Today over at Emmy’s we’re all sharing an embarrassing moment from our childhood. I really did try to think of one and came up with nothing; because I was so practically perfect as a child, you know. Not. Really I think it’s because as children we do things that seems so normal and commonplace that we don’t catch on to their absurdity till later in life when we look back and think, “Man, was I a weird kid.”
So then I started to think about the weird stuff my brother and sisters and I would come up with to pass the time, and I remembered: We were the kings and queens of make-believe.
Every Sunday we would visit the Lehi ranch home of my Granpa Eddie and Gramma Sue. After being served dessert, all grandchildren would file outside while the adults caught up on life. On their sprawling backyard two territories were made; the Cats and the Unicorns. If you were a boy, you were a cat. If you were a girl, a unicorn. Unicorns would naively wonder into the meadow to eat the lush grass but were always ambushed by those nasty brute Cats and have to run back to their homes before being taken prisoner. Sometimes the Unicorns would get captured and then the Queen Unicorn had to bargain with the King Cat to get her back. This was the most elaborate of all our make-believe games, and could go on for hours, and always did.
On evenings when we felt especially adventurous we would huddle together after being tucked in and organize a “Plan”. This meant that someone would wake up in the middle of the night and then wake everyone else up, too. We would sneak outside with our pillows and blankets and meet on the trampoline. From that point we would look at the stars, sneak food from the kitchen and tell scary stories or fall back to sleep. The whole trick was to not get caught and told to return to our beds. The ultimate thrill was to make it till morning.
The backyards of my childhood were landscaped with grass in some seasons and dirt and weeds in others. This made the perfect playground for mud pies and Witches Pond. On summer nights when we could stay up longer with the sun, lost children would wonder into the woods and discover a statue in the far corner of a pond. When the children would touch the outstretched hand of the statue the Witch would spring to life and yell, “Who has entered my pond!” I usually played the witch and could always get a scream.
As I’ve been writing and remembering these games, I still don’t think they sound too weird. In fact I think they’re pretty clever games to be made by eight-year old children. Maybe it’s about time Porter and his cousins learned the rules of Cats and Unicorns; I would love to see that one played out again.
So then I started to think about the weird stuff my brother and sisters and I would come up with to pass the time, and I remembered: We were the kings and queens of make-believe.
Every Sunday we would visit the Lehi ranch home of my Granpa Eddie and Gramma Sue. After being served dessert, all grandchildren would file outside while the adults caught up on life. On their sprawling backyard two territories were made; the Cats and the Unicorns. If you were a boy, you were a cat. If you were a girl, a unicorn. Unicorns would naively wonder into the meadow to eat the lush grass but were always ambushed by those nasty brute Cats and have to run back to their homes before being taken prisoner. Sometimes the Unicorns would get captured and then the Queen Unicorn had to bargain with the King Cat to get her back. This was the most elaborate of all our make-believe games, and could go on for hours, and always did.
On evenings when we felt especially adventurous we would huddle together after being tucked in and organize a “Plan”. This meant that someone would wake up in the middle of the night and then wake everyone else up, too. We would sneak outside with our pillows and blankets and meet on the trampoline. From that point we would look at the stars, sneak food from the kitchen and tell scary stories or fall back to sleep. The whole trick was to not get caught and told to return to our beds. The ultimate thrill was to make it till morning.
The backyards of my childhood were landscaped with grass in some seasons and dirt and weeds in others. This made the perfect playground for mud pies and Witches Pond. On summer nights when we could stay up longer with the sun, lost children would wonder into the woods and discover a statue in the far corner of a pond. When the children would touch the outstretched hand of the statue the Witch would spring to life and yell, “Who has entered my pond!” I usually played the witch and could always get a scream.
As I’ve been writing and remembering these games, I still don’t think they sound too weird. In fact I think they’re pretty clever games to be made by eight-year old children. Maybe it’s about time Porter and his cousins learned the rules of Cats and Unicorns; I would love to see that one played out again.
How 'bout you?
What did you make believe?
We never got tired of a game we called "Run Away From Home" where my mom was the wicked step mother and to get away from her we decided to pack up and leave and live in caves and trees and go on long journeys together. So funny!!
ReplyDeleteI loved Pillow land! We gathered together all the pillow / cushions and made a maze of mini forts that each of us lived in. Each of us had a job too. I was always the Banker and took great care in making the paper money. my name was always Bethany Spendlove. Sundays were the best!
ReplyDeleteYou childhood sounds absolutely magically wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThose do sound like fun games. :)
Thanks so much for sharing.
This post really made me laugh because I could really picture all of you doing it. I remember playing some awesome games at your house. My personal favorite is when your Mom would let you take all of her clean sheets and make hammocks on the frame of the old trampoline. Some favorites around my house were "Kids Court" and "Kids Auction." Apparently we could only have games if they had the word "kids" in front of it. We basically would charge each other with crimes (real ones, like hitting someone or screaming. What can I say, we were big on justice?) and then act as attorneys, judges, and defendants. Usually Kelly was the defendant, and she was usually guilty. LoL! Kids Auction was when we laid out all of our junk and tried to barter or get money for it from our siblings. Good times!
ReplyDeleteImagination is a wonderful thing. I think we used ours more because our toys did less. That isn't to say today's kids lack imagination, it is there. I have seen it. Thank you for this sweet story. I loved it. My name is Lourie and I found you on Emmy's blog. Mine is there too.
ReplyDeleteAwesome games! I think it helps a lot to have siblings so close in age. :)
ReplyDeleteI have such a bad memory, so I can't recall details of the games, but I do remember being pirates and the trees in the front yard were our ships.
We also made a lot of villages where each tree or other landmark was a place of business or houses.
Inside, we had bunk beds and another twin bed (my little brother and sister and I all shared a room) and we would play "hot lava". We would have to jump from the bunk bed to the twin bed and back without touching the ground. One of us would be the lava dragon who would eat whoever fell in the lava.
I agree... backyards are the greatest... who needs toys? I remember only getting bikes, books and the backyard to play with. LOL.
We had "Car Town", which was built under a huge orange tree with gnarled roots. The Roots were highways and we dug out roads and houses that the cars lived in. When the irrigation would come, we would have to rebuild it because of the "flood". But, rebuilding was part of the fun! It was a nice, cool place to play all day in the summer.
ReplyDeleteI also remember irrigation surfing...that was a blast! We would play my dad's Beach Boys music and act like we were surfing in CA. Too funny!