farewell old traditions, hello teen Christmas years!

This year christmas break feels a little bit different. It will continue to do this, I am sure, as my kid grows up and becomes her own person. We took down the Advent calendar because she has aged out of it. We talked about not having to go sing carols. We move the elf when little kids are coming over, but even the elf is just a traditional formality.

Stockings are still hung. Presents are wrapped with bright labels and bows. There are a few things I refuse to give up yet: walking the lights at Sinnissippi gardens, a full blown pj day with movies and snacks, and baking. The rest just doesn't bring all the feels like it used to. We have already checked off all 3 of my non negotiable winter break fun activities, so we are on the right track.

Yesterday we sat in our pjs most of the day and read books, played games, made Chex Mix, and binged Netflix. I changed from pjs to jeans for a few hours so we could head out for some indoor mini putt, but then it was right back home to fresh pjs and more lazy fun. The rest was appreciated and welcomed. Since we live so close to town, a walk to DeeDee's coffee shop for cocoa is always an easy way to support local and get some fresh air. Two little kids I know got a Grinch themed cocoa with a smile in town.

Then we pulled out the games we insist on keeping, yet never play. Sometimes, the slow lazy days are the best ones. I have some fresh snowmen in my yard, a stack of games on the table for down time, and a list of baking to get to. That sounds like a good time, if I do say so myself. Breaking away from what we knew to explore the older, more mature holiday options is actually quite nice. And I have a second set of eyes, hands, and wrapping partner now.

As weird as it is to not force her to smile next to Santa or throw glitter and oatmeal in the yard for those dang reindeer, now we are content knowing she got her turn and it's time to share that love with the younger kids. We have enough Littles in our life that we are okay with it. I will take my cocoa/pj/game day any day of the week knowing it means I am with my family and we will laugh, play, and enjoy the time together. Time for newer and better traditions. It's finally time to just sit back and watch the fun unfold naturally instead of forcing smiles, forcing myself out of bed to move the dang elf, and forcing what we "have" to do instead of what we GET to do.

Bring on the games and cocoa. Bring on the pjs. Bring on the family fun days. Farewell glitter. Farewell elf. Farewell stress of trying to make it all perfect. True perfection lies in happiness and I am a very happy, very content mama.

when you're pleased to discover you're raising a good winner AND a good loser

You always have to wonder what is going through your kid's heads when they compete. We have a kid in a competitive sport. We learned that Illinois has a high amount of competitive gymnastics teams, almost more so than any other state! Due to this, we try to stay neutral on winning and losing. We try to remind her to simply try her best and we are proud no matter what.

Last week was our week for nationals. She went in with a big smile and a positive attitude. We reminded her to try hard, do her best and listen to her coaches. We said she will do great. We said we are proud no matter what. 

Well... this kid went out and KILLED IT on the first two events! I mean, trophies and cheers and all the things. It was amazing to witness. She was in her zone. We whooped and hollered and gave hugs and cheers all around. 

Event 3 and was good, but not the best. I hesitated to start the conversation, but she knew. She flat out said the warm-ups didn't feel right and that threw her off. She said she didn't do great. When the total scores came out she began jumping up and down saying, "I'm not last! You guys, I'm not last!" I was waiting for tears or frustration, but nope. Again, this kid continues to amaze us. She accepted that the routine didn't go great and was more excited that she placed at all. She's my "glass half full" kid.

Event 4 should've been a landslide. Unfortunately, it didn't go that way and she knew it. You could see it on her face. I wanted to run out there and give her a big hug, but we had to wait for her to come back to us. When she came back she was able to tell us where she made the mistake that resulted in her lower score. She patiently waited for the overall scores and rankings. She ended up POINT TWO POINTS from getting a medal. Point 2!!! She just kept saying, "Point 2!?!" 

All in all, it was a great week. She smiled and accepted her trophies. Then she smiled and accepted her ribbons. She thought through each routine to identify successes and mistakes. She wants to continue and is ready to head back to the gym.

After all this, I don't have to fear the tearful hysterics or the excessive gloating. We can handle the good and the bad news. We smile and nod graciously. We reflect. We smile and shake hands. We can do this!

it's Clue 2.0

The 80s and 90s are back, ya'll!!! Someone I know got a Walmart giftcard and used it to buy Clue. She acted shocked and amazed that I have heard of the game. And played it. AND seen the movie!

A $10 giftcard and a $10.88 game. Well worth the dollar I fished out of my wallet. We brewed some hot beverages and played the inaugural round. Then Friday we played as a family. Minus the graphics, it is just as I remember! Everyone now looks fancy. The rooms have better decor and the clue cards are more entertaining, but still the same!

I am so glad that we have a kid who plays games. She plays card games, board games, and (on occasion) video games. She is always down for some friendly competition. And She loves nostalgia. This includes retro games. 

I say it's Miss Scarlett in the dining room, with a candlestick!

the game you will love to play

So there's this game that our aunt taught us how to play. It's called Tenzi. It's one of those games you either love or hate. Well, we love it! All it has is dice. Easy enough.

There are four different colored sets of dice. There are 10 dice per color. Roll the dice all one number and stack all ten dice. First one to stack them all wins. No thought, no set up, no time commitment. 

After a year of playing it the same way, we decided to crack the instructions manual. There are variations. Lots of them. We spent New Year's Eve playing Stealzi, Splitzi, and Tenzi tower. Along with snacks, Sequence, and music, I would say it made for a family fun evening. 

We haven't gone out for a New Year's eve in 4 years and no one seems sad or upset about it. Why dress up when you can hang out with your kid and play mindless games and eat excessive amounts of pigs in a blanket?! If you need a fast game or something easy, this is your game. No one needs to be able to count or read. FUN! 

rubik's cube has a game!

We got this game because Y care has it and, "It's just SO fun!" It was worth the effort. If you need to just sit down and take a quick 10 minutes, then this is your game. There's no logic, rhyme, or reason to this. It is simply colors and patterns.

You put the tiles in however you want and leave an empty spot in the middle. Then shake the plastic case and see where the mini tiles land. The first person to move their big tiles to look like the mini tiles without picking them up or pulling them out wins. Super simple. We both notice colors, patterns and designs well, so this is a fun little game to play. 

Summer is coming to a close so we will be playing as much as possible. This includes games and other fun. I couldn't handle a real Rubik's Cube so this works!

making your own fun

The one thing my daughter misses most is Coral Cove, a bouncy house-arcade in our area. After some light googling, I came up with 7 games I could make from things we have at home. Luckily we had tons of stuff, from the recycling bin to the craft room, to make some fun games I knew she would love. 

Easter buckets are aplenty, so Bozo buckets was a must. Flipping a chair over and cutting the center out of paper plates = Ring toss. We used the mini basketball hoop she made for STEM and a laundry basket with a bouncy ball for mega hoops. A rope with a hook attached became a fishing pole. I glued toilet paper tubes to plywood and she rolled a ball across it, trying to get the ball through each tube. I even made a Plinko game by gluing lids to a piece of plywood and putting small containers at the bottom.

Everything was labelled with construction paper and marker. I even chopped up little game tickets and tallied her points. It took one hour to gather, label, and create. The choices were 1. More TV 2. More reading 3. Go to bed early. So creativity won! I created Covid Cove and she thought it was hilarious. 

She patiently used her tickets and helped me tally her points. Her prize list was minimal, but she got to choose from candy, pencils, cookies, ice cream, a makeover or a necklace. She ended up with a little of all of it and an hour of play later she had a big, happy smile.

For some reason, this was a long week. I had a moment. She had a few moments. I wanted to end the work week on a positive and this worked! The dress for the day was onsies and the bar was set very low for expectations and standards, high for laughter and entertainment. I managed another week of pulling off working-momming-quarantining :) 

Thank you Jimmy Fallon!

I am too old to stay up and watch the funny late night shows. Instead, I watch clips on Facebook while I should be doing productive things :) I watched Jimmy Fallon and Carrie Underwood do the Fit of the Fittest challenge the other day. 

One of the challenges looked like hopscotch with 3 rows across instead of just one box combined with Twister. So, on a gorgeous (almost) spring day, my daughter and I went outside and I tried to recreate his game. I used words instead of pictures to make it easier.

We ended up laughing our butts off, falling over and having a grand ol' time. Who knew dollar store sidewalk chalk and a knock off Fallon game could create so much fun!? We will definitely be doing this again. I mean, why not?!

And, low and behold, it poured rain all night so I was unable to take pictures. All I know is that we had fun outside together with minimal effort. And that's all that counts!