colorful balls
February 8, 2007
Before my sister-in-law and mother-in-law came over to babysit for the kids I bought a bunch of new Playdoh. We haven’t had any in a couple of months when the last bit of it dried up and I threw it away. Since they have been deprived of it, I figured that they would have a couple hours of relative quiet, non-arguing, non-competitive fun.
That lasted until the first can was pried open.
My mother-in-law had the great idea of having a Play-doh building contest. She would be the judge. Whoever built the best thing would win a dollar.
What? Why? Dear God, WHY?!?
There was just no way for it to end well.
Guess who won? Go on, guess.
Did you guess the 12 yr old? Then you would be correct.
Of course there are no accomodations or allowances given for the younger children, don’t be stupid. I guess whatever world you live in where turning an innocuous afternoon of playing with dough into a competetive venture, complete with monetary prizes, doesn’t allow for that.
It does explain an awful lot about my husband though.
Personally, I think that my daughter should have won. She rolled her Playdoh into a long snake like shape, stood up on her chair and waved it in front of herself and yelled, “Look, I made a penis!”
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Oh, your daughter should have won. And more than a buck!
February 8th, 2007 at 11:39 amThank you, thank you, thank you!! I’ve laughed right out loud today reading this, which is a downright miracle. Why a miracle…? Currently we have a house full of influenza and a diet consisting entirely of Tamiflu, oranges, crackers, and Advil. Thanks for the reminder that this mommy stuff is soooo worth it!!
February 8th, 2007 at 12:00 pmAHHH!!!!! I lurv your daughter!!!
That is the funniest thing I have heard all week.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:02 pmShe’s a girl after my own heart. My daughter seems to think an appropriate afternoon activity is “looking at Sammy’s penis.”
Um. No.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:04 pmI am convinced that your daughter is indeed, the cutest little girl on the planet. Give her a buck from me. Put it on my tab.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:05 pmAfter parenting 18 years, I recently had a playdough breakthrough. I now let my kids MIX. It invariably all turns that putrid shade of brown. But I’ve decided I no longer care. My new motto is ‘a new pack is ony $3.’ The freedom of it.
Mary, who gets out the play dough much oftener tese days
February 8th, 2007 at 12:06 pmShould we expect any thing else from a sister overrun by brothers? I think not.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:07 pmShe made a penis. That is probably the funniest thing I ever heard!
I am usually a lover of contests with the kids. Especially ones like back rub contests and foot rub contests and clean your room the fastest contests. But when it comes to anything artistic I shy away!
February 8th, 2007 at 12:11 pmLove the pictures! We have some play-doh around here somewhere…
February 8th, 2007 at 12:23 pmThat is too funny! And, yes - your MIL. What WAS she thinking?!
Chris, have you tried the Crayola Model Magic? http://www.crayolastore.com/product_list.asp?SKW=MODELMODEL
A teacher friend of mine introduced me to it, and I love it because it doesn’t flake off and adhere to everything (specifically carpet!) like Play-Doh does. It’s also kinda cool because you can mold it into shapes, and then if you leave it out to dry, it hardens into a kind of hard-foam-like substance. You can use markers on it (when dry), press handprints into them, or trinkets/jewels, and make ornaments out of them. Loads of fun!
February 8th, 2007 at 12:40 pmSo, am I correct in assuming “Playdoh building contests complete with cash prizes” will actually NOT be listed as one of your February Family Fun Day activities????
Too bad, because if I thought for one second one of *my* girls would “make a penis” and make me laugh like I just laughed reading this entry, I’d break out the Playdoh in a heartbeat.
Sadly, my own children are lean more creatively towards the “it’s a ball!” “it’s the sun!” “it’s an orange! “it’s a insert-name-of-random-round-object” variety.
February 8th, 2007 at 1:07 pmI can’t believe she did that.
I think the penis should have won too, if you’re insane enough to declare a contest between siblings that is.
February 8th, 2007 at 1:40 pmYour daughter WOULD have won, had she had the G-string in which to stuff the dollar bill.
Seriously I think your daughter really stole the show. Good for you.
Now, how does this compare to my 8 year old son flipping me off this morning, sans play-doh? It doesn’t but I just remembered this little gem, so I better go blogging…
February 8th, 2007 at 2:08 pmOK, not only did I choke out a laugh so aggressively loud that it turned into a snort (so attractive in an academic environment), but I had to call my co-worker over so she could laugh until she turned the color of a pickled beet.
February 8th, 2007 at 2:21 pmwell she should have won, as long as it was accurate LOL
February 8th, 2007 at 2:25 pmBwa ha ha ha ha haaaaaa!!!!!!!!
February 8th, 2007 at 2:30 pmFunny funny girl! Definitely deserves first place in my book.
Yeah, I can’t believe she thought having a contest was the best call to make either.
February 8th, 2007 at 2:39 pmYour daughter is too adorable… I’m still laughing from when she told your husband he was an asshole!!!
February 8th, 2007 at 2:54 pmClearly she is holding her own with all those brothers!
Oh, owlhaven shares my past and present. The mixing of the colors. Oh, the horrors! Oh, the shock on being an adult and realizing how little the stuff costs to replace! (And, eventually, how freaking poor my family was when I was little and how totally oblivious I was to that fact - even Play-Doh really was a big deal, and our big Xmas gift from the grandparents was a side of beef and the cooler rental.)
February 8th, 2007 at 2:54 pmOMG LOL that is priceless.
February 8th, 2007 at 3:06 pmOh dear. Sounds like she’s got high expectations. Your daughter, that is. Not your MIL. Paying children to play. What a novel idea.
February 8th, 2007 at 4:04 pmDare I ask… what color play dough did she use?
February 8th, 2007 at 4:47 pmWhat are your other childrens names? It is driving me crazy! Anybody else know any of them besides Miles?
February 8th, 2007 at 4:47 pmLOVE IT. She’s wonderful. I’d give her a buck or two.
I love the idea of leaving playdough for babysitters. heh. I hate the stuff. it gets *everywhere*. ugh.
prizes? yeesh.
February 8th, 2007 at 4:51 pmkhristalee,
sorry I don’t use my children’s names. The only reason that Miles name is here is because I was pregnant with him when I began my blog. And then I announced his arrival and his name. I tried in vain to just call him the baby for a few months, but finally gave up since everyone already knew his name.
I had thought of giving everyone nicknames, but yeesh I can barely keep their real names straight
February 8th, 2007 at 5:20 pmI agree the daughter should have one. I think she is fast becoming my favorite child to read about!!! God Bless her.
February 8th, 2007 at 5:39 pmOMG - I am CRYING! That is so damn funny!
February 8th, 2007 at 5:40 pmThat is freaking hilarious!
February 8th, 2007 at 5:43 pmI knew there had to be an explanation for that title!
February 8th, 2007 at 6:04 pmI love that girl!
February 8th, 2007 at 7:28 pmomg–you CAN’T stop at seven. LOL. That kid needs a sister or…five!
February 8th, 2007 at 8:16 pmI love her! She lives with way to many brothers!
February 8th, 2007 at 8:22 pmSo….where should I send my dollar for your daughter? That’s awesome. She wins in my book.
February 8th, 2007 at 10:08 pmI am laughing so hard right now. Way to go, girlie. You live with too many boys!
February 8th, 2007 at 10:10 pmThat reminds me of when Roo was a tiny baby. I was changing his diaper in front of a little girl who was about 3. She has 4 brothers. After I got his new diaper on she looked right at me and said “did you remember to wipe his tallywhacker?” I thought I would drop him I was laughing so hard.
I’m gasping for air I’m laughing SO hard here. I haven’t laughed this hard since two hours ago when my 4 yo dd yelled “dammit baby!” at her 2 yo sister.
February 8th, 2007 at 10:48 pmYour daughter TOTALLY should have won.
On another note, I have a homemade play-doh recipe that I love. Let me know if you want me to pass it on.
February 8th, 2007 at 10:55 pmMy mom would’ve made a trip to the bank to get your daughter a $20 for that one (I probably would’ve too, if it didn’t mean loading up all 4 kiddos first). She is a hoot!
February 9th, 2007 at 7:51 amThe penis wasn’t worth a buck!? What kind of SIL do you have anyway???????
February 9th, 2007 at 10:11 amOK - All of a sudden, I can understand your Mother-in-law. I read your post yesterday and thought about how long it’s been since we’ve had playdough in this house. I purchased a pack of 24 colors at Target yesterday. 24!!!! Who knew playdough even made that many colors??!!! I thought about how thrilled my girls would be when they came home from school and found my new purchase set up on the kitchen table. No one cared. My girls are 5,7 and 9. The 5 year old and a neighbor played with it for all of 3 minutes. I started thinking that maybe your MIL was brilliant. I would bribe them to play with our new creative toy. Then I realized I didn’t have a dollar. If they don’t act a little more excited, they may have playdough for dinner!
February 9th, 2007 at 10:14 amI think I love your daughter. That is priceless. No boy will ever be able to intimidate her. Quite the opposite in fact, she’d probably intimidate the crap out of any boy who crossed her path….
February 9th, 2007 at 11:02 amOh my dear lord, that is too funny- kindof makes the whole stupid “contest” worth it! I would have loved to have seen your MIL’s face!
February 9th, 2007 at 11:36 amThanks for the smile. What else would you expect from a girl surrounded by brothers? Her expression in that photo is priceless.
February 9th, 2007 at 1:14 pmhaha! At least it wasn’t a “poopis”! LOl http://qtpies7.blogspot.com/2007/02/trinity-funnies.html
February 9th, 2007 at 5:04 pmKids do the funniest things sometimes! And other times…… well, its just a good thing they are so cute!
The last time my mother-in-law watched the kids at our house, she took it upon herself to start peeling the old wall paper off of our dining room walls. Now, I don’t love that wallpaper, but we didn’t have any immediate plans to start redoing that room, and it looked just fine. At this point, we don’t have any choice because the kids thoroughly enjoyed “helping,” and now I can’t keep anyone away from it. Family–can’t live with ‘em, can’t kill ‘em!
February 9th, 2007 at 8:39 pmYour MIL must be a real piece of work. Hooray for your daughter!
February 10th, 2007 at 10:27 pm