Conversation Ping Pong

Jumping rope reminds me of the art of pleasant conversation. Both require timing and practice.

As the rope slaps the pavement and whirs overhead, you must find your moment to jump in. There can be no hesitation or the rope falls to an awkward stop. Conversation and jumping rope both require rhythm and guts to enter in to the madness.

I invented a game I called Conversation Ping Pong to give my daughter some extra practice. The object of the game was to keep the conversation alive. We volleyed questions back and forth to each other trying not to let the conversation die in our lap. We pretended to be other people to liven up the dialog when our own lives paled. I'd ask her if her husband liked his new job and what her twins were up to. What were their names again? Our made-up chit chat was not only entertaining, but gave her confidence and taught her the rhythm of a good conversation.

Go Fish!

Bring relatives who live far away into your home each day by playing Go Fish with their faces in a home-made deck of cards. Simply have double prints made, trim them down to playing-card size, shuffle and begin.

"Do you have an "Aunt Jen?" GO FISH.

Don't Pave Paradise to Put Up a Parking Lot

Just below the surface of plush carpets, delicate china, and tidy rooms lies the basement, “the other world,” - a place belonging to children with its cement floors for roller skating, gray metal poles for shinnying, and exposed-joist ceilings where you can hang swings. A parallel universe where upstairs rules don’t apply. Parents open the door only to announce mealtimes or to toss down a toy that spun beyond the borders.

Why are we in such a hurry to fix up the basement so we can park ourselves in front of the big-screen TV? An unfinished basement is a beautiful thing - where no one minds if you spill paint or nail sheets and cardboard from the ceiling to make a fun-house maze; where Tarzan can swing from a rope and jump on old mattresses; where plastic swimming pools are filled with sand or beans. Consider what you could be losing before you pave paradise to put up a parking lot.

Cardboard Town

My sister and I made tunnels and houses out of refrigerator boxes spread all over the basement. It kept the neighbor kids and us busy for weeks planning and decorating our cardboard boxes.  It all culminated in a mega slumber party in our little cardboard town.

Playing Elevator in the Closet

Kids love small spaces. I used to play elevator in the closet, pushing all the coats to one side. Every 10 minutes or so my mom would come by asking for a lift to the second floor.

Loving You like a Sister

My daughter is an only child and I wanted her to have a sister like I do, so we turned out-of-state cousins into sisters by having the kids spend a big part of the summer together, vacationing throughout the year together and by paying for unlimited long distance on our phone so Emily, Elaine and Meg could watch cartoons ear to ear on Saturday mornings.