Friday Night with the Grandkids

“How would you like to come over this evening about 7 and have a few games with your grandkids?” was the question from our daughter here in White Rock BC.  We couldn't resist such a thoughtful invitation.  They were ready when we arrived.  The game was, “Apples to Apples,” which they had bought from some money received as a Christmas present from their uncle and aunt.

We had a wonderful time; actually, it was hilarious.  Everyone was given 5 cards and on each of them was a short description for some word that would be announced to everyone.  The object was to select the best description for the word, from our cards, and then defend our selection, regardless of how unlikely it could be.

It was fun to see and hear our eight-year-old lad describe and illustrate the slowest thing on earth.  He said it was a tightrope walker and that he was painfully slow.  He was so slow that there was more action and excitement in looking at his watch as it ticked away the minutes, than to watch and wait for the tightrope walker to take his next step.  He pretended to be a tightrope walker, carefully taking his time in the heights of the circus tent, where one false move would be his downfall.

I argued with him that the slowest thing was a person washing the dishes, that it might take a day to motivate him or her to undertake the task.  Afterwards, one would wait while he or she ponderously scrubbed each dish and utensil with no enthusiasm.  Our daughter reinforced my argument, saying that when she and her brother were living at home, and he would finally be committed to washing dishes with her, he would suddenly decide that he had to go to the bathroom.  It would be two hours before he would resume his dishwashing obligation.

After that, it was our six-year-old granddaughter’s turn to say there was still something that was slower than a tightrope walker or a person who was asked to do the dishes.  She expounded on her concept of the slowest thing on earth.  Her word was “graduation,” so she said the slowest thing was to graduate.  She stood, illustrating with her arms, telling us that to get an education and to graduate was almost a lifetime proposition.  One had to start in nursery school, proceed to kindergarten, and then to grade one.  She went through all the grades to grade twelve where one would graduate and still have to go on to “universary,” as she called it.  Even after a few years there, the task of reaching graduation would only have begun in earnest.  To the family listening, we didn’t have to be convinced that she had won that round.

Other rounds of the game were played before the kids’ bedtime, and they were equally as hilarious.  Describing the biggest object, the prettiest, or the mightiest, were just as mind-boggling.  The evening was most enjoyable with everyone certain we would soon be having another Friday family game night, to determine the best one at comparing “Apples to Apples.”