Blending the Old School Classic with a New Age Twist
Let me set the scene: It’s Thanksgiving and you are stuffing away at that turkey. Your mother-in-law is reminding you on the phone about that special ingredient you forgot in the recipe that kept it from being perfect last year. Your husband is slaving away in the yard as it needs to look spick and span for the family that only visits once every November. The preteen is huffing and puffing about cleaning the room and sharing his latest Wii games with those "annoying" cousins. Finally, there is the little miss four year old, giving you those puppy dog eyes that are meant to portray her boredom as those long, sad sighs puff from her little chest for dramatic flair.
So what’s a busy mom with only two hands, two eyes and one overexerted brain to do? Well not-so back in the day, my mother used to sit me down with a good old fashioned Winnie the Pooh coloring book and start a competition of which of the cousins was most successful at coloring within the very well-endowed Pooh Bear’s anatomy. All I needed were my five fingers and a box of crayons. I would select my favorite colors, envision the end product and begin my masterpiece. Ah, the good ol' days!
The new age technology days are obviously a bit different and certainly challenging for a mom like me. Last year, one of my friends and her family joined us for Thanksgiving dinner and I asked her adorable six year old if she would like to read or color and she looked at me as though she was looking at ET for the first time and said, “No thank you…I brought my SIMS.” SIMS, as in the game which allows kids to interact and build a virtual family at the expense of the real one. My, how the world has changed.....
So this year, I decided as my four year old continued to glare at me, that I need to find a compromise that blends the old school classic with a new age twist. Outside of virtual games, WII and DVD versions of family feud, I also decided to throw in some old school competition among the kids with drawing, coloring and Legos. A healthy dose of competition especially amongst cousins already warring for Gammy’s attention is nothing but pure entertainment in a houseful of adolescent energy.
Well, now if only entertaining teenagers and bickering sister-in-laws were that easy.
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