The last two Sundays have found me boy-wrangling, and I couldn't be happier! Last Sunday morning I took Tommy and Scotty to the local bowling alley for bargain games. $1.50 per game! We've been playing bowling on the Wii, so it was kind of a crack up to watch them negotiate 'reality'.
The bowling alley employees volunteered to put up the bumpers and I accepted, you know, for the kids. *ahem* Here are our scores. I personally would have been running about 60% gutter balls without the bumpers. Our scores totally reminded me of something too...we lived in Fremont until I was in second grade. We were on a bowling league there! I remember liking it, and I also remember hauling around a small series of highly-shellacked miniature bowling
pins that they handed out as trophies each season. I should be embarrassed to share this, but my trophy was always for the same thing: "High Handicap". Ha! HaHa! Does that mean what I think it does? Did they give me the most generic, esteem-building but actually completely without merit most talentless trophy ever? I'm pretty sure they did! And that I kept it! For, like, ten years!Today I picked up three of Tommy's friends and the five us headed down to San Jose for a Yugi-Oh tournament. (It's much more casual than the "tournament" suggests, and we had a blast, in all truthfulness.)
They just take it all so seriously! And to see a bunch of 15 and 18 year olds, who show up later in the afternoon for the more hardcore event, it was all too much for my delicate heart. The older kids were so sweet with the young ones, taking the time to trade cards and play quick games with them before moving on to the 'big show'. Tommy brought a small calculator (it can get very complicated when you're attacking and casting spells and deducting defense and who knows what all, I just drool, but it means something to them) and it just about melted my heart when the high school kids whipped out their leather card boxes and the same Texas Instruments graphing calculator I use. haha!Here are some things I heard, from the back of the van, where four very rowdy boys were doing their level best to make me insane for the two hour round trip:
"I can see your underwear!"
"I'm not even wearing underwear!"
"Stop touching me!"
"I could kill somebody instantly. Welllll....not instantly, but I could make them really mad."
"I can synchron summon my earthbound immortal and then all the monsters in the graveyard will come back, and that blows your attack dude!"
Unintelligible squealing and thumping followed nearly every exchange.
Deep breath. In truth, I was honored to be part of their kooky world. I'm just going to take advantage of all this time with them, for as long as they keep inviting me. I'll just die when the day comes that they stop wanting me around, even as a chauffer. :(
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OK I am so old I don't even know what Yugi-Oh is. I do remember bowling though:) I won money on Sweeps night because I had such a high handicap and bowled better than usual that night. I felt smug because my team were always trying to give me tips about how to bowl. Who won the money???
ReplyDeleteEnjoy these times because the day will come when Tommy hops in the car and drives away to be with friends while you stand by the window with tears in your eyes. It is a Rite Of Passage.
I'm right behind you. Pie is Bakugan crazy.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... you know, Betty, I was trying to think of an equivalent from when I was young, but... Pokemon cards are similar, but that was more like 15 years ago (and still today!) and baseball cards, *kind of*, but not really because those don't *do* anything. Picture baseball cards, but like you use them to play a baseball game. And they're monsters. See? Easy! haha! And I don't get it, I really don't, but I know "that day" is coming too, so I try so hard to care, because I know he does.
ReplyDeleteI am IN LOVE with your bowling story, by the way. Swoon!
Cori-bean ~ Tommy was really into Bakugan I think the year before last, but I'm so grateful he's moved on to Yugi-oh because they aren't as expensive! He didn't get into these until he became a much better reader, though. We've just got to get these boys together...I predict thick as thieves!