I played the Deal or No Deal game and a five year old put me to shame

We were at a 5 year olds birthday party at one of those pizza and game places. There was a Deal or No Deal game where you could win tickets for the prizes. It looked like a lot of fun as I watched a 5 year old play. She won 70 tickets, not bad when the big prize is 200 tickets.

Then my son played and won 68 tickets. Not bad. I went and got some tokens to try. There was large group of people at the game when I got back with my tokens so I waited my turn. Well the pizza arrived before I got to the game so I went to dinner and listened to everyone talk about how many tickets they got and how much fun the game was. I had to play. So as soon as dinner was done me and my tokens headed to the Deal or No Deal game.

The five year old girl was playing again when I got there. I cheered her on as she won 150 tickets this time around. The last two cases were the 100 and 200 ticket ones, and she took the deal. Smart move the one she had picked held the 100 tickets.

Then I was up. I picked my case and off we went. To make a long story short the last two cases were for 1 or 10 tickets. I won 1 ticket. I could not believe it. I had to try one more time. Lets just say that I did good taking the 6 ticket deal because this time I picked the 2 ticket case. I am not playing that game again. But it was worth the laugh knowing that 5 year olds can kick my butt on that game.

(Picture is not of the ticket I won, but you get the idea, lol)

Just wish we had taken pictures of my face when I won my one ticket.

You know, Santa can see us!

We decided to go out for dinner tonight, a very rare treat for our children. They were very excited but for the most part behaved very well as we waited for the bus. Once we got on the bus and were actually on our way our three year old started to misbehave.

She was singing and jumping around on her chair, not the thing to do on a moving bus. Then she decided to bite the bus, a place where people put their hands. I gave her the “ONE, don’t put your mouth on that!”

She did it again, and so she got, “That is a two” and a stern look to let her know I was watching her. Clear as a bell you could hear our 5-year-old son tell her, “You know, Santa can see us!” That was it, she sat back on her seat with all the intent of a three year old to be good as gold. You could tell the parents on the bus, they were all laughing very hard.

At what point do kids have too many toys

As people walk into my home they see a living room full of toys. Everyone comments on how many toys my kids have. Then I have to let them know I have boxes more in the basement and we switch them every month or so. A look of shock is the usual response. My kids have a lot of toys. And every time we go out with them we tend to buy anther two, because we have two kids. So at what point do kids have too many toys?

Here are some clues your kids have too many toys:
You cannot store them, or put them away because you have run out of room.
Your kids only play with the ones on the top of the pile because it is too hard to get to the other toys.
You start storing in large tote boxes and don’t know what is in them or worse you have so many cars or dolls they actually fill up a tote box on there own.
Cleaning involves moving toys from one area to another and then back again.
You pack up 2/3 of the toys and the kids don’t notice.
You rotate boxes of toys every few months and the kids think you bought new toys because they don’t remember having them.
You buy batteries in the largest packages and still don’t have enough for all the toys that need them.
The pile of toys is bigger then your kids, or you.
There are so many toys that there is no space to play.
At Christmas you ask family and friends for toy storage instead of toys.

How do I know this, this is my home, what I live with every day and it is all my own fault. I did not have a lot as a child, I don’t remember ever having more then one or two toys at any point growing up. I tend to overcompensate by making sure my kids have lots of toys. For years I would buy up toys at garage sales, even toys that are for kids way older then mine. I would store them so that I had them when the kids got older. It was great; I could afford lots of toys I could not normally buy. It was fun to go out every weekend and see what we could find. The kids loved it and I don’t think there were many weekends in the summer we would not come home with new toys. Then I had to stop, we just did not need any more toys. The kids still ask if we are going because they live finding treasures as much as I do.

Then there are the Birthday, Christmas and oh I just felt like picking this up toys. Then there is the pitfall of; “Hey we are out and the kids have been good let’s go to the store and let them pick something out.” It is so easy to fall into the trap of picking up something new. I makes me feel good as a parent that I can give things to my kids I did not have as a child. However, there is a point when enough is enough, something has to give. A child can only play with so many toys at one time.

My solution, reduce the number of toys we buy. Let the kids keep their favorite toys in their rooms and the ones in the living room are boxed up toys and then rotated every few months. When the kids outgrow a toy put it out on Freecycle so some other kid can enjoy it. Is it working, not so well, you see Christmas is coming and we have a large box in the basement that has been slowly filling up all year with toys for Christmas. We just went from buying toys and giving them to the kids right away to “buying them for Christmas”. It is hard to say “No” to your kids or walk past a great toy sale when you are battling your own demons from childhood. It is a work in progress and it is going to take sometime, like 20 years, for me to fight the impulse to give my kids what I did not have.

Humour: When right is not right

I was explaining to my son how to properly carry an umbrella when not using it. I spent some time explaining about keeping the point down. No using it to point or poke at things, like his sister or using it as a sword. I figured he understood but just wanted to make sure. So I asked him, “where do you point your umbrella?” He quickly responded with “Down”. So I said “right”. Only to get this look from him that said,” what do you want down or right?” It made me think of all the other times using the word right leads to confusion and mayhem.

We have all had or heard these or similar conversations on road trips.

In the car:
“So I turn left?”
“Right”
“Right, so I have to turn right?”
“NO Left”
“But you just said RIGHT!”

At a rest stop:
“I did not get us lost, you gave the wrong directions. I asked if we turned left, and you said right. It is not my fault we in the wrong place!”

Then you have other questions that lead to some confusion.

“So the engagement ring goes on the left hand?”
“Right”

“So I am seating every one on the left side?”
“You are right, you are seating the grooms friends and family”
Only to get,
“Why are you seating the grooms family on the brides side? The left side is for the grooms family”
“But you said I was seating people on the right!”

“So I need to print this report?”
“Right”
“So I have to write the report?”
“Well yes you do have to write it, it has to be your work not some one else’s!”

Next time you find your self in a situation like this find the humour in it. It happens to all of us, and it is better to laugh at it then argue over it. And start using the words “you are correct”.