Thursday 11 June 2020

When Scrabble turns ugly








lockdown hair at its finest


Oh look, a photo of me. When I started blogging I think I thought there would be lots of photos of me, but of course there never are because I am the one holding the camera. But on a dog walk by the river someone else held the camera (I was glamorously holding a poop bag of poop) and they snapped this, which was nice. Just so that they know I was there, you know.

The littlest boy had a birthday, which he loved, lockdown or no lockdown, there were still presents and ice-cream cake and a watermelon, which he begged me for. We are still working our way through it, they're quite sizeable aren't they?

He had new parkour trainers, a parkour t-shirt, a parkour hoodie and a parkour handbook. Happy as a clam.

We have pretty much done everything there is to do now, except play Monopoly, which is simply far too dangerous to be undertaken in the pressure-cooker environment of a semi-lockdown. Scrabble had its moment in the sun, but after initial hilarity (is hamteeny a word?) even that turned ugly. Some people felt that the whole point was TO WIN AT ANY COST and that it was a 'to the death' sort of a thing. I steered us on to Bird Bingo afterwards which has far less scope for violence and is beautifully illustrated.

If you have any suggestions for entertaining medium-sized boys, I would be glad to know them. The littlest boy made about 500 paper aeroplanes the other day and is thinking about getting a drone now, but again I fear that it may result in bodily harm or at the very least traumatise the dog. All I really want is some peace and quiet. Just two minutes would do.

18 comments:

  1. I loved seeing your photo, you look fabulous! And what cute photos of Bertie, what a darling furball. *H*A*P*P*Y* * *B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y*!*!*!* to your youngest son. It sounds like he was treated like a king on his big day. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  2. You look beautiful - poop bag and all! Happy birthday to your son; it sounds as if he had a wonderful birthday, despite the semi-lockdown. Who knew that Scrabble was a dangerous sport? I definitely think you should start a campaign to have 'hamteeny' included in the OED! Now you just have to come up with a definition - a small, inexpert performer maybe?! xx

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  3. Lovely to see a photo of you despite the poo bag in your hand. The latest fashion accessory. Ah board games...they can still cause angst in this household when all the men are round. As for scrabble, let’s not go there...it usually ends up with rude four letter words. Enough said. I’m amazed how well you are keeping your menfolk going and I agree a drone may be a risky idea. How about they all take up writing best sellers about life in lockdown. See who can sell the most copies ;) B xx

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  4. So nice to see you on the blog!
    You are lovely!
    And yes. Games. We play cards quite a bit. And play with Legos. Alot. : )

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  5. I always try to avoid the camera lens. I’m more the taking photo type than the model.

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  6. Ah yes, peace and quiet - good luck with that! ;o)
    Lovely to put a face to all your very humorous blog posts. It's tricky being the main photographer in the house isn't it? Selfies are just not the same!!

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  7. Bridge, Texas Hold'Em Poker .... or perhaps you wouldn't want to take them down that route.
    Cribbage. It should take them the whole of Lockdown to work out the rules.

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  8. Aren't the dog's ears so expressive. No suggestions for entertainment though outdoors looks best. x

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  9. Ah board games. I do quite well with Scrabble until the game passes the 1 hour mark and then I get bored and tetchy. Just put the damn words down already!
    Did make my boyfriend a Withnail and I board game (couldn't find one to buy in the shops) for his birthday. Might be a good thing for your boys to do? Make their own board games with their own rules, challenges, board and questions?
    Hope you get some peace and quiet soon.

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  10. I'm afraid I can't suggest any games as they all end in disaster one way or another. In fact my husband and daughter won't even play board games but the grandchildren always drag me into them as I think they know I will lose anyway, but when (if) I win, there is never any interest and they just pack the game away! Oh, the life of a Nanna.

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  11. So lovely to see you!!! And to see Bertie with his ears flapping free!

    Happiest belated birthday to your Littlest..I think as long as there are presents and cake, a birthday can't go wrong, lockdown or not.

    Board games are a slightly touchy subject here.....I'm undefeated at Catan, still, and everyone is refusing to play it anymore. I'm sick to death of Monopoly (and faintly put off by the rabid sense of acquisition), Clue is too much of a brain-strain at present and that about leaves us out of games...other than card games but they tend to be exercises in frustration as Some People don't pay attention.... We're thinking we need a far bigger selection. xo

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  12. Good post and pictures, the second one of Bertie has me laughing out loud. Monopoly and Scramble sound rather fraught to me, and I've never played Bird Bingo. Paper aeroplanes certainly take me back many years. I hope you get some peace and quiet. xx

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  13. Racing demon is, you do need a pack of cards each though all with different backs.
    Second the idea of getting them to design their own game, maybe with a (small) prize for the one that is voted the best when they've all been played?

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  14. I wanted peace and quiet today and after cleaning, getting Little B to type some sentences, more cleaning and some work I sat down to watch The Crown and got interrupted by my eldest twice, my husband once, Little B had an accident then Bear threw up on my clean carpet, frankly I gave up. I did not even get through 30 minutes of the show. You are beautiful my friend, even carrying a bag of poop.

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  15. Board games can get terribly SERIOUS can't they! The urge to win seems to be in all of us - even tiny granddaughter isn't averse to a spot of cheating if she thinks you aren't looking!!

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  16. You look fabulous, never mind the poo bag. We play a game called Gubs. It is fun and clever and amuses even this grumpy middle aged woman. I don't have any other suggestions for entertaining medium-sized boys... ran out of ideas a couple of weeks ago. Have you tried the chore of the day? It is not popular here but it does keep mine busy for 10 minutes or so. If by any chance you have any suggestions to keep a testosterone fuelled nearly 13 year old somewhat calm, I'd be interested to hear..... Bertie looks fun, I hope it is not too difficult to keep him tangle free. Have a good week x

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  17. Just five minutes peace... I remember that feeling. Beautiful photo of you!

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  18. Ooh, Bertie's ears! And you look beautiful, exactly my kind of person. I detested board games and card games as a child and I still do. I just don't see the point of concentrating on something for hours and then you have nothing to show for it. Antisocial, that's me. Encourage the boys to learn a foreign language, even if they just pick up a little bit of vocabulary. They can challenge and test one another on that if you feel that there should be an element of competition. There are a million apps and youtube videos for free.
    And let them build/knit/carve/sculpt something. Keeping your hands busy is as important as stimulating your mind.

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