers or to play Cat’s Cradle. If you don’t know much about string games, you can check out a book from the library or print out some instructions from a string game website.

Zombie Brings Out Best in Children

You know, being a Dad is so counter-intuitive at times. It’s like: do the opposite of what “should” work and you’ll get the effect you wanted but weren’t actually trying to get at the time. (The whole counter-intuitive thing is why I called my business Great Circle, but that’s another story). 

Act like an adult and your kids whine and rebel and complain and squabble and make bedtime a chore for the parents.

Act like a kid and …well … they treat you (and each other) with respect and even take responsibility for themselves. What gives?

Tonight, at 7 o’clock, overcome with an inexplicable sense of fun and silliness, I played 20 minutes of Zombie Tag. It’s basically as it sounds: I behave like a Zombie, shirt half over my head, eyes crossed, dragging one leg behind me and making sounds that probably had the neighbours phoning the police. Meanwhile my boys scurry away, staying just out of arms’ reach (until they get sick of being chased and want a turn at being the Zombie).

When the game was over, I said “Ok, Youngest Son, it’s your bedtime. I’m just going to wash a few dishes, then I’ll be in to read you a story.” Then Oldest Son (who was fighting with his brother and his mother only last night) says “It’s ok Dad. You don’t have to do both. You do the dishes and I’ll read him a story.”

Uh?! Did I hear right?

Oldest Son went on to sing a song to the youngest, having read him that bedtime story. Then he came and wiped up a sink full of dishes.

Meanwhile Youngest Son brushed his teeth having only been asked twice (not twelve or thirteen times) and even cleaned up the mouthwash he spilled instead of leaving it for me or mum to find when it had congealed…

Who needs Supernanny? My kids respond well to Zombies. Apparently.

Human Tetris – Japanese Style

I so want to play this! You may have seen this on Youtube or elsewhere, but for those who haven’t: enjoy!