Silly and fun things you do with your kids, that they will remember

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I have 4 kids: ages 7, 5, 3, and 7 months. I really enjoy playing with them. We read books together, play-wrestle together, etc.

But it seems that I’ve developed a reputation with my kids for doing some very silly things. In fact they often clamor and beg me to do these things. So what are they?

The Tickle Monster
At any given time, I just get this look in my eyes and an incredibly silly grin on my face, and my kids know that I’ve transformed into the “Tickle Monster” and they scream, run, and laugh as I try to get them. They absolutely love it.

Random silliness at the dinner table
The only way I can think of to describe this is that it is never quite the same thing twice. The only consistant thing about it is that it involves me after dinner doing something completely off the wall. My kids just eat this up (no pun intended).

For example, last week we were finishing dinner. My oldest boy asked for more jello and then said, “MMMM. Jello.” I immediately replied with, “MMMM, Jello… Arf Arf!!!”. My kids immediately broke out in laughter, so I did it again, but changed it to, “MMMM, Jello… Ding dong!” I kept it up doing different sounds, then after awhile doing that, I changed the food to something else. They loved it.

Other times it is other things, but whatever it is, I always get huge belly laughs from my kids.

So what are the silly and fun things that you do with you kids that really get a big belly laugh from them, that you think they will remember and treasure all their lives?

2

I do this, it doesn’t start out intentional, but eventually, it has become a part of our family collective history.

Fee Fi Fo Fum bellowed in a loud english accent sends the kids ( 5 and 3) into a flurry of giggles and runaway-hide mode.

Walter the Farting Dog book. We change fart to * Toot*, but this book sends this kids into gales of laughter. I was in tears of hysterics when I found it at the bookstore.

Mr. Rabbit and Ernie I talk to my children through two stuffed animals. Mr. Rabbit is a refined rabbit that speaks with an outrageous french accent and likes hopping so as his long ears bounce too. Ernie is a scholarly southern pig that has a penchance for morning breath and toots. My daughter has dolls that talk, but I’ve discovered that all my daughter wants to talk about is babies, tea parties and barbies. Frankly, fart sniffing pigs are funny. Barbies, don’t fart. They are too emaciated from purging. and I cannot stop myself from making Barbie sound like a co-dependant southern bell. “Oh, Ken, I will be your fag hag. I can’t wait to get married…living in the dream house all by myself is sooo lonely… GI JOE use to stop by, but since he’s gotten a kung fu grip, he has no use for me…wah wah wah it’s just so hard to support a palatial mansion and dress like a skank when I have no visible means of income.”
** One of Shirley’s Proudest Parental Brainstorms**

I have, and I’m not blowing my own horn, just pure bragging,::: and I am pretty friggin’ proud of this too created a pirate character that visits our home on a regular basis.
Black Jack DeBarberac is the dread pirate of the Raven which has magical powers that flies through the air, hiding behind clouds, and leaves behind a small treasure chest filled with (dollar store) goodies for good boys and girls.

This all started before Pirates of the Caribbean, I am proud to say, but that movie really fueled **Black Jacque ** sightings. Black Jacque was formed partly by Captian Feathersword ( only not so gayish) and the Dread Pirate Roberts ( without the mask or lounge lizard mustache), now he has Captian Jack Sparrow mixed in with him and his last name is from the heroine in Ever After. Savvy?

The kids take a globe, spin it and drop their finger down onto it and where ever that is, is where Black Jacque is. And then I try to impart a brief lesson of where ever that is in the world. ( " Oh, he’s over Siberia right now. That is a very cold place, long brutal winters." " He’s over Tasmania. Birth place of Errol Flynn and home to the Tasmanian Devil." etc. Simple.)

Black Jacque comes in the warmer months as he doesn’t ken to cold stuff, but it doesn’t mean that on warmer fall-winter days I can’t distract the kids in the car with a " Hey, doesn’t that cloud look like the Raven." and the diversion gives me another moments peace and it is the reason why ( at this moment) I will not put a VCR thingie in the van. It stops their imagination.
Having grown up with the constant visitor of death, illness, depression and hopelessness, I want to give my children warm fuzzy memories while letting them have fun within parameters
( fart jokes are ok at home. Elsewhere it is not polite. Etc) and as many hugs, kisses,stories and snuggling time as I can. I am hoping to pass down to them a sense of ’ life is the Theater D’Absurd’ , a sense of humor ( remember, we have German DNA we are battling here.) and possibly a good work ethic (this would be from my husband, god knows I sold my work ethic on Ebay for a buck ninety.)

They won’t be getting cooking secrets, scrap books or decorating tips to cherish from moi, as I lack in these departments.

3

Man, so much of what I do I hope he remembers. I have a certified daddies boy, and it irks my wife to no end, but I think she could be just as popular if she played as much as I do.

My son is 3 1/2. We:
[ul]Eat snow together. I show him the good clean spots.
Wrestle on Mommy and Daddies king size bed.
Make bathtime the messiest, silliest, wettest, loudest bathtime ever.
Run and hide from the Rileys in the mirror.
Build couch cushion mountains. (mommy’s not a big fan of this)
Have “guys night” when we eat junk food.
I never can find him when I go to pick him up from daycare, even though he hides in the same spot every day.
Windy Car! Open all the windows and scream!!!
Climb the daddy tree!
[/ul]
And that is just last night. I hope he remembers it all. I hope I do too.

4

The faavorite is Flying the Airplane. Grab kid at waist, turn so head is to your left, feet to right. he puts feet out and arms out and you spin counter-clockwise.
Then Fly in Reverse, you go clockwise.

5

Sherca days - my dad worked in the hotel industry when we were younger, and so he had irregluar hours, but at least once a month he’d have what was called a Sherca day, which is when he’d take us three kids out somewhere. Sherca is a weird amalgamation of mine and my brother and sister’s names (though my brother insists the “ca” comes from our last name, and my dad was just able to conveniently claim it came from my sister’s name after she was born!)

We’d go to the park, and play “Eye Spy” and have ice cream and fly kites, or he’d take us to the zoo or the Drive-in movies, or wherever. Lots of fun.

He also had a tickle-monster type of thing, called “The Claw” which STILL gets me giggling and squirming to get away (I’m 22)!

He tells the same jokes over and over, ever since we were kids, and that still makes us laugh. He’s a very corny person. We haven’t had a Sherca day in a long time - I should ask for one.

Every year on Christmas eve he’s read “The Night Before Christmas” to us, and we’ve all pretty much memorized it at this point, but we still ask for it. He’s used the same book ever since my brother (the oldest) was born.

We used to “dance” by standing on his feet and having him dance us around. Unfortunately, we are all too big for that now!

My dad wasn’t around much, but when he was there, it more than made up for his busy schedule. He always worked very hard to provide us with everything we needed (and sometimes, wanted), and he still does.

Believe me, your children will remember all of these things.

6

mnemosyne, I suspect your Dad is a fan of Baron Von Raschke (aka The Claw!)Quiz hime next time you see him!

7

It may be the opposite of what the thread asks, but this is a silly thing that was done to me as a kid. Maybe it will serve as a good indicator of what’s memorable.

My cousins used to call grandma “popo” when they were little, so while we were at grandma’s house sometimes she would turn into “Popo Monster” which is the same idea as the Tickle Monster, where she chases us down the hall acting like a monster and threatens to tickle us. We’d always run into the back bedroom and hide under bed. Sometimes she’d even get next to the bed and try and drag us out, but most of the time our hiding spot would fool her.

My grandpa wouldn’t be left out of the fun though. Sometimes while we were playing outside, he’d put on his gorilla mask and stand by the door. That’s as far as he needed to come for us to start running around screaming and giggling.

He would also have silly running gags, like how he would always talk about wanting to work in a chocolate factory when he grew up, and pretending to forget my sister’s name every time she came over and calling her “Phillis” instead (which is nothing like my sister’s actual name).

8

Weird face contests (everyone’s a winner!).

Daddy Monster who chases little kids around and drags away screaming any kid he catches. The uncaught youngster is always obliged to come and help the “victim” and then it turns into a tug of war.

Pirate Daddy, who runs around the playground structures looking for little kids to shanghai.

Sharky, who swims around the playground structures looking for tasty kids to eat.

Make-your-own-story time. Grab a story book with pictures, point to each new character and have the kids give them a name and ask what they’re doing. Make up the story to fit the activities and mispronounce the names a lot (so the kids can correct you).

How-long-can-you-hold-this-note contests. Only when driving in the van and mommy’s not around. My daughter’s got a pretty good set of lungs.

9

I think the thing my daughter (5-years-old) will remember most is her bedtime routine. She gets her drink of water and then I carry her to her room. She stands on the bed and we just hug for a few minutes. I’m never sure who needs it more, her or me. All I know is that we both benefit. Then she lays down and when she’s all tucked in she gets another hug and a kiss. As I’m leaving and I get to her door I say, “Goodnight Princess.” She replies, “Sleep tight,” and we both say, “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

Another one developed when I took her to see Finding Nemo. We went to a theater that’s about a 30-45 minute drive from home on a week night. While we were driving home in silence, I suddenly said, “Guess what…” She said, “What?” And I said, “I can speak whale.” Without missing a beat, she replied, “I wish I could speak whale.” Ever since that night, anytime there’s a prolonged silence, one of us starts the routine.

I’m really going to miss these little things when she grows up! But that’s why we do them… so we have the memories.

10

The Mama and Boy Wrestling Foundation. This happens when I have a lot of energy and have my hair put up. It’s hard to get small boys to stop playfighting, though, you have to find something else fun to do. Something involving a video or sitting down while Mama gets her breath back.

I love the pirate idea! How wonderful!

Ever so often I bring home a BIG box from work. In the past they have become boats, space ships, a mummy box (can’t spell sarcophagus), a castle, and a gift. He wrote “To Mama” on the top and when I opened it there was a BOY inside and WOW was Mama HAPPY! It’s what she always wanted! And she was going to LOVE the boy and FEED the boy and snuggle him and buy him TOYS and play lots of games. Made Mama’s day.

We do other things, just can’t think of more right now. I like to play simple games like Go Fish and Snap and I have a tiddlywinks set that comes in a wooden mushroom. We played that last night.

11

Oh, and the Monster Mommy who eats boys. She’s not very fast though.

12

Great stuff.

Shirley, I love the pirate game. Where did you ever come up with that name. It’s great!

Little Miss, I’m sure your kid will remember bedtime with you fondly and pass the tradition on to her daughter.

13

Bad jokes. I inherited my father’s sense of humor (which is NOT a good thing!), and I follow the old Muppet Show rule that a joke too bad to use once may not be too bad to use three times…

14

Dragwyr what a cool thread. Thanks for starting it. BTW, both me and my hubby get possessed by the tickle monster. Quite often in fact

Shirley you sound like a cool mom. I have 3 boys ages 7, 4 & 2 ½. Farting is an art form at my house. I so have to get that book. Or ask Santa to bring it.

Such neat ideas! I have a game that makes my kids crazy. When they have chattered as much as I can possibly stand and there is no end in sight I start doing parodies of what they say.
“Mama?”
“Llama? I don’t see any llama.”
“Mom, quit it!”
“Spit it?!?”
“I want some scrambled eggs”
“Camel legs?”

It irritates them but makes them laugh too.

Games we play:
Blanket Monster My husband lays down on the floor with a quilt over him and growls. When a kid gets too close he will reach out and pull them under the blanket and make munching noises. Then he either burps the kid out or says “BLECH!” and spits them out. It is hilarious to watch.

Circus Acrobats I lay down on my back with my legs bent up in the fetal position. A boy will then straddle my feet and I’ll grab him by the upper arms and flip him over my head with my legs. They LOVE this and can even do it backwards now. They do it until I’m worn out. Who needs a gym?

10 Second Tidy I love this one. If the house is a mess I’ll announce a 10 second tidy and set a timer for 2 minutes (yeah, I know it’s more than 10 seconds but they don’t know that) and we’ll all run around at breakneck speed putting things up. It’s great and then we all just fall where we are when the timer goes off and wheeze and pant like we just ran a marathon.

Hidey Monster I love playing hide and seek in the house but when the kids are too young to do it then I just growl and chase them screaming from the room. When they are out of sight I run and hide beside the door or behind a chair to jump out and growl when they come running back in. That makes them run out screaming and it starts all over again.

One more thing, while holding hands with my oldest I will squeeze his hand 4 times which stands for “Do you love me?” He then will squeeze back once for “Yes”. I squeeze twice, “How much?” and that’s his cue to squeeze as hard as he can. I love this since it can be done without anyone else knowing. We are teaching it to our 2nd boy now.

15

Just last night all the beige carpet in our aparment turned into “Thin Air” and we couldn’t walk on it. In the past the carpet has been hot lava, and inhabited by hungry alligators. Anything that involves sanctioned walking on furniture is okay with my 6 yo son.

16

My wife & I will plan weekend trips to some fun place, but not tell the boys. When they get in the car, they think we’ll be going shopping or something. Once we pull out of the driveway, we announce that we’re going to a ‘surprise’ like a theme park or something similar.

Also, if you find that they find something’s funny, run with it. My oldest found it hysterical that a mouse had build his home in the engine compartment of the car we had stored for the winter. I remeber saying something like “Boy, that mousie is sure going to be mad at us” as I cleaned it out & got the car started. Later, as we were backing out of the driveway, I said “Hey! Did you see that…?”
From the back seat I heard a bewildered ‘where…where?’.

I then answered, “Over there, under that bush…do you see it?”

“See what, Daddy?”

“It looks like a … a … a little gray Mousie. And he’s Shaking his Fist at us!!!” <pantomime of squinting eyes and shaking fist>

(squeals of laughter from the backseat)