17-07-2014, 07:58 PM
12
Re: Family at play
Our youngest gift (child) joined us when I was forty and my husband was 43...and now, eighteen years later...many such visions come to mind. They would, say, head out into the nearby semi-arid countryside with nothing more than a thermos of water, and return with walking sticks, interesting stones and portions of wood, sunburns, dirty and ripped clothing and skin, and GRINS.
18-07-2014, 11:15 PM
15
Re: Family at play
Originally Posted by Azz
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Parenting is such a huge responsibility - I don't know why half the people out there bother having kids when they can't be bothered looking after them properly!Nice pic!
(oh geez, I just noticed the OP was from 2009! Well I said once before most of the time I've never looked at the dates, lol)
20-07-2014, 09:37 PM
16
Re: Family at play
May I offer some small suggestions for entertaining the little treasures during the long summer holidays.Holiday Games for harassed Parents and Grandparents
1. This is for that fractious toddler. Take a piece of sellotape or double sided tape the stickier the better. Roll of fold it into a small square or ball. Stick it to the toddlers finger and watch him/her try to put it down.
2. Cowboys and Indians. Before their arrival purchase a cheap feather duster and shorten the stick to a few inches and tie a ribbon to it. Tie a handkerchief around each child’s neck for a neckerchief. Explain they are cowboys who have been caught by the Indians tie each child securely to the leg of a dining table with their hands behind them. Every half hour or so tie the feather duster round your head and whoop Indian fashion and come back into the room where they are, dance Indian fashion around the table a couple of times then depart to carry on with what you were doing for another half hour or so.
3. For this you need an old fashioned tin bath which you place in the garden, a parched lawn is ideal. Explain to the children that this is a canoe on a crocodile infested river and to get out is to die. Further explain that there are many waterfalls on the river and they will need to bail constantly, for this give them each a small cup. Half fill the bath with water with the children in it, carry on with what you were doing but every so often throw a couple of buckets of water over them to simulate the waterfalls. It is best to terminate this game when the children start turning blue.
4. For this you need an empty room and a friend or colleague. Make a show of placing lots of tins and bottles on the floor and tell the children that there will be a prize for the first child to make it from one end of the room to the other without knocking over any of the objects on the floor. Take the children into another room and blindfold them. Whilst you are doing this your friend removes all the obstacles. Lead the children carefully to one end of the room and tell the to start. If you have managed to down a couple of gins the sight of the children avoiding non-existent obstacles can be hilarious. Every time a child gets near the end creep out and place a bottle in their direct path so that it is knocked down and the child has to start again.
5. While you have got the room empty blindfold the children with their hands tied behind their backs. Explain that a present on a string will be suspended from the ceiling approximately three inches above their heads. The first child to hit it with their head will win the prize. To get a bit of time for yourself it’s a good idea to let them jump about for an hour or so before actually suspending the prize from the ceiling.
6. Another game to win yourself some peace. Take the children to one of those new maize mazes or failing that one of the traditional ones. Make sure you put a couple of folding chairs and something to read in the boot. When you get there explain that because you’re older you will give them a start. As they enter the maze one of you counts loudly to 100 while the other fetches the chairs and books from the car and sets them up by the exit from the maze. Every so often take it in turns to walk round the outside of the maze to different spots and call out you need to be over this way, this will prolong their escape. After a while you can just sit by the exit. When they eventually find their way out ask them what took them so long.
20-07-2014, 10:14 PM
19
Re: Family at play
Originally Posted by spitfire
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Joke alert, when I first saw the photo, I thought how nice it was that a troll let these lovely folks into his/hers home.
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